we are arguing the same thing. We both agree the lats retain their shape by growing proportionally. I don't see what the problem is. My point was that the upper part represents a small portion of the lats overall. Therefore, less growth occurs here than in the lower lats. We're just seeing the same picture differently.
Exactly. Now, in re-reading your biceps analogy, I understood what happened. You accused me of saying something I never did. It is a matter of semantics. I have always been in total
agreement with you that the amount of
muscle tissue added to different parts of the muscle is
not proportional, but rather that it grows more in certain areas than others. I thought you were talking about
shape, and not muscle growth. I though you were saying that certain parts of the muscle grow
disproportionally in relation to the others. Hence, when you said that the lower part of the lats grows more than the lower part, I thought you were refering to this growth causing a change in the shape of the muscle. In other words, that certain areas of the muscle grows more in
absolute terms, which would cause a change not merely in the size, but also in the
shape of the muscle. Which is what I thought you had said. Obviously the lats grows more in the lower and middle parts because there are far more muscle fibers there. But regardless, although there is far less
total muscle growth in the upper part, it remains
proportional as far as
shape goes. Obviously, if I had argued that the muscle grows proportionally in terms of amount of
muscle tissue, which is what you accused me of saying and was
not the case, then you'd be right that I had argued that the muscle, as a
whole, grows disproportionally in terms of shape. Hence, since Ronnie's lats were not much wider than Dorian's in 2003, the difference in width could not be that great in the lower part either, because the shape of their respective lats were roughly equivalent. However, Ronnie definitely had an advantage in thickness - which is expected, since he outweighed Dorian by 30 lbs. Ok, we misunderstood each other.

SUCKMYMUSCLE