Being Top heavy

Being "top-heavy" according to Arnold, is having a large upper body and a disproportionately small lower body. Smallish thighs coupled with very large arms makes for an asymmetrical physique.

Being top-heavy is almost never seen in women. Women get a surge of testosterone during puberty that makes their muscles larger. There are some women who never lift and they have bigger leg muscles than men. But it's almost never the case that women end up top-heavy.

The situation seems vastly different in men.

Comparing the legs and arms, the biceps and the calves should be about the same size while contracted.

If the arms are as large or even larger than the thighs, it's time to change the old workout routine.

Training large muscle groups during compound movements releases hormones (HGH and T) that make the entire body bigger.

The legs have to be large for the upper body to become large, in a naturally developed person.

Sometimes top-heavy physiques can be the result of excessive effort toward making the pecs, biceps, shoulders bigger by brute-force hard work. But that case is rare compared to the much more common case of the guy who is taking steroids yet the only exercises are upper body exercises. I read an anecdote about a guy taking steroids who would habitually chew gum on only one side of his mouth. His jaw developed asymmetrically, distorting his face.

Doing dozens of sets of curls, spending hours of workout time doing isolation movements, is inefficient, most especially for guys who do not experiment on themselves with hormones.

If one trains the upper body very hard, putting in much exertion into his efforts, his pecs, biceps, and back will a bit bigger, but that's it.

If one trains the lower body with intensity* during every leg workout, then his legs and hips will get bigger, and also, his pecs, biceps (upper body), will get bigger.

Instead of heading down the road to becoming top heavy, plan a little bit better; notice that you get two birds for the price of one stone (the amount of time and energy you are investing) by focusing most of your effort on training legs and hips and back.

Sometimes the best way to make the upper body bigger is to give the upper body a rest for a while and train the legs and hips.

For muscle mass, choose to do compound (more than 1 joint) exercises. The body is one piece, and training should reflect that. Do not do 'bodybuilder' splits unless you are indeed a bodybuilder and have extra 'androgenic anabolic supplements' to back them up. Pick from the following for lower body: deadlift, squat, isolateral leg work (one leg being worked at a time). For upper body: overhead press, bench press, chin, and row. Any of the previously listed exercises will do, ie. sumo deadlift, front squat, incline bench press, dumbbell row. Don't forget the Olympic lifts, which have the highest degree of transferability to real life. As they are too complex to be discussed here, Google them! link "How to Build up Muscles" wikiHow

intensity* - I'll get to what intensity is, one day