The Ultimate Huge Back Superset Routine

MASS ROUTINE:

Medium-wide grip bentover barbell row, warm-up x15, 

5 sets x 10-8-6-6-4
Wide grip pulldown, warm-up x15, 4x8-10
Seated lat row, 4x10-8-6-6 supersetted with
Pullover (stiff arm or bent arm), your choice depending on shoulder structure and health, 4x10-6-6-6

REMARKS

The Bentover Barbell Row:
The barbell row is a powerful systemic movement that, like squats and deads, puts demand on the total body. Build your muscle and might over an extended period with minor weight increments and solid well-formed reps. Small thrusts are okay, but will take their toll on the low back which bears the extreme load of the highly stressed fulcrum. Be aware. Let the lumbar and erectors build in power as you slowly progress. Choose a shoulder-width stance, with your hands grasping the bar 8-12 inches to the left and right of each shoulder. Keep your back flat and rest your ribcage somewhat on the quads for some support to help relieve low back overload. Pull bar to the chest at a medium speed: high chest works upper back, mid chest - mid back, low pull toward gut - low back. Find your favorite target or vary as needed. Deep breath, stay tight. Major work, hard hat area. For more on bentover barbell rows, click here.

Medium-Wide Grip Pulldown:
Positioned directly below the overhead pulley with your arms near fully extended, pull the bar to your chin or just below as you look upward. Your back should be arched, your chest straining toward the bar with your elbows back, not forward, all positioned to fully recruit the entire lat complex - width and length.

Allow a sufficient lean and tug to accomplish your well formed reps, but no excessive thrusts. Don't cheat - no momentum - you loose. Feel, locate, pump, burn and grow.

If chins are your challenge these days, by all means do them instead.

Seated Lat Row or Long Pull (exercise 1 of superset):
The knees are out of the way, your favorite close grip handle is extended fully forward as you reach forward. Now pull the handle tightly into the waist as you arch your back to contract the rhomboids, ending in a seated upright position - very slight 5-10% lean. Very nice, have fun with the purposeful negative. No thrusting, no momentum - strictly muscle power and form. This is to be supersetted with your stiff arm or bent arm pullovers.

Pullovers (exercise 2 of superset):
The stiff arm pullover can be performed with a barbell or a dumbbell. It's a feel-good power stretch that engages the lats, the underside of the bis and tris and minor pec as it puts the rotator cuff through its ranges. Longitudinal abdominal muscles come into play to stabilize the torso.

Ok. You're lying on your back, head on one end of the bench, your feet up on the other end and a dumbbell or barbell is grasped in your hands straight overhead - your starting position. Now, take in a deep breath as you slowly lower the dumbbell with stiff arms/straight arms (elbows locked) behind your head till your arms are in line with your torso - or, parallel to the floor - now reverse the motion and return to the starting position, exhaling as you do. Pause momentarily and repeat. Great stretch, great lat pump, great relief movement that promotes posture awareness. Lots of blood circulating oxygen and nutrients to Wake up, Stimulate, Revive and Refresh.

This routine is to be performed twice a week.

Once a week at the end of your heavy leg workout, add 4 sets of power deadlifts, warmup x15, 5 sets x 10-8-6-4 reps, incrementing each set enough to make it tough, but don't draw blood.

Adds sweep, muscle mass and power packs the body.

The Deadlift Shrug Exercise Explained

Deadlifts by themselves are an incredible compound exercise which recruits nearly every major muscle group in your body. Although often considered a lower limb exercise, deadlifts have the ability to further enhance both upper body and core stability. What more could you really ask for? Now imagine if at the top of this deadlift movement you moved into a shrug. Not only does this add a further dimension to the exercise and further recruit major muscles in your shoulder and upper back region, but it also enhances your time under tension. As a result your muscular endurance levels will be elevated.

