Thank you for your detailed response, Yasin - wasn’t sure if I’d even get a reply.
I will definitely check out everything you posted, that helps a lot. Looks like this wasn’t such a controversial topic back in the day.
If this truly did work for you, hopefully you’ve been continuing successfully with the exercises since you started 10 years ago? I’d imagine you’d be massive by now, with some decent before and afters to show for it. Regardless, good for you for even giving this a shot and sharing advice while most don’t even attempt it. Having a wide frame is everything.
Chest expansion and, with it, shoulder girdle expansion were controversial subjects even in the early 1900s. When Alan Calvert wrote Super Strength in the 1920s, he basically dedicated a whole chapter to “is it possible? I believe it is, and here’s the proof I’ve seen… but lots of other people say it’s not possible”. He revisits it later in the book too.
Calvert is the guy who brought adjustable barbells and plate loaded barbells to America, so I give him some benefit of the doubt.
I personally think that there’s some reshaping that can widen both the chest and the shoulder girdle, even into adulthood. Not a lot, but some. The default resting posture for the scapulae can change, and the intercostals and fascia can stretch.
EDIT: there’s a pdf of super strength if you search for it.
Chapter 8 talks about expanding the rib box. Chapter 16 goes more in depth.
According to Mr. Thomson, it would seem hopeless to alter the size or
shape of the rib-box after the age of twenty-five, and yet I have seen men of
thirty-five increase their chest measurements six, eight, ten, and, in one case,
twelve inches.
As I said in a previous chapter, an increase in the size of the rib-box is
always accompanied by a corresponding and proportionate increase in the breadth of the shoulders; which is puzzling, because the collar bones do not
seem to become any longer, although the shoulder blades become wider spaced;
that is, set further apart.
I would not say that I am massive structurally or muscular wise at all. Before I started bodybuilding I had wide shoulders. However, when I was 20 years old I did a 3 month routine to enlarge my rib box.
After 2 or 3 months, I woke up one morning and noticed two changes.
1). My shoulders were structurally wider and also set “squared”. I had wide but somewhat sloping shoulders before the program.
2). My chest looked wider and my back felt heavier and “stretched out”.
I would say in all honesty I added around 0.5 inches to my biacromial width. It may not seem much but structurally I was noticeably wider.
I have not continued this routine but there are others as mentioned in some old bodybuilding articles such as the one mentioned by @LoRez who have tremendously improved their structural width.
I’d suggest have an iron will and do the exercises for years if possible. Per chance, you are those fortunate ones who will benefit immensely from these programs. Some people may have softer costal cartilages, ligaments, tendons etc than others even in the same age group.
Here are some additional articles for more information.
Notice that both give a suggestion of 6 to 8 weeks for the shoulder girdle widening routines. I believe ligaments take around that time to heal fully.
This additional article has a lot of information and mentions of a case where the author significantly broadened his frame way past maturity.
All the best.
Disclaimer: Yasin is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before starting any exercise program. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Yasin will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this forum reply including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or passing.
Everything you guys mentioned and linked to is some really great material - not only for the practical advice given, but also because it’s super motivating to read about guys making such progress being well into their twenties and beyond.
I mean, even if these are rare cases - gains of 10-16 inches (!) in the circumference of your chest/shoulders is amazing. Especially if a good portion of that wasn’t from added muscle.
Yasin, if you achieved the square-shouldered look and a visually noticeable wider frame by adding only half an inch of width, then I can’t imagine the transformation enjoyed by the men mentioned by Calvert and the author in that Ditillo blog.
The forums are filled with guys complaining about their narrow appearance despite having decent delts and pecs - stuff like this should be mandatory to read for any bodybuilder, even if you’re already wide. Then again, many refuse to believe the pullover did anything for Arnold so they’d most likely doubt the truth of all this, anyway. To each their own, I guess.
It seems like reading what Calvert and Ditillo had to say is a great place to start. Thanks for the recommendations, guys.