If you place yourself in the eye of a storm, you can have all kinds of chaos going on around you, but you’ll stay centered and in control. Step out into the whirlwind of tasks, however, and you’ll lose control and quickly become overwhelmed. The way you get to the center is by prioritizing.
Make a list of what needs to be done—get it down on paper—and then number the tasks according to priority. Start at number one and work your way down the list. (For example, an oil change may be low on your list, but a car that’s leaking oil becomes a priority.) Before you know it, the sheet will be filled with check marks.
The same concept applies to your physique: rate it and prioritize your weak areas in training.
In my article How Do You Rate on a Scale of 1–10?, I introduce a simple strategy to help improve muscle symmetry and proportion. Just rate the development of each major muscle group on a scale of one to ten, and focus most of your training on the lagging muscles.
Feel free to get feedback from others. In fact, I encourage it. In Pumping Iron, for instance, you saw this sort of thing happen in the gym all the time. With cell phones and the internet these days, all you need to do is take a few photos and share them with others for their opinion.
Once you gather a consensus of what’s lagging and what’s not, work more on your weaknesses and less on your strengths. Double the volume for the two lowest-rated muscle groups and cut the volume in half for the two highest. In general, there are two ways to bring up lagging body parts:
- Give them greater priority.
The exercises you do first in your workouts receive the greatest training effect. Most people begin their workouts with their bigger and stronger body parts. Try reversing the order in your next program. For instance, direct forearm work often occurs at the end of a session (if at all), but if that’s a lagging area, try doing wrist curls at the beginning. You’ll be able to use more weight than normal—and that alone should stimulate greater growth. - Give them more work.
Muscle hypertrophy is a function of volume—the more work you perform, the more growth you’ll experience (assuming sufficient recovery). One way to increase volume for a specific body part is with staggered sets. For example, if your calves are dreadful, insert sets of calf raises between sets of exercises for other body parts. Before you know it, you’ve completed a high number of calf sets—far more than usual—and your body responds by building more muscle tissue to meet the demand.
You can even combine both methods, as I outline in How to Bring Up Lagging Body Parts. Follow the approach for three months, then reassess. Put your before and after photos side by side and repeat the process until you achieve the desired look.
Bottom Line: Rate your physique, get feedback from your peers, and bring up lagging body parts by giving them a higher priority and training them more than the rest of your body. It’s easy to do—just step into the eye of the storm!