So what’s required of you during this duel movement? To commence, load appropriately a barbell and place this at your feet. Bend down and grasp this with both hands, utilising an overhand grip position. Your feet should be shoulder width apart. Maintaining your back in a neutral position, extend your hips and knees whilst driving the force through your heels. When you reach the top of your movement, bring both shoulders upwards in a controlled, shrugging motion before reversing the above movements. This is one repetition.

Deadlift Shrugs wtih Antoine Vaillant, Skip to 6.22


AND...
There you have it, the incredible deadlift and shrug combination movement. In a world where everything is governed by time, don’t allow your training sessions to suffer. All that’s left now is for you to think up a few more killer combinations of your own. Happy training #BeastGang

Want A Hugh Back Try These 5 Exercises

How many times have you looked around the gym and seen individuals with a huge chest and a practically non-existent back? It appears more and more individuals are only targeting the so called ‘beach muscles’ whilst at the same time neglecting other key body parts such as Back and Rear Delts. Not only does this look irregular to the eye, it can also create muscular imbalances and subsequent injury. And this seems to be a common scenario.

However, a cure can be found in the shape of these 5 key back exercises:

5 Exercises To Build A Bigger Back

1. Wide grip pull-ups: Be honest, how many of you thought dead-lifts would be first up? Truth be told, there’s no greater exercise to develop back width than the wide grip pull-up. Add further resistance ( with a Chained belt to add weight ) and you've got an exercise capable of giving you wings that can fly!

2. Dead-lifts: No back workout would be complete without mentioning this exercise. If you see someone with a massively dense back then you can guarantee dead-lifts will feature heavily in their workout. It also aids support to your key core muscles so it’s a win win. I must admit I am ADDICTED to deadlifts.

3. Bent over Row: The positioning of this exercise relies heavily on your core muscles and you may initially want to utilise a bench. Further variation can also be achieved by switching between dumbbells and barbells. The end results will be a huge middle back!

4. Lat pull-down machine: OK, so this exercise might not be as effective as the wide grip pull-ups, however, the bonus here is that variation can easily be achieved by altering your grip between wide, medium, close and reverse to hit the various regions of your back.

5. Shrugs: You may be thinking to yourself; ‘shrugs aren’t a back exercise’. It is important to remember however that some muscles have anterior and posterior elements, of which the Trapezius muscle is one, with the posterior region covering the top of your upper back.

And...
There you have it, 5 big exercises to get your back musculature working. Now you have the tools you need, why not put them into practice and start reaping the rewards. Go get it.

The Seated Cable Row

Set the appropriate weight on the weight stack and attach a close grip bar or V-bar to the seated row machine.
Grasp the bar with a neutral grip (palms facing in).
Keeping your legs slightly bent and your back straight, pull the weight up slightly off the stack. You should be sitting straight upright with your shoulders back. This is the starting position.
Keeping your body in position, pull the handle into your stomach.
Pull your shoulder blades back, squeeze, pause, and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.
Repeat for desired reps.

​Exercise Tips:

Your back must remain straight at all times. Your torso should be kept still throughout the entire set.
Don't let your shoulders hunch over when your arms are extended.
Use the back muscles to move the weight - do not lean forward and use momentum to swing the weight back.
Pausing and squeezing at the top of the movement for a 1-2 count will increase intensity and results.

Want bigger LATS?

Many bodybuilders complain that they cannot feel their lats during workouts. The problem is that most rely too much on their biceps and forearms—and not on their 
lats—to pull the weight. 

A study from University of South Carolina Upstate (Spartanburg) shows that you can better target the lats with correct focus. The researchers had women perform the lat pulldown with just basic instructions or with verbal instructions on how to focus on the lats and minimize arm involvement. They measured the muscle activity of the lats with electromyography during each attempt. 

They found that although the muscle activity of the biceps remained the same in both trials, the muscle activity of the lats increased by about 20% when the subjects received specific instructions. So, focus on pulling with your back instead of with your arms by squeezing your shoulder blades together and concentrating on the tension in the lat muscles.