| |
#3 Incline Dumbbell Flyers |
- Tips
|
- To place more emphasis on your upper pecs, don't let your palms face each other. Bend both elbows slightly, and
keep them at this angle throughout the fly exercise.
|
Starting position |
-
- Keep your incline bench at a 25° to
30° angle, and maintain the same position you used with the incline dumbbell
presses.
|
Stabilize |
- As if you didn't know already, make
sure your back is straight and flat against the bench. Tuck your chin down, but don't lift
your head off the bench. Have your feet flat on the floor, and keep them there. And
remember to keep your shoulders flat on the bench.
|
The Exercise |
- For our purposes, your palms should
not face each other; use a grip with your palms facing your feet. As you raise the weight,
try follow a triangular motion, but this time put an arc into it. Your arms will arch down
and out and then up and in. Make sure this motion goes directly against gravity, not out
over your stomach. At the top, when your pecs are tight and you're pulling the dumbbells
together over your body's midline, make sure you keep your shoulders flat on the bench!
|
Sets |
- Do only three sets. Keep it fairly
light, using a weight you can lift with strict form for 15 to 20 reps.
|
| |
#4
Cable Crossovers |
- Tips
|
- Try to use a walking stance (one foot
in front of the other) with the feet shoulder-width apart to maintain stability. Remember
that these crossovers don't really cross over. Crossing the cables decreases the emphasis
on the chest.
|
Starting position |
When you set up for this exercise, be sure to lean forward slightly.
You're at the correct angle when you feel the cable pulling against the inward motion of
your arms and hands. |
Stabilize |
Stay in this slightly bent-over position, making sure your legs are a
comfortable distance apart and your spine and abdominals are straight and tight. Stay with
the pronated grip (palms facing down), and be sure you're not using your shoulders. |
The Exercise |
Once again, to hit the chest hard, try to execute a triangular motion.
Move down and in from the shoulders to the midline of your body below your chest. Do not
cross the cables as you finish, just bring your hands close together. Stop the eccentric
portion of the exercise when your elbows reach the level of your shoulder joints. Always
remain focused on getting the maximum contraction from your pecs. |
Sets |
Do 3 sets using a weight that will take you to total failure around 12 to
15 reps. |
Caution: |
Don't walk out in front of the cable system. Just line
yourself up, and lean slightly forward. The angle will not be optimal if you are in front
of the cables. |
| |
#1 Chin-ups |
- Tips
|
This is a tough exercise, and I recommend you do it
first in your back workout. After all, it’s one exercise where you can’t reduce
the amount of weight you use. Use lifting straps or lifting nooks
for this exercise. |
Starting position |
Before you do a chin-up, let’s establish your proper grip: this grip
will ensure bio-mechanical efficiency. First, stand upright and stretch out your arms so
they’re at a 90 angle from your body and parallel with your shoulders. In other
words, you’re making a "T". Now, while keeping your upper arms in the same
position, bend your lower arms at the elbow at a 90 angle so you’re imitating a goal
post. This is the grip you should use for basic pull-ups. Contrary to popular belief, a
wider grip doesn’t necessarily equate to a "wider" back. (You should,
however, periodically vary your grip to activate different muscle fibers, but the grip
I’ve described here is a basic one that should form the "backbone" of your
workouts.) Using the grip we’ve just established, reach up and grab an overhead
chinning bar in a pronated or palms-forward position. Try to start the exercise with the
upper body angled slightly back so your shoulders allow the body to move up and down
without any kind of impediment. |
The Exercise |
Hang fully stretched from the bar. Slowly pull your body up to the bar so
your chin is over the bar. Try to touch the top of your chest to the bar. As you move
upwards, focus on pulling your elbows down at an angle towards your rib cage. Always use lifting
straps or Claw hook straps. These weightlifting accessories will help you
isolate the back muscles and take some the stress off the wrist. Pause slightly at the top
of the movement Once the lats have completely contracted at the top, slowly lower the body
to the starting position. Avoid swinging or kicking your legs or allowing them to go
straight. A partner can assist by lifting your feet for forced "reps". Chin-ups
are difficult to perform but-done correctly – they build upper-back width and
muscularity unlike any other movement. In the beginning, doing pull-ups with just your
bodyweight should suffice, but as you progress, you may want to hang additional weight
between your legs by using a dip belt. As a
guideline, if you can do more than 10 to 12 reps, it’s time to add some weight using
a dip belt. |
| Note |
If you don’t have the strength to do Chin-ups, you
can do cable pulldowns, but you won’t get the same results. It’s a good ideal to
keep working on chin-ups, since it’s such a great exercise. If you are strong enough
to do pull-ups you may still want to do cable pulldowns, albeit with a slightly different
grip, so you’re working the muscles in a different way. |
| |
#1 Straight-Bar Cable Pushdowns |
- Tips
|
While doing pulldowns pull the bar down to the top of your chest and
collarbone in front of the body- never behind the neck. Most pulldown machines are not
properly designed to go behind the neck, and they force the shoulders to undergo undue
stress, potentially leading to injury. |
Starting position |
Set the seat on the pulldown machine so your knees can slide easily and
comfortably under the knee pad. Sit on a seated "lat" machine and place both
hands on the bar using the hand position on pulldowns should be the same as with chin-ups.
