To those who think you are stuck...

[King-B]

with poor insertions and bad symmetry, thereby relegating you to an unsightly phisyque, take hope. You often hear that a person cannot change the insertions where his or her muscles and ligaments attach to the bone. While I agree with this concept, I also believe it can place unnecessary discouragement on one's potential to change the look of one's phisyque. Though we cannot change where our muscles attach, I do believe we can change the 'look' of where they attach simply by filling out certain areas of the muscles as much as possible. This can go a long way toward improving symmetry. Not long ago, I was near hopeless that I would always have an unsightly and asymmetrical physique. However, I put those thoughts aside and decided I would try to force my body to be more symmetrical. The first picture was taken around mid 2007. The second was taken just yesterday. I think the images speak for themselves.





So, if anyone has been discouraged from training their hardest because of asymmetry/poor muscle insertions, don't despair! You cannot change where your muscles attach, but you can always change the overall appearance of your physique and improve your symmetry through proper training!

[nidoman]

nice progress .. well for how long have u been hitting da gym ??

[King-B]

nice progress .. well for how long have u been hitting da gym ??

Hmm... lifted on and off for over a decade, but just got serious (minimizing breaks, keeping intensity up, and improving diet) for about a year now.

*Damn, just realized it's 4 am here. See u guys at noon tomorrow (later today )

[piszczel]

You weren't really asymetrical in the first place, only your pecs didn't look symetrical.

But good job.

[King-B]

You weren't really asymetrical in the first place, only your pecs didn't look symetrical.

But good job.

It may not be perfectly clear from the pic, but i had symmetry issues with my lats and arms as well, both of which have improved dramatically with the added size.

[UCFBuilder]

nice progress man, you can definitley tell the difference in your chest

[Nom Z]

I have major insertion and symmetry issues with my biceps, both have high insertion points and are asymmertical. But like you said, keep putting on mass and things will get better. Ive put on 20 lbs and my body is nearly even, still have another 15-20 lbs to put on...

[Stevebaby]

man, you are really looking big too

[King-B]

nice progress man, you can definitley tell the difference in your chest

Thanks, I've been really surprised how much better it's gotten considering how much it was off before. I think the added thickness just caused them to meet better at the bottom and the overall additional fullness created a more even look from one side to the other.

[King-B]

I have major insertion and symmetry issues with my biceps, both have high insertion points and are asymmertical. But like you said, keep putting on mass and things will get better. Ive put on 20 lbs and my body is nearly even, still have another 15-20 lbs to put on...

Yeah, keep plugging away man, and as you've already experienced, the increased thickness tends to even things out.

man, you are really looking big too

Thanks, I gained at least 15 lbs between the two. I didn't notice how dramatic (it took nearly a year to happen so gains were slow but steady) the change was until I compared those pics yesterday.

P.S.- reps on recharge

[kris142]

Damn, Nice job on the filling in, you look alot better, and buffer. Keep up the good work, this post gave me a bit of a confidence boster!

[King-B]

Damn, Nice job on the filling in, you look alot better, and buffer. Keep up the good work, this post gave me a bit of a confidence boster!

Thanks. I'm glad it boosted your confidence! That's actually what I was partly hoping for with this thread, along with showing the progress I've made. I've been frustrated about my physique before, and now I'm a lot more satisfied with it, so I wanted others who needed the boost to feel the same.

[maxedout916]

Nice work bro! You look SWOL in those pics...especially the 2nd one!

I have a similar problem, 1 arm is slightly longer than the other which makes my traps look off a little. It bugged me for a bit but I'm way over it now. Hope this gives some inspiration to some people who critique themselves a ton and cant get past the fact that their body isnt perfect...with enough training you can make it look perfect...dont worry!

[bOOgie CurlZ]

Sup King.....im A Cali Boy To Mane.

You Workout At L.a?

I Got A Homie That Is A Trainer There

[King-B]

Nice work bro! You look SWOL in those pics...especially the 2nd one!

I have a similar problem, 1 arm is slightly longer than the other which makes my traps look off a little. It bugged me for a bit but I'm way over it now. Hope this gives some inspiration to some people who critique themselves a ton and cant get past the fact that their body isnt perfect...with enough training you can make it look perfect...dont worry!

Cool. Glad you were able to make progress despite minor imperfections!

[King-B]

Sup King.....im A Cali Boy To Mane.

You Workout At L.a?

I Got A Homie That Is A Trainer There

So Cal representin'

Yeah, I've been to that LA Fitness gym, if that's what you mean, but I used to work out at a local, more hardcore gym in Redlands called Executive Athletic Club. I mean real bodybuilders and powerlifters used to come thru. Unfotunately, they closed it to turn it into f*ckin office space to rent out. BS, man. But it turned out cool though, because my friend and I just bought everything we need to lift- squat rack, olympic bench, dumbells, plates up to 600 lbs. and put them in our garage.

Oh yeah, reps on recharge

[Rcoop]

Hey man, I have a similar problem with my left pec.
I'm doing mainly barbell exercises for pecs so i'm thinking the right side might be taking more of the weight so the left is lagging a little behind. I'm thinking of switching for example to dumbell bench presses instead of barbell so it's more even. Is this how you achieved more symmetry or did you just pack on mass and it evened itself out?

[King-B]

Hey man, I have a similar problem with my left pec.
I'm doing mainly barbell exercises for pecs so i'm thinking the right side might be taking more of the weight so the left is lagging a little behind. I'm thinking of switching for example to dumbell bench presses instead of barbell so it's more even. Is this how you achieved more symmetry or did you just pack on mass and it evened itself out?

I tried a lot of techniques I thought would "even out" the difference, but really the only thing that worked was just packing on the mass, which seemed to force them to "match up," lol.

[Rcoop]

Alright dude thanks alot, great job by the way.

[exc_Wrench]

Routine please?

[King-B]

Routine please?

Day 1
Back: pullups + deadlifts (superset)
Triceps: lying ext + close-grip bench or reverse dips (superset)

Day 2
Quads: lunges + squats (superset)
Calves: weighted drop set of raises
Biceps: any two exercises (superset if desired)

Day 3
Chest: incline flyes + incline bench (superset)
Shoulders: bent raises [nothing else] (front delts get enough stress from bench)

That's it.

[Ricky_k]

.......................or you can just lose bodyfat

[King-B]

.......................or you can just lose bodyfat

... so I can weigh 143? No thanks.

[Stevebaby]

You look great. 15 lbs...so that is what it looks like. I mean you went from fit looking like HULK. Guess my new goal is 15 pounds! Regards

[King-B]

You look great. 15 lbs...so that is what it looks like. I mean you went from fit looking like HULK. Guess my new goal is 15 pounds! Regards

Ha ha, well, I don't know that I would call it looking like HULK (although it's cool to hear!); but, yeah, I think 15 lbs- if it's actual muscle- not just any bodyweight, goes a long way toward improving appearance. I find the most important thing (for myself) has been to continually make improvements on my lifts. That way, I know for sure that I'm making progress on my physique (if I'm also eating properly). Keep intensity up and keep eating!

[kris142]

I've seen your routine now I want to see your Diet...

Whats a superset?

[King-B]

I've seen your routine now I want to see your Diet...

Whats a superset?

My diet is usually as follows:

Meal 1 (10:30 am): protein shake [8 ounces soymilk; 2 scoops MRM Metabolic Whey = about 55 g protein]

Meal 2 (1 pm): food meal [any protein source like steak, chicken, fish {they say a serving is like a deck of cards, mine is like 4 decks}; carb source like potato, sweet potato, or brown rice]

Meal 3 (4 pm): in anticipation of workout at 5 or 6 pm, take protein shake like above, but with one serving of creatine
*another protein shake post workout (about 6 or 7 pm) with one serving of glutamine

Meal 4 (9 pm): another food meal like meal 2

Meal 5 (Midnight): either another food meal or another protein shake depending on how lazy I'm feeling

There it is. Some tips:
*prepare food meals in advance like on the weekend, then freeze some of them so you can eat them over the week;
*Better to miss a workout than to miss a meal;
*Keep protein bars with you, so if you are somewhere you can't eat when you want, you have a protein source;
*Fat is not as bad as you might think. Sugar is much worse. In the past, I've gained too much bodyfat eating low-fat foods, learning that they compensate for flavor by adding sugar to those foods; and I've gained almost no additional fat eating high-fat, high protein foods like fish, some cheeses, italian food with olive oil, etc.- just make sure they are healthy fats


To answer your last question- a superset is two different excercises performed consecutively with little or no rest in between, both of which hit the same muscle group, with the first usually being a single-joint isolation movement and the second being a larger, multiple-joint compound movement. They are done so the primary muscle is solely fatigued without including ancillary stabilizing muscles; then you move to the compound movement (which hits the primary muscle but also incorporates stabilizing muscles) to finish it off. That way, intensity is increased and you don't prematurely abort the excercise due to the failure of the stabilizing muscles.