Different goals for upper/lower body

emmab0902

This might well be a common issue, but I have different goals for my upper and lower body. I tend to gain strength far more quicklyy in my legs, whereas my upper body (even when I was a nationally ranked swimmer) is much sloooooooower at building strength and muscle. Hence I want to work on building muscle especially in my shoulders while my lower body is more in need of maintenance. Is that doable purely by spending more time on higher weights/lower reps in the target areas and less on the areas of less need. Or does genetics largely determine where and how an individual gains strength and shape?