When Do Shoulders Stop Growing

Hello, I am wondering when your shoulders stop growing. I’m 18.5, 6’1" and weigh around 165. I have a small frame, i’m very skinny and my shoulders are about 17.25 inches wide. Will they get any wider or am i stuck with this width and if they aren’t, how much could i realistically expect.

I think they might grow some more because I myself am not quite done growing and i was a little bit of a late bloomer.

If you’re not done growing yet, then your clavicles can still lengthen.

This is anecdotal and I don’t have any evidence at all, but I think my shoulders and ribcage have grown faster than my height has since I started training, due to the hormones probably. I’m 19 and also a late bloomer.

Sciency answer, increase Testosterone and HGH. Applied answer, train crazy and heavy, and dedicate your life to eating and sleeping like a large predatory mammal, which is what you are. Binge on red meat and eggs, watch your shoulders broaden.

And don’t you dare skip squats for fear of compressing your spine or some nonsense. Just in case you’ve heard that bullshit.

That’s got to be the most individualized and unanswerable question I’ve ever seen. I’m not saying this to be mean, either, but seriously this is going to vary greatly from person to person.

Now, I do indeed realize that my results will vary significantly, but I’m just looking for an AVERAGE answer. But one thing I see is this: when I look in a mirror, my shoulders just look like they haven’t filled out in relation to my ribcage, but this is when I have a shirt on. Shirt off, it looks way more acceptable. I also know if I work out real nice like, my shoulders will widen more, but that’s from a change in posture, and it won’t be much. I do have somewhat poor posture and I estimate that with the right workout, my width might increase maybe an inch at the most. AT THE MOST. Although I’m sure my Pectus Excavatum (caved in chest) might have something to do with my poor posture.

Don’t worry so much. Lift hard and heavy and eat a shit ton. Get on a good program and if your shoulders are rounded forward do extra rowing and rear delt work. Don’t start limiting yourself already. While you can’t change your genetics, you can compensate for them a hell of a lot.

Shoulders:

[quote]Big Pimp wrote:
I also know if I work out real nice like, my shoulders will widen more, but that’s from a change in posture, and it won’t be much.[/quote]
If you work out “real nice like” and gain 20 or more muscular pounds, you’ll have a different physique entirely. That seems to be the most appropriate solution.

Again, adding muscular bodyweight will reshape your entire body. By the time you’re overhead pressing and rowing 200-something pounds, you’ll absolutely be more than one inch wider across the shoulders/upper back.

At 6’1" and 165, you’re simply underweight. You’re not going to start filling out until you get closer to, and eventually beyond, 200 pounds.

Pectus excatatum is a legit medical/anatomical condition that can sometimes make poor posture worse. Do you actually have P.E.?

Indeed I do have Pectus Excavatum. It affects my whole ribcage, along with my left pectoral and the muscles on the left side of my ribcage.

There’s a lot of things you can compensate for by adding some muscle to your frame. Work hard, eat a lot, and good luck.

[quote]Big Pimp wrote:
Indeed I do have Pectus Excavatum. It affects my whole ribcage, along with my left pectoral and the muscles on the left side of my ribcage.[/quote]

I have PE as well. I suggest you REALLY hit your upper back hard if you want to fix your posture.

Doing so caused me from being someone who always slouched to someone who people comment on for having ‘good’ posture

I was looking at your pics in your hub and it looks like you have done well at over coming those issues. Nice work!

Big Pimp, I would listen to Spidey here as he knows what you have to overcome and obviously was successful.

I read somewhere that weak lats cause your shoulders to have a square look to them. If this is true, would hitting my lats hard cause them to (theoretically) pull my shoulders down?

[quote]Big Pimp wrote:
I read somewhere that weak lats cause your shoulders to have a square look to them. If this is true, would hitting my lats hard cause them to (theoretically) pull my shoulders down?[/quote]

If you train your upper back hard, you’ll have an easier time holding good posture which will generally make you look cooler. That would be more your low/mid traps, rhomboids, rear delts, etc.

Just train EVERYTHING hard and heavy and any problem whatsoever will be miraculously solved. :slight_smile:

Find a good beginner routine, stick with it, and eat a ton.

After about a year of eating right and exercising a lot my shoulders have grown wider, and it’s not just muscle. Even though I’m supposed to be done growing all my bones have grown a bit. I think we young’ins just adapt faster, in terms of muscle, tendons, and bones. Not to mention the effects that the tendons and muscles have on the bones.