Article: Back It Up - Back Training article by ALR Athlete Kyle Harris
“Did you see the guns on that guy?”“Dang, that dudes chest was huge?”“WHOA! You have an eight-pack man!”“Bro, your delts are like melons!”
Those are all phrases we’ve either heard or said, whether it’s about
a pro bodybuilder, friend, or the local freak that hits it in the gym
you go to. I’ve heard and read these phrases ever since I was a young
child and saw Lee Haney for the first time. I think it was on TV when I
was at a friend’s house around the time I was in first or second
grade.

I’d always had an obsession with freaky, aesthetic physiques since I
was a child and thought He-Man was the absolute coolest and strongest
man on earth. That fascination only continued as I watched Superman
movies and cartoons. I always knew I wanted wide shoulders and big
guns. Something changed slightly though around the time I was in
junior high. In my friend’s parent’s basement, between sets of our
typical arm busting workouts, I would leaf through old Flex and Muscle
and Fitness magazines. Most of the time we would focus on the arm
articles and incorporate techniques to build massive guns. One day
though I was hypnotized by an article on back training. What? That’s
right! I’ll never forget the day.
The article was titled something like, “Flex’ Back.” It was a back
training article on my new hero, Flex Wheeler. The title playing on
his come back after a near death car accident and his absolutely
freakishly detailed back. From that day forward, back became my
favorite body part. My focus shifted from building huge arms to
creating a condor-like wingspan with the detail of the Rocky
Mountains. To this day, back day is my favorite and I am more
impressed with bodybuilders that sport impressively wide and thick
backs than I am with athletes walking around with huge guns or super
wide clavicles.
With my newfound way of thinking, I begin to hammer out 1-arm rows,
pull downs, seated rows, shrugs, and so forth in an attempt to build
the back of my dreams.
Fast-forward 3-4 years later. Playing baseball I tore my rotator
cuff. During a meeting with my rehab specialist, it was pointed out to
me that I had an extremely miss proportioned back. It was pointed out
that my trap area and upper back were thick and quite defined, but I
lacked width and depth in my mid and lower regions. This was causing
improper scapula movement when I threw creating extreme bursitis and
tendonitis and resulting in 2 small tears in my infraspinatus.
This rude awakening shifted my train of thought on training,
particularly my shoulder and back training. Throughout the next 5-6
years I would strategically begin a plan of attack which allowed me to
build an impressively wide, deep, detailed, and aesthetic back, most
notably a “Christmas” tree deep enough to lose your shaker cup in. The
following strategies are things that I have learned, developed, or
adapted in order to help create a back that is a secret weapon. I’ve
also accompanied a sample workout that I cannot take sole credit in
creating (my coach, friend, and mentor Eric Broser must be credited
with much of the information I have attained in back training, as well
as a credit to the workout created here).
Use Your Hands As Hooks
You’ve probably heard this one before, but it is crucial in proper
back training. When training back and performing pulling exercises,
you must envision your hands as hooks. To assist you in doing this,
utilize a false grip. In a false grip, your thumb will be on the same
side of the bar as your fingers. In fact, your thumb will be directly
beside your index finger. When in proper position, use your mental
fortitude (and imagination if you must) to picture your hands as hooks.
At this point, it is crucial to keep your wrists relatively locked
into position throughout the entire rep. If you begin bend your
wrists/hands forward, you will begin to use your forearms and biceps
and take the stress off your lats. Not good for building a BARN-DOOR
Back.

