| Baby Got Back |
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Page 1 of 3  Learn everything you need to build a wide, meaty back that will leave you walking sideways to get through the doorway.This was article was inspired from a conversation I had with Erik Ledin, CSCS, CISSN (Lean Bodies Consulting) a while back. A massive back is a beautiful thing. Like Michelangelo's statue of David, it is a work of art. Some of the greatest bodybuilders - Ronnie Coleman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dorian Yates - all possessed well developed backs. Their backs were both wide and thick, giving a depth to their physiques that many pros lack nowadays. So choose one and stick with it. There are three main grips that can be utilized when lifting: 1. Supinated grip means palms facing your body. 2. Pronated means palms facing away from your body. 3. Semi-supinated (neutral grip) means palms facing each other. Examples of each grip used in an exercise would be: pull-up uses a pronated grip, palms facing away from your body while chin-ups use the other two grips. Dealing with Deadlifts Straight Legged Deadlifts/Regular Deadlifts Straight Legged Deadlifts/Regular Deadlifts are decent for the hip extension function, and therefore the lower back, but not so much for great upper back development, at least comparatively speaking. Regular Deadlifts Regular deadlifts are a 'hip dominant' exercise. They hit the whole posterior chain - from hamstrings up to traps. They are the King of back development. Deadlifts should be performed first in your back workout, as they require appropriate motor control of multiple muscles. In other words, if you choose to do them down the line in your list of exercises, the chances of injury will increase. You can be pretty sure you're doing it right if you're getting war-wounds on your shins. It's basically a sign that the bar is staying really close to your body. Try to keep your sets short for two reasons: 1. It is a complex movement and form tends to break down with higher reps. 2. It is a strength movement. Your goal is to get strong on this exercise. Keep the reps under 5 with regular deadlifts. You can go higher with SLDLs/RDLs as the weight you will be using is not as heavy and as taxing as a regular deadlift is on the body. Rack Pulls A rack pull is performed like a regular deadlift, except off pins. Click here for a graphical example of rack pulls Pulling from the floor presents a greater challenge. The weight travels a greater distance, and the glutes and hams are targeted to a greater degree. If you choose to pull from pins, focus on your back. This is essentially what’s working on the upper portion of a deadlift. Also, because the range of motion is shorter you should be able to lift a bit heavier. You can vary the pin height, but try not to do it set-to-set or workout-to-workout. This has to do with being able to accurately gauge progress. Changing things too frequently will make tracking progress from a strength standpoint more difficult. Stick with something for four weeks, and then switch it up a bit. Building This into a Workout Try pairing a horizontal pulling workout with horizontal pushing (chest) and the vertical pulling with vertical pushing (shoulders) to ensure that the volume around the joints is kept constant. This is assuming that muscle groups are being trained once per week. An upper/lower split or an undulating split (with increased frequency, where everything basically gets hit twice per week) is better for hypertrophy. The one thing you have to consider when doing this is that the volume per body part per workout is lowered, but the weekly volume stills allows for an adequate growth stimulus to occur. |
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