However, if you were able to do pull-ups successfully, do your pulldowns using a
parallel-grip pulldown bar (most gyms carry these in two sizes – a medium-width bar
and a wide- grip bar). Various grips can be used. Gripping the bar with hands close
together (underhand grip) increases the load on the lower "lats." A wide grip
works the upper "lats". Keep your back slightly arched and in an upright
position. Maintain this position throughout the exercise – too many people sway and
jerk their upper bodies to help move the weight. |
The Exercise |
Pull the bar down to your chest with your arms held back behind you.
Slowly allow the weight to pull your arms back up into an extended position and stretch..
Avoid bending backwards too far during this movement; bending too far will prevent full
activation of the back muscles. Focus on keeping your elbows directly below the bar/hands,
and "slide" them in a groove toward your rib cage. Don’t allow the elbows
to move backwards out of this "groove" to help prevent shoulder injury. Once
you’ve contracted the lats completely, slowly let the bar move back up to the
starting position. |
| Sets |
Strive to reach total positive failure (go until you can’t do any
more) between 10 and 12 reps. Do 3 to 4 sets. Rest between 1.5 and 2 minutes between
sets. If you can do more than 10 to 12 reps, it’s time to increase the resistance. |
| |
#3 Straight-arm Pulldowns |
- Tips
|
Avoid bending backwards or forwards during this
movement. Also avoid swinging the bar and arching the back or using the legs muscles. All
of these movements will prevent full activation of the back muscles |
Starting position |
Stand in front of a lat pulldown bar with your arms outstretched
towards the bar. Grip the bar at shoulder level, palms down, using a shoulder-width grip.
Lower your center of gravity by bending your legs slightly at the knees and keeping your
bodyweight on your heels (otherwise, you’ll keel over). Find a comfortable – and
maintainable – forward tilt of the upper body. This will vary from individual to
individual, depending on your height and the length of your torso. As mentioned before,
tighten the abdominal muscles. |
The Exercise |
While keeping the elbows slightly bent and the wrists "locked,"
push the bar down and in towards your body in an arcing motion. Once you’ve
contracted the lats fully and the bar has touched or come close to your thighs, slowly
allow the bar to come back to the starting position. |
| Sets |
Do 3 sets of between 15 and 20 reps, allowing between 1.5 and 2 minutes of
rest between sets. You may not be able to use much weight on this exercise. Don’t
worry, in this case, light weight will build the lats. |
| |
#4 Seated Cable Rows |
- Note
|
Seated Cable Row exercise is a cross between power
movement and shaping movement, this exercise is exceptionally effective following
deadlifts or pulldowns. Even if you feel so sore you fear your spine is going to burst
through the skin of your back, keep going. Know why? Because, the back is the second
largest muscle group in the body. Therefore, it must receive appropriate and lengthy
enough stimulation over the course of each training session to amply build it over time.
Without enough sets and a variety of exercises the back will never develop as fully as you
might like. |
Tips |
Super-setting two movements can greatly change the character of your
workout. Use lighter weights when you’re moving rapidly from one exercise to the
next. While you’re getting a great pump, the lactic acid in your muscle cells is
slowly beginning to fatigue and break the muscle down, so using heavy weight is not only
fruitless in terms of capability, but it can also be dangerous. Versatility is inherent in
the DBT training principle. Anything goes provides that every time you move to a new
exercise, something changes to make each phase different from the last. Unpredictability
is the essence of good bodybuilding. Without variety in our workouts how could we expect
to see change within the body? |
Starting position |
Sit with your feet braced against the crossbar of a rowing machine and
your knees bent slightly. Grasp the handles. Extend your arms and bend forward until you
feel your lats stretch. You should be seated far enough from the weight stack so you can
stretch as described without allowing the weight to touch the ground. From this beginning
position, pull the handles back toward your body and into your sternum. Force your back
muscles to do most the work as you draw the weight toward you. Stick out your chest and
arch your back and try to touch your shoulder blades together. Upon completion of the
"rep" you should be sitting upright, not leaning backward. Next, while keeping
the weight under control, release your muscles slowly as you let the handles go forward
again, once more stretching out the "lat". While performing this exercise, keep
your head upright and fixed, knees bent slightly, and avoid bending forward too far or
leaning back. |
| The
Exercise |
Slowly contract the bar and pull the bar toward your stomach. I suggest
going heavy on this exercise, yet squeeze your inner back next to the spinal erectors and
surrounding your shoulder blades. Heavy seated rows cable should be preceded by light sets
focused on shaping. You might do 1 to 2 warm-up sets before really loading the stack. Try
to maintain the same form during heavy sets as you would with lighter sets. The real
challenge in changing weights and working at alternating pace. After 2 to 3 heavy sets of
seated rows, you could combine the exercise with your next exercise. One-arm dumbbell
rows. |
| Caution |
Using
too heavy a weight during a blend over row can be dangerous because the lactic acid in
your muscle cells is slowly beginning to fatigue and break the muscle down. Controlled
cheating can be of advantage when fatigue sets in. |
| |
#5 One-Arm Dumbbell Rows |
- Note
|
One-arm dumbbell rows are a great movement to use at the end of your workout.
Few other lat exercise can be adapted by use of weight and body stance to hit the entire
lat area. |
Tips |
Once
you become more advanced, try changing the plane of the exercise slightly. Instead of
simply moving the dumbbell straight up and down, lower the dumbbell at an angle, so you
lower it towards a point on the floor slightly in front of your shoulder in a "sawing
wood" motion. Always wear a lifting belt for back exercises. |
Starting position |
Find
a weight bench. Place the knee and