PUSH With Your Elbows DON’T Pull With Your Arms
Once you’ve mastered the ability to use your hands as hooks, the
next thing you need to do is think less about PULLING with your arms or
hands and think more about PUSHING the weight back or down with your
elbows. I often envision a pad underneath my elbows (for pull downs)
or behind my elbows (during rows). I focus on pushing this imaginary
pad down or backward to move the weight. By utilizing the false grip
and creating a mental environment of “pushing” the elbows, I’m able to
focus and using back power, not biceps power!
Initiate Movement With The Scapula
Next, when starting from the stretched position, initiate the
movement with your scapula. During pull downs, the scapula should
initiate the movement by rotating down, inward, and back. Next, you
want to lead with the elbows by “pushing” the imaginary pad discussed
earlier. For rows, you will do the same, but the downward movement of
the scapula will be much less.
Perfect Posture/Positioning
Perfect posture is essential to building a great back for multiple
reasons. First and foremost, with improper posture and body
positioning you are going to invite injury. It’s impossible to build
the perfect body or a huge back when you’re laid up. Secondly, proper
positioning and posture allows you to shift the stress and load on the
back properly, resulting in better muscle fiber innervation and
stimulation. To get into the perfect posture you must think BIG CHEST
& BIG GLUTES! Your lower back (lumbar region) should maintain an
arch. This arch should be slightly greater than your natural lumbar
curvature. Secondly, you’ll want to bring your shoulders down and back
while pushing your chest out. You will need to maintain this
positioning throughout the entire movement. This perfect posture is
even more important for exercises such as bent over rows and dead
lifts.
Feel The Stretch/Stretching Techniques
On with the movement! At the top of any back movement (except dead
lifts and heavy rowing) it is CRUCIAL to get a good stretch in the
right places. Where are these right places? Throughout the shoulder
blades and belly of the lats. This gets difficult as the weight
increases and repetitions decrease. Be careful though, because it
takes some practice to be able to maintain proper posture and perform a
full repetition to allow lat stretch and scapula rotation.
Feel The Squeeze
You’ve felt the stretch at the top of the motion. You are using your
hands as hooks. You’ve initiated movement with the scapula, and you
are pushing the “imaginary pads” back or down with your elbows. Now,
you must be sure to perform a full rep and feel a good squeeze at the
bottom of the movement. That is, after you’ve completed to concentric
part of your lift, you must squeeze the muscle at peak contraction and
hold it for up to a second. Be sure to fight and FEEL the negative
portion before you completely return to the stretch position.
Constant Tension
Although it is absolute that you build your back workouts around
basic exercises such as the dead lift, pull-up, and barbell row, you
must also include types of exercises that induce constant tension.
These are mostly exercises that assist the lifter in limiting moment to
initiate movement. The best examples are those exercises in which you
use a cable, such as seated rows and lat pull downs. When performing
these exercises, one must not forget the aforementioned principles,
and in addition, the lifter must concentrate on the mind muscle
connection to create a state of constant tension. Constant tension
refers to the muscle(s) being under stress (concentric, peak
contraction, eccentric, stretched) throughout the full duration of your
set. That means no resting or relaxing and absolutely NO cheating or
swinging, unless it is to get that very last rep. Cheating is only
acceptable after you have reached your repetition goal or if you have
reached failure at 1 repetition short of your goal.
Separate The Lats & Low Back
Another idea that I have taken to is separating my “lat” training
from my low back training. I think of my lats and low back as two
distinctive muscle groups. Is there crossover? Definitely. However,
by doing this, I can train back on a day all by itself and effectively
hit my lats (and the other muscles around there) and my low back. I do
this by performing 9-12 sets for the lats/mid traps/teres and an
additional 4-6 sets for the low back through dead lifts, rack dead
lifts, or back extensions.
Exercise Choice/Combinations/Angles
Lastly, you must realize the importance of proper exercise
selection. In a recent discussion with some friends, it was asked of
me if I believed that pull downs and pull-ups increased lat width,
while rows increased back thickness. While I am a believer in this
theory to some degree it is not that simplistic. The back is such an
intricate muscle group it’s not appropriate to attack it with this
crude mind set. I don't think you can solely categorize any back
movement into a "width" or "thickness" group. Sure, certain movements
are going to work more on width or more on thickness. For instance,
typically pull downs are thought to build width or a "wingspan". On
the other hand, rows are thought to be for thickness. However, if you
do a wide grip row, you can't tell me that that isn’t' going to
stimulate growth in terms of lat width. In the same manner, a close
grip pull down will work on thickness as well. A much better way to
think of it is in terms of grip and movement. You must work angles and
grips to effectively and thoroughly hit your back. You do not need to
hit every angle each time you work back. That's overkill. But, by
varying it from workout to workout you trick your so you do not adapt,
thus creating growth!

The Workout
*Take note that this is a sample workout. It can be used in its
entirety, but should not be the only back workout in your arsenal. Use
the ideas and principles written above as well as this template to
create back workouts that will vary from workout to workout. (*Note
that many of the ideas, schemes, and principles in this workout are
centered around Eric Broser’s Power, Rep Range, Shock training system.)
1. Reverse Grip Barbell Row – 3 Sets of 4-6 Repetitions
2. Wide Grip Pull-ups or Lat Pull Down – 1 Set of 10-12 Reps, 2 Sets of 7-9 Reps
3. Close Grip Seated Row – 1 Set of 10-12 Reps, 2 Sets of 13-15 Reps (w/ emphasis on peak contraction)
4. Straight Arm Pull Down Superset w/ Med Grip Machine Row – 1-2 Sets of 8-10 Each
As you can see you are able to attack the back with different angles
and grips here assuring that you hit eat region. Another benefit of
designing a workout like the example above is that you are able to
stimulate fast twitch, slow twitch, and those muscles that lie in
between, resulting in more growth, strength, and SIZE!
The last thing I want to touch on is a technique that I have found
to be quite beneficial to those that just can’t get back growth to
occur. This is an over-“reaching” technique. It is similar to over-training, but can result in better growth when performed properly.
To do this, an individual can increase their working set total from
the recommended 8-11 up to 16. By doing this for no more than 6 weeks
an individual can induce a myriad of anabolic events to aid in back
growth. However, if you do this for longer than 4-6 weeks you are
inviting over-training and your results will plateau and possibly even
regress.
It’s my goal that you will be able to implement the above strategies
and build a CONDOR-like wingspan, accompanied by the thickness and
detail of a chiseled mountain range. GOOD LUCK!
Article source: ALRIndustries.com