Sometimes you don’t necessarily need to lose any weight to look leaner. One strategy to appear leaner than you actually are is to put on some muscle on your deltoids (shoulders) and lats. If your shoulders are wider than your waist, then you will naturally look leaner.

If you don’t need to look significantly leaner, wider shoulders will help you get one step closer to the “V-Taper” look. The V-Taper is literally a “V” shape from your shoulders, lats and waist. There are three key aspects to developing a better V-Taper: Wider Lats, Wider Deltoids, and Leaner Abs.

Lets Get the Cardio out of the Way

Cardio should be an important aspect to any fat loss plan. However, we don’t want our cardio to interfere with our mass building efforts. Hence, let me tell you how to do the cardio in this program first, then we’ll move onto the dumbbell exercises.

The maximum amount of cardio you will do is 10 minutes per session. All I want you to do is choose an activity, and alternate between periods of work and rest for 10 minutes straight. In other words, you’ll be doing interval training.

The following are some workouts you can choose:

• 20 rounds of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• 13 rounds of 30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest
• 10 rounds of 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest
• 10 rounds of 45 seconds work, 15 seconds rest
• 8 rounds of 45 seconds work, 30 seconds rest
• 6 rounds of 60 seconds work, 30 seconds rest
• 5 rounds of 60 seconds work, 60 seconds rest

Normally, I would perform bodyweight or dumbbell cardio. However, for this particular program, we’re going to keep the dumbbell and cardio work separate.

Deltoid and Lat Exercises using Dumbbells

Dumbbell Hanging Jump Shrug

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Place a pair of dumbbells in front of your feet on the floor. Sit back with your hips as if you were about to perform a squat.
• Bend your knees while keeping your back straight, chest up, and shoulders back. Look forward as you pick up the dumbbells.
• Explode up by straightening your knees. Push your hips  up and out while lifting your heels off the ground. At the top of the movement, shrug your shoulders.
• Return to starting position. Make sure to keep your core tight during the entire movement.

Dumbbell One Arm Military Press

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Hold a dumbbell with one arm at your shoulders, palms facing forward. Keep your chin tucked, chest up and your lower back naturally arched.
• Hold your non-working arm out to the side for balance. Press your dumbbell up until there is just a slight bend in the elbow.
• Pause briefly and return to starting position. Keep your core tight during the entire movement. With one arm movements, it is a good idea to start off with your weaker arm first.

Dumbbell 1 Arm Row

• Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Bend your opposing knee forward, placing your non-working hand on the bent knee for support.
• Keep your working arm straight, with the dumbbell between your front and back legs. Keep your back flat and head up. Pull the dumbbell up to the side until the upper arm is just beyond parallel.
• Squeeze your back and pause briefly. Return to starting position. Make sure to keep your core tight during the entire movement.

Dumbbell Hanging Power Clean

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and back straight. Hold the dumbbells to your sides with your palms facing the body.
• Sit back with your hips slightly as if you were about to perform a squat. Bend at the knees and keep your bodyweight on your heels.
• Let the dumbbells slide down to the thighs. Explode upwards, similar to a jump shrug. But unlike a jump shrug, keep the movement going and raise the dumbbells past your your armpits.
• Rotate the elbows around and under the dumbbells as you dip with your knees to “catch” the dumbbells. Dumbbells should now be resting on your shoulders.
• Stand up straight. Pause. Then return to starting position. Make sure to keep your core tight during the entire movement.

Additional Work with Abdominal Circuits

Interval Cardio and Dumbbell training should be more than enough to give you a great V-Taper look. However, you always add in extra abdominal circuits if you have the time.

All you need to do is choose 3-4 abdominal exercises and organize them into high intensity circuits. The following are three of my favorite abdominal movements:

Bodyweight Ab Infinities

• Lay on your back with legs straight and arms at your sides. Press your lower back to the floor and lift your legs 6 inches off the floor.
• Keep your body tight. Draw the infinity symbol (a sideways “8″) in the air. Perform the movement in one direction, the switch to the other.

Bodyweight 10 Second Crunch

• Lay on your back flat on the floor and knees bent as if you were about to do a crunch. Tuck your chin into your chest and contract your abdominals until your shoulder blades leave the floor.
• Hold this position for 10 seconds. You can perform this movement with your arms across your chest, or hands held behind your head.

Bodyweight Side Plank Ups

• Lay on your side on the ground. Prop your right elbow under your right shoulder with your legs straight and your hip on the ground.
• Contract your core muscles and exhale as your raise up into the Plank position. Hold for 1 second and return your hip to the ground.
• This counts as one repetition. Complete all repetitions on one side before switching to the other side. You can also perform this movement with your arms straight, palms resting on the floor.

For more muscle building and fat burning tips, exercises, and workouts, check out the Truth About Abs Program.

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Tags: ab training, abdominal, deltoid, dumbbell fat loss, lat, v-taper