Your gym routine needs to be strategic. Of course, you want to be jacked and lean with peaking biceps and defined abs. But your training has to be directly tied into an end vision of what you want your physique to look like. 

If you’re reading this or on this website I’m assuming you’re not looking to be a massive stage competitor. With quads that won’t fit in your jeans or midsection that bulges out like a pregnant woman. 

Instead, you’re looking for a lean, sleek, dense muscular physique. 

A physique that’s characterized by broad shoulders, forceful strength, and muscle that’s gained deliberately to complete your look.

At Lions Of Fitness, we call this: The Aesthetic Outsider.

And in order to become the Aesthetic Outsider here are 5 weight training exercises you must be doing to build gym aesthetics:

1. Rack Pulls 

If you were to google what the “perfect male body” looks like, you’d find an image of a man with a wide upper body and a waist that under 30 inches.

There’s a reason for this and it’s because of biology. Dating back to archaic times, the strongest and most capable men of the tribe would band together and tactfully kill a buffalo and bring it back to the tribe for a nutritious hefty dinner.

These particular men were strong- of course, but more so they were built in a V-shaped fashion: Broad shoulders, a wide back, and a tiny waist. And women loved this and still do till this day.

Performing rack pulls gives you a back width that you’re looking for. 

2. Weighted Dips

There are two variations of dips: One that targets your triceps and the other hits your chest. Here I’m talking about the latter.

Chest Dips are a great movement that builds your outer/lower portion of your chest. You can start with just doing your bodyweight for reps. Eventually, you’ll progress in strength from there. Then you’ll want to add a weighted belt with 10’s 25’s and 45’s for some serious pectoral gainz action.

3. Incline Barbell Press 

Weighted dips are amazing. But focus too much on training your bottom half of your chest and you’ll get a bottom-heavy chest look. Aka saggy grandma titties.

You don’t want that right?

Including incline barbell press balances out your pecs by developing your upper chest region. This, in turn, gives you a “flat armor-plated effect”.

4. Dumbbell Shoulder Presses 

Coming back to the concept of shaping your physique in the form of a V, your shoulder to waist ratio is paramount when it comes to achieving aesthetics. But how much wider should your shoulders be to your waist?

Your answer: 1 to 1.618

That means if your waist is 29 inches (measured 1 inch above the belly button) you are going to train so that your shoulder measurements become 46.9 inches.

“29 in waist x 1.618 golden ratio = 46.9 in shoulders”

Dumbbell shoulder presses will help you achieve your ideal shoulder to waist ratio.

5. Squats

At the time of this writing, I have weight training for 5 years. In those 5 years, I’ve always done squats- it’s been a staple in my routine.

The Aesthetic Outsider doesn’t include giant quads but that also doesn’t mean that it skips leg workouts. In actuality, our legs are more functional than they are for looks. For that, we are able to squat heavier and run faster.

Rack pulls, weighted dips, incline barbell press, shoulder presses, and squats. The 5 best weight training exercises to build gym aesthetics.