How to Build the Ultimate V-Taper

Exercises for a Wide Back, Broad Shoulders and Small Waist

By Ron Harris

What is the most glaring visual signal that identifies a bodybuilder to a distant observer? You could say it’s simply the sheer size and thickness of his or her muscles relative to the average man, but from far away it’s nearly impossible to distinguish between muscular bulk and just plain fat. Bodybuilders have a specific shape that marks them as part of an elite group, and that shape is what’s known as a “V-Taper.” The phrase derives its origin from the inverted pyramid form of the letter V itself; wide on top and narrowing to a tiny point. On a human body, this translates into wide lats and shoulders tapering down to a small waist. It’s a look that’s highly sought after, and with good reason. Many of the most aesthetically stunning bodybuilders of all time have had exaggerated V-tapers: Sergio Oliva, Brian Buchanan, Francis Benfatto, Serge Nubret, Lee Labrada, Flex Wheeler circa 1993 (which many believe was his best ever), Paul Dillett, and Lee Haney. More recent examples are Shawn Rhoden, Dennis Wolf, Dexter Jackson, and Patrick Moore. A trend toward mass at any cost has given birth (pun intended) to giant, protruding bellies, which has disgusted a large percentage of bodybuilding fans who place a high value on shape and proportion. In fact, if you showed a series of pictures of bodybuilders to the average hard-training gym member and asked them which physiques they aspired to look like, the ones with the killer V-tapers would be chosen 99 times out of 100. 

The Role of Genetics

Obviously, some men and women are gifted with a natural V-shape before they ever touch a weight. This is almost entirely due to their skeletal structure, which features wide clavicles and narrow hips. Building on this framework with additional muscle mass in the back and shoulders, their taper only becomes more dramatic. Typically this category is the domain of mesomorphs (naturally athletic build), though many ectomorphs (naturally slender build) fall into this group as well. Endomorphs, who tend to be naturally stocky and are prone to obesity, almost always have wider waists and very little taper. You could say that the skeletal torso shapes of mesormorphs generally resemble inverted triangles, an ectomorph’s would look like an elongated rectangle, and an endomorph would be a square, or in the worst-case scenario, a rhomboid with the narrow end on top (pear-shape body). From this description, it may seem as if only those born with the right configuration of bones can ever hope to have a dynamic V-taper. Certainly, it will be easiest for them, but what is life without challenges? Any of us can improve our overall shape with concentrated efforts in three key areas: widening the back, building broad shoulders, and minimizing the size of our waists. Let’s tackle each of these areas one by one.

Wide Back

For many years, various champion bodybuilders and writers for bodybuilding magazines have propagated what I consider an irresponsible myth; that certain exercises for the back are specifically geared for “width,” while others are for “thickness.” Usually chinning and pulldown movements are credited with this magical ability build width. The truth is, as the upper back accumulates more muscle mass, it becomes wider simply because it is expanding away from the spine. Both vertical and horizontal pulling movements contribute to this phenomenon, so one should not rely on either at the expense of the other. That being said, there are ways to more selectively target the upper back in the general area surrounding the scapulae or shoulder blades, which is the most critical region for creating the illusion of superior width. Let’s look at these now.

Chin-ups. The one thing I want to get out of everyone’s heads is the absurd notion that super-wide chin-ups or pulldowns will give you extraordinary back width. I see so many trainers taking a very wide grip, near or at the very ends of the bar and way past shoulder width, and the only thing they’re getting is a truncated range of motion. Do this right now to see what I’m talking about. Grab an imaginary lat pulldown bar overhead with as wide a grip as you can, then pull it down. Where did your hands end up? That will vary depending on arm length, but I bet it was no lower than your mouth. You may also have noticed that you felt your rear delts working more than your back. Now, do it again spacing your hands just a bit wider than your shoulders. That time, you should have been able to get your hands down around your upper chest. And your lats should have also felt far more involved. Still not convinced? Dorian Yates had one of the widest wingspans of any bodybuilder in history. Dorian never did any vertical pulling movements with a wide grip, ever. I suggest you don’t either. An easy gauge for most trainers is to never place the hands any wider than the points where the standard lat pulldown bar or chinning bar bends. Now, to better target the upper back, maintain an arched back and a high chest as you chin or pull down, and actively attempt to thrust your upper chest upward to meet the bar. Squeeze the shoulder blades together and contract the entire musculature of the upper back at the end of each rep for a full second. Stretch the back between sets by pulling on both horizontal and vertical machine frames.

