TeenBodybuilding.com - Alton Hare - Back To The Basics: Thicker More Powerful Back!

Printable page

Did you know?
Macronutrients are proteins, carbs, and fat.

Back To The Basics: Thicker More Powerful Back!

In previous back training articles my focus was a lot on machines, they were good because I was just starting back training and I needed the isolation to help create the mind muscle connection to work the back effectively. But now, as you have noticed, I have incorporated barbell bent over rows with dumbbell rows as the core of my workout. The results have been staggering, before my dumbbell row was so far below my dumbbell press, my lats were too small compared to chest, but now they have caught up, from doing 75s to 115s in sets for dumbbells and my barbell row from 135x8 to 215x5 and 225x3. Best set of 8 probably around 200x8, a 65 pound increase on eight rep max is immense. Also a 2.25" increase in chest circumference, and if you look at my rear db pic I have lats that come out some now, before I didn't include a rear pic because I simply didn't have any lat development. Well, here I'm gonna lay it all out for you.

First, descending sets work fantastic for building quick strength and mass, but you can quickly plateau on it. I've been doing a set of three, then a set of 6-10, and sometimes a third set of 8-12. It hits all the fibers and really gets a good pump. Second, do barbell bent over rows. When I first started man they were awkward as heck, not fun to do, plus the puny weight I was using was horrible, but it pays off. To do them you need to get the form down, knees bent a little, back at a 30 degree angle with the floor (so a little closer to horizontal than diagonal) and pull into your abdomen. Pull with your lats, not your arms, and keep your head up, not down, this will help keep your spine in alignment. When you hit your stomach, squeeze and hold just for a moment, then let the weight slowly down to its starting position and stretch your lats at the bottom.

Second, periodize your training, if you cease making gains on your three rep max on descending sets, go to straight sets of ascending sets. I'm about to go to a 10-8-6-4 scheme instead of my current one. Periodization is a good idea because, on low reps you tend to increase motor unit and neuron firing efficiency, which quickly plateaus, on high rep high volume routines you might get overtrained and your maximum load capacity tends to stagnate, and your myofibrils tend to grow thickest in response to maximum capacity lifts. But, they increase the amount of glycogen your muscles tend to hold, and their hydration, so they will look bigger simply from volume. This extra water and glycogen will also help you lift more.

Third, do dumbbell rows, their awesome because you get to work one side at a time and really focus on that one little area, instead of coordinating your entire back. Dumbbell rows I don't periodize, I just pick a weight and lift as hard as I can, sometimes if I don't get the reps I want I fail then wait 10 or 20 seconds and pump out one or two more to get to where I wanted. To do them you need to know the proper form. To work your right side, put your left knee on a bench and your left hand, with the elbow locked out, tuck your lower back in as far as you can and bring your chest out, keeping the back straight and flat. Pick up the weight and pull it into your right pec (working your right arm of course) and squeeze it. Do not rotate your back excessively to heave the weight up, work on just moving your arm. As you become acquainted with this exercise and get better at it you might do all your reps perfectly but want to take the set a little further and do one or two reps with some cheating to really push yourself. Make sure you feel you know enough about what your doing before you start cheating.

Finally, here are some good auxiliary moves to do after the above basics: Close Reverse Grip Pulldowns (almost a power movement on a machine since you use your biceps as much as lats), seated close grip rows, seated wide rows, hyperextensions, and one arm cable rows. You don't have to do all these, pick say, 3. You might want to superset two of them, like close rg pulldowns and seated straight bar rows, or hyperextensions. One arm cable rows are good to do without stopping, since they are low intensity and one side rests while the other works.

Advanced trainers can do what I do now, train each body part a second time during the week at a different angle or with a different purpose. Even if its still a little sore, I have found that working a different angle or doing isolation for it later in the week actually decreases soreness because of blood being pumped into the area, which clears lactic acid and brings in nutrients. Currently I do inclines for my second "feeder" workout for chest because the stress from inclines is much less than flat, fewer chest muscle fibers are involved at lower weight, and I do iso movements for my second back workout: lat pulldowns, close grip seated rows, superset hyperextensions and shrugs. I also train biceps after back now, on both days. On my heavy back day I do less biceps because they are already bombed, but on iso back day I train biceps hard. On iso back day I take few sets to failure, only trying to get a good pump and stay in the 10-12 rep range. I believe this has also helped tremendously with my newfound back development.

One final note, I have stopped doing deadlifts for a reason. I feel they have little bodybuilding value and have actually hindered my back gains. Doing them decreases all my lifts that actually build back directly, bent over row dumbbell row etc. Also, the only place I seem to feel them is my lower back, but I feel they were destructive to that area rather than constructive. The nature of the deadlift involves too many other body parts to really have bodybuilding value. I know many guys do deadlifts with success, but they might be hindering their gains. I know Ronnie Coleman does them, so who am I to renounce them? But I have, and my back has done great ever since.

beautifuldisaster420@yahoo.com