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Every serious lifter has one.

A muscle group that refuses to respond. That makes the whole physique look unbalanced. That you have been training for years without seeing the results the effort should produce.

Mine were side delts, traps, and upper chest.

Here is what I prioritised — and why it matters aesthetically:

The ratio first.

Shoulder circumference divided by waist circumference. The ideal for men is 1.6 — the Golden Ratio. Also known as the Adonis Index. The most important number in male physique aesthetics.
Wider shoulders. Slimmer waist. The V-taper sharpens in both directions simultaneously.
Body fat reduction adds to the illusion of size in a way that additional muscle alone never can. Cut the waist. Build the shoulders. The ratio does the rest.

Side delts — the highest return investment in your physique.
Cable lateral raises. Landmine laterals (seriously underrated). Full range of motion. Controlled eccentric. Never sacrificing form for weight.
The side delt creates width. Width makes your waist look smaller. Smaller waist makes everything look bigger. That is the illusion.

Upper chest — the fullness that changes the whole silhouette.
High incline Smith machine. Steep angle. Fixed bar path. Safe to failure without a spotter. I have noticed genuine upper chest fullness improving over the past year of consistent prioritisation.

Traps — the muscle that frames everything.
Kelso shrugs. Most people have never heard of them. They target the mid and lower trap in a way that standard shrugs never do. Game changer.
John Meadows approach throughout — full ROM, controlled eccentrics, genuine mind muscle connection. The muscle does not know how much weight is on the bar. It responds to tension, stretch, and stimulus.
The lagging body part that stays lagging is the one you keep training the same way.

Change the stimulus. Change the priority. Change the result.

Full breakdown in this week’s Built Not Born newsletter — link in bio.

Built, not born.

Why I keep training is not why I started.

Not even close.

My evolution — in order:

Phase 1 — I wanted to take my shirt off at a festival and feel good about it. Pure vanity. It got me in the door. That was enough.

Phase 2 — Travelling overseas. Thailand. Europe. Looking good while doing it. Still external. Still enough to keep me consistent.

Phase 3 — Strength and conditioning. What my body could do, not just what it looked like. The standard changed.

Phase 4 — How big and strong can I get. Pure pursuit of size and strength. Built the foundation that everything since has been built on.

Phase 5 — How lean can I get. This is where I learned nutrition properly. 2,585 days of tracking started here.

Phase 6 — Where I am now. Aesthetics and movement. Lean for my build. Strong but not chasing numbers. Four sessions a week that fit my life.

My first training crew were stronger than me. Being the weakest person in the room is the fastest way to improve.

Here is my point —

It does not matter why you started. CrossFit. Hyrox. Running. Calisthenics. Oztag. Pickleball. Weights. Whatever keeps you moving and whatever you can consistently repeat.

As long as you are improving — little by little, phase by phase — that is all that matters.

There is no finish line. There is no end point. There is only the next phase of who you are becoming.

Full essay in this week’s Built Not Born newsletter — link in bio.

Built, not born.

🎤 🫳

If you were looking for a sign to start — this is it.

You have 3 months until summer. That is enough time to make a real difference. But only if you start now.

Not in October when the weather warms up and the motivation arrives. Now. In the cold. When nobody is watching.

Here is what I actually eat on a training day — every ingredient on purpose, nothing by accident:

**Breakfast**
Organic oats, chocolate collagen, Relyte electrolytes, fresh raspberries, Redmond sea salt, Manuka honey. Every ingredient earns its place.

**Pre-workout**
Two Medjool dates and a double espresso. Fuelled, not full.

**Lunch**
Sirena chilli tuna, white potatoes with melted lean cheese, cucumber with feta, kimchi, sauerkraut. Protein, carbs, probiotics, volume.

**Dinner**
Steak cooked on a cast iron pan. Broccolini. Roasted yellow capsicum. Protein yoghurt with berries. Bone broth. Collagen in chamomile tea.

This took years to build. Once I found what worked I stopped experimenting and started repeating.

The 5 steps to start today:

→ Calculate your calories — builtnotborntraining.netlify.app
→ Buy a food scale — under $20, non-negotiable
→ Download MyFitnessPal — free version is enough
→ Track everything for 3 days without changing anything — just observe
→ Go for a walk after dinner tonight

Your summer physique starts now.

Full breakdown in this week’s Built Not Born newsletter — link in bio.

Most people over 35 are eating for who they were at 25.

The research says that is a mistake.

8 slides. Read every one.

Built, not born.

The leg machine I wish I had in my 20s.

I never loved the back squat. Never felt quite right. Hip mobility. Lower back. Something was always off.
I kept doing it anyway because that is what serious lifters do.

Then I found the Rogue Rhino belt squat. And I never looked back.

Here is why I choose it every single leg session:

→ No spinal loading — the weight hangs from your hips, not your spine. My L4/L5 stays quiet. The quads and glutes do all the work.

→ Progressive overload safely — add weight, keep the movement consistent, no technique breakdown under heavy load

→ Take it to failure safely — on a back squat failure is dangerous. On the belt squat failure means you stand up. That is it.

→ Adjust depth easily — multiple attachment loops on the belt plus a stopper at the bottom of the cable. Set your exact range of motion and hit it every rep.

→ It is genuinely fun — compliance is the science. If you look forward to an exercise you will do it consistently. I look forward to this every single week.

You do not need to back squat to build serious legs.

I am proof of that.

Full breakdown in this week’s Built Not Born newsletter — link in bio.

Built, not born.

Most people are not doing enough of the most underrated thing in fitness.

Walking.

Not as a workout. As a habit. As a signal. As a reset.

→ Ten minutes after a meal reduces blood sugar spikes and signals your body to use fuel — not store it
→ A fasted morning walk tells your body to burn stored fat
→ A walk after training accelerates recovery
→ A walk outdoors when your head is full is moving meditation — the reset nothing else provides

I used to dismiss it. Now it is non-negotiable.

Motion is lotion.

Full issue live on Built Not Born this week — link in bio.

Built, not born