Rows. To emphasize the upper back, all rowing movements should feature your hands pulling to a point no lower than your top row of abs (if you can see your abs, that is). The guidelines for hand width are identical to those for vertical pulling. My favorite upper-back-accentuated rows are done with a barbell, machines, or a seated cable with a longer bar attachment rather than the close-grip handles. Several companies manufacture machines with handles that are close to motorcycle handlebars in design. For these, set the seat a little lower than usual and blast away at your upper back.

Pullovers. An often-neglected exercise for building the upper back is pullovers, either with a dedicated machine, standing and using a cable attachment, or lying across a bench with a dumbbell or barbell. Pullovers allow you an excellent stretch that I believe over time does in fact widen the back through a combination of stretching the shoulder blades and breaking up some of the tough muscle fascia that inhibits growth. And, it’s also the only back exercise where the biceps are not a weak link and the lats work directly against resistance. Use it as a way to pre-exhaust the lats before chins or rows, put it in between them to give the biceps a chance to recover, or finish off your back workout with a dose of pure isolation.

Wide Shoulders

Big shoulders and wide shoulders are not the same thing. A lot of men who have focused on heavy bench pressing and overhead pressing develop tremendous mass in the front delts, but don’t always pay equal attention to their side heads and thus lack width in the shoulders. Lateral raises must have an important role in all your shoulder workouts.

Lateral Raises. Lateral raises can be done with dumbbells, cables, or specific machines. None is really any better than another, but good form is paramount. The movement must be controlled, with an effort made to feel the lateral deltoids working. Always try to “catch” the rep for a pause at the top and lower for a slow negative, around 2-3 seconds. It’s OK to loosen up the form after you have already done 6-8 good reps and give the side heads a final burn. Don’t try to go too heavy on these, or chances are other muscles will be doing most of the work. 

Upright Rows. Upright rows have a deserved reputation as being potentially dangerous to the rotator cuff structure, but this is something you probably would know about by now if it applied to you. Many trainers do the exercise for many years with no negative issues. Upright rows are also a good adjunct to side raises in developing fuller, rounder side deltoids. Take a grip on a bar about shoulder width, and try to pull the bar over your shoulders. It should wind up at the level of your collarbone.

Overhead Presses. Overhead presses will always have a vital role in overall mass acquisition. One way to be sure your front delts aren’t being overly stimulated is to do your presses after your side raises and upright rows. By pre-exhausting them in this manner, you will be assured that the front delts will not be at an advantage and hog all the stress that you want to go to the side heads. If you can press behind the neck with no problems, do so. Otherwise, I advise seated presses with dumbbells, where your hands are directly in line with your head as you press up and down. Of the machines, my personal favorite is the Hammer Strength behind-neck press, which provides the benefits of a barbell behind-neck press yet without putting the shoulder joints under load in a position of external rotation.

Small Waist

The third and final component in the making of a V-taper is having a small waist. Most writers will not be as blunt as I am about to be, but I feel it is my duty. Once the fat is stripped away, the width of your waist is what it is. Some men and women are blessed with very narrow hips, while others are not. For those of us who are not, the best we can do is to minimize the amount of fat we carry around our midsections. Anyone who tries to tell you that you can continue to reduce your waist beyond this point is either trying to sell you something or just plain ignorant. 

Cardio

Simply put, you must do cardio on a regular basis to get lean and stay lean. The only other option is to perpetually eat below your maintenance level of calories and remain on a totally strict diet at all times. In that case, you would be forever hungry, grouchy, and gaining muscle would be biologically impossible. How appealing! How much and how intense your cardio needs to be is an individual matter that you need to experiment with to determine for yourself. Some guys can get by with two or three easy 20-minute sessions a week, but these tend to be naturally lean people with high metabolisms. Others may need to do an hour of intense cardio a day, six days a week. This also has a lot to do with how much fat you need to lose.   

Diet

This is a subject for an entire article (or book), but suffice to say that eating clean will make you lean, and eating crap will make you fat. Junk foods are an obvious no-no, but so are such seemingly innocuous items as white bread, white pasta, fruit juice, dairy products, and muffins. Be careful never to combine fatty foods like pork, red meat, or peanut butter with carbs. Also, don’t eat complex carbs with every meal. Your body needs a little in the morning for normal brain function, then some before and after weight training. Giving your body more carbs than it needs will result in the excess being stored as body fat.

Supplements

Thermogenic products are a multi-million dollar industry, and with good reason. They give you a great boost of energy and concentration for your workouts, while at the same time helping your body to burn greater quantities of fat than it would normally. However, don’t make the common mistake of looking to a pill to take the place of good nutrition and cardiovascular exercise. The fat burners definitely work, but if the other pieces of the puzzle aren’t there you can forget about getting that waist nice and trim.

Now it’s up to you. Do you want that awesome V-shape, or will you be comfortable looking more like a mailbox? If you want that coveted taper, you have the tools at your disposal. The ultimate V-taper can be yours if you follow these guidelines and stay the course. It won’t appear overnight, but your hard work will eventually pay off. And then, whether you’re standing right in front of someone or 50 yards away, they will instantly recognize you as a true bodybuilder.

3 Extra Tips for the Ultimate V-taper

1. Avoid Heavy Squats and Deadlifts

Though squats and deadlifts are virtually magical in their ability to add size to the legs and back in a hurry, they often do so at the expense of widening the waistline. I can unfortunately use myself as an example. In my early years of bodybuilding I rarely squatted and never even knew what a deadlift was, and my waist in lean condition was 31 inches in circumference. Then I went on a two-year mission of adding size and worked especially hard at becoming very strong on both lifts. Though I definitely grew a great deal during that time, my waist grew to 34 inches. Though I haven’t done either movement in several years, my waist is still 33 inches. There are the lucky few who are able to squat and deadlift heavy without such repercussions, but the vast majority of those I have seen practice these two exercises over the long term inevitably see an increase in the width of their hips, size of their stomachs, and glutes. 

2. Forget Side Bends

Probably the most suicidal exercise for someone interested in a V-taper to perform is side bends. At the club I used to work at back in 1989 and 1990, the European Health Spa, all members were started out on the same exact full-body circuit that probably dated back to the Kennedy administration or earlier. It began with dumbbell side bends, an exercise to strengthen the obliques, the muscles just over your hip bones on each side. I knew one member who worked up to doing 50 reps each side with an 85-pound dumbbell in his hand, and just in the 18 months I worked there his waist measurement increased 3 full inches with no noticeable rise in body fat. I know this because we weighed and measured our members on a monthly basis and recorded the results on the back of their workout charts, which were kept in an alphabetized file. For some sports, big strong obliques are a plus, but for something so appearance-based as bodybuilding they should be avoided at all costs.

3. Be Very Careful With Steroids and GH

Though steroids and growth hormone are illegal in North American without a valid prescription, many thousands of avid weight trainers and bodybuilders continue to use them anyway. Over the past 20 years, the dosages commonly used have escalated in direct proportion to the rising standards for size. Even when I first got into bodybuilding seriously in the late 1980s, an off-season weight of 230-250 pounds was considered a “big” man. Nowadays, that’s just average, and a bodyweight of 270-300-plus pounds is what you need to be a big boy. And the big boys use a lot of juice, and for very extended periods with little or no “off” time. An indirect result of the bigger muscles has been growth of the internal organs, which most people attribute to growth hormone, but I believe it’s also related to steroids as well. If you do choose to go the chemical route, keep a close eye on your gut and bear in mind that an additional 15 pounds of muscle may mean another 4 inches on your waist. You could say that building more size in the upper back and side delts will make up for it, but there comes a point when the belly is so large that all the mass in the world up top won’t be able to create a V-taper anymore.

Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area.

Follow Ron on Instagram@ronharrismuscle

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