Exercise Guides: How To's and Comparisons

Developed traps are a key indicator that you’ve spent some serious time in the gym. The traps play an important role in aesthetics, performance, and activities of daily living. The main function of the traps, also known as the trapezius muscles, is to stabilize the scapula, commonly referred to as the shoulder blades. The trap muscles help move your shoulders, neck, head, arms, and torso.

The traps are a rather large and superficial muscle group, so you can easily see them if they are developed. If you’ve noticed that your upper back doesn’t have that 3-dimensional look,  trap muscles probably need some work.

Furthermore, strengthening your traps is a good idea if you experience head, neck, or upper back pain or tightness. Often, people have overdeveloped anterior delts and underdeveloped traps, leading to poor posture.

If this sounds like you, you’re in the right place! This article covers the 8 best ways to improve underdeveloped traps. 

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Nearly everyone who steps foot in a gym aims to improve the size and definition of their arms. The arms are often considered to be the “show” muscles. Every time you ask someone to flex, more likely than not, they are going to flex their biceps. The biceps play an important role in physique sports because they are heavily judged.

For those who aren’t interested in aesthetics, the biceps are still important for performance and daily life activities. It’s quite common for strength/performance athletes, such as strongmen, powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, and CrossFitters, to tear a bicep during an event because they don’t train them nearly enough.

Whether you’re looking to increase the size of your biceps or get them stronger to a bicep rupture, you’re in the right place! We’ve compiled a list of the best training tactics you can implement to improve underdeveloped biceps.

Keep reading to learn about the optimal rep ranges, bicep exercises, training volume, frequency, and intensity for bicep hypertrophy.

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Do you want to build a strong core but aren’t sure which exercises to choose? Perhaps you’ve been doing crunches, sit-ups, and leg raises for months without seeing the abdominal strength and definition you desire. 

The obliques (internal and external) are a crucial but often neglected upper body muscle group that controls spinal rotation, stabilizes the spine and hips, and gives your torso a v-shaped taper.

We’ll detail the best exercises and training tips to fire up your internal and external oblique muscles and give you the strong, chiseled core you always wanted.

The 7 Best Ways to Grow Underdeveloped Obliques

Weak obliques happen due to focusing your core training on the rectus abdominis or the visible six-pack section of your abs. Your obliques are a vital muscle group that stabilizes rotational movements, controls forward bending, and aids in maintaining an upright posture.

You can strengthen weak obliques by including more targeted oblique exercises, prioritizing stabilization and anti-rotational core work, bracing your core during functional movements, and practicing diaphragmatic breathing.

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Do you want to improve your posture and build a fuller, more muscular upper body? Your rear delts are crucial for well-rounded shoulders and a healthy spine and shoulders. Many popular shoulder exercises focus on the anterior (front) and medial (side) deltoid muscles. Read on to learn how to target underdeveloped rear delts for stronger, healthier, and more muscular shoulders.

Underdeveloped rear delts occur when the muscles on the back of your shoulders are smaller or weaker than other muscle groups in your upper body, like the front or side deltoids or the traps. Common reasons for underdeveloped rear delts include neglecting targeted posterior delt exercises, poor technique, and a weak mind-to-muscle connection with this small muscle group.

You can grow underdeveloped rear deltoids by increasing your weekly rear delt training volume, perfecting your technique, and moving through a full range of motion. You can also use advanced techniques like pauses and tempo work for added time under tension. 

We’ll explore these methods for growing underdeveloped rear delts in more detail, so you can start building the boulder shoulders of your dreams.

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Have your lower pecs stopped growing despite consistent training and seemingly endless bench pressing?

If you struggle to build a more muscular, fuller lower chest, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ll cover the best strategies to grow an underdeveloped lower chest, show you some of the best exercises, and explain the optimal rep ranges and intensities for lower pec growth.

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Have you spent hours doing crunches and sit-ups without achieving a strong, stable core? Do you want to build a sound foundation that improves your posture, stabilizes heavy compound lifts, and gives you a chiseled-looking midsection? 

Popular abdominal exercises often focus on the rectus abdominus, the “six-pack” section of the abs located on the front of your stomach. But these muscles are only one part of your core. Your abdominal training must target all the different core muscles that span from the top of your ribcage to your hips.

We’ve collated the best ways to build underdeveloped or weak core muscles. We’ll cover the best exercises, rep and set ranges, and intensities to strengthen weak core muscles.

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Have you noticed that your hamstrings don’t stand out like the rest of your lower body? If so, your hamstrings are probably smaller and much weaker than the quads, glutes, adductors, and/or calves. Not only do underdeveloped hamstrings negatively impact your stage debut, they also drastically increase your risk for injury.

Fortunately, there are several tactics you can implement to address shortcomings in the hamstrings! If you’ve noticed that your hamstrings lag behind the rest of your lower body, you’re in the right place! We’ve compiled a list of the best ways to improve underdeveloped hamstring muscles. If you use some of the tips listed below, your hamstrings will be a dominant muscle group in no time!

Below you will find the ideal exercises, rep ranges, amount of training volume, and intensities to stimulate hamstring hypertrophy.

Keep reading to learn more and start progressing!

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“Bodybuilding shows are won from the back,” is a common saying in physique sports, meaning that no matter how good the rest of your upper body looks, you can’t make up for an underdeveloped back.

Even for those not interested in stepping on stage, building a strong back is crucial for posture, performance, and activities of daily living. The back is often underdeveloped compared to the chest, shoulders, triceps, and biceps because it’s not a muscle group you can easily see in the mirror.

So people don’t focus on building the back as much as the rest of the upper body. Not to mention, there are several back muscles that perform different movements, making it challenging to address the whole back. It’s important to target each of them to build an impressive back.

Fortunately, there’s a variety of training tactics you can implement to improve an underdeveloped back. Below you will find the optimal training volume, frequency, intensity, exercises, rep ranges, and more for back hypertrophy. 

Keep reading to discover what you can do to develop stage-worthy back muscles!

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Have you noticed that your upper chest doesn’t stand out like the rest of your upper body? It’s quite common to have an upper chest that’s smaller and/or weaker than the front, lower chest, triceps, side delts, and biceps.

If your upper chest is lagging and are looking for ways to fix it, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve compiled a list of the best ways to grow and strengthen an underdeveloped upper chest. You’ll also learn the optimal rep ranges, exercises, intensities, and training volume to kickstart upper chest hypertrophy.

Keep reading to learn more and start growing!

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Have you noticed that your front delts (anterior delts) lag behind the rest of your upper body? Maybe they seem smaller and/or weaker than your side delts, rear delts, chest, biceps, or triceps. If this struggle sounds familiar, you’re in luck!

We’ve compiled a list of the best ways to grow underdeveloped front delts. You’ll also find the best rep ranges, intensities, and exercises to help stimulate front delt hypertrophy!

Keep reading to learn more!

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Underdeveloped triceps occur when the muscles on the backs of your arms lag in size or strength compared with other muscles like the biceps or delts. You can grow underdeveloped triceps by increasing weekly volume, training the triceps with more intensity, and prioritizing tricep isolation exercises that emphasize the long tricep head. 

The triceps are the largest muscle in your upper arms, but some lifters struggle to increase their size and strength. If you want to build larger upper arms, targeting the triceps is critical. 

We’ll review the best ways to grow triceps to increase your upper body musculature. We’ll also share some of the best triceps exercises, ideal rep ranges, and tips to help you build stronger and bigger triceps. 

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