In my humbly correct opinion, the easiest way to look better very quickly is to spend a chunk of time focusing on building up your:
1) Shoulders, and,
2) Arms.
(Applies to both men and women.)
Why?
In my experience, probably nine out of ten lifters don’t pay their shoulders enough attention, tacking them onto the end of a chest workout or, bizarrely, a leg workout as I often saw back when I used to haunt internet weightlifting and bodybuilding forums.
And even then, rarely do they put any serious effort into developing the barbell overhead press, preferring instead to use machines or dumbbells or forgo pressing altogether in favour of various flavours of front and side raises.
So just a relatively small amount of time spent learning how to overhead press efficiently, effectively, and safely will likely result in a pleasing thickening of the delts, dramatically improving the way shirts fit and improving your “V-taper” (broader shoulders give the appearance of a narrower waist, even if the waist remains the same size).
As for the arms?
Bigger, stronger arms are always something to strive for because they not only look stellar but bring bountiful performance advantages, improving your presses and pulls and also (when trained correctly) reducing your risk of developing surprisingly debilitating issues like tennis and/or golfer’s elbow.
Typical “arm building” advice centres around growing the triceps as these represent roughly two thirds of the muscle mass of the upper arm.
I think such advice is reductive to the point of being incorrect in many cases.
Instead, the key is broadly in striking the right balance between the triceps and biceps.
Generally, one muscle group will be more developed than the other due to the individual’s biomechanics, preferences, and training history. (For example, my triceps were far more developed than my biceps for many years because I prefer a narrower grip for bench presses and suchlike, resulting in a lot of “extra” tricep work. By contrast, rock climbers tend to have far bigger biceps than triceps due to the demands of their sport.)
To discover which camp you sit in, look in the mirror and decide if either your biceps or triceps are deficient. Then spend some time doing extra work to bring the wanting muscle group up to par (a couple of extra sets and/or an extra exercise will typically suffice).
Anyway.
On a completely unrelated note, I have decided to open up my diary for calls with people who are interested in learning more about working with me.
For the avoidance of doubt, ours will be a sales call with the sole objective of discovering if my methods and approach are suitable for your needs and aspirations.
If that is acceptable to you, book below:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/consult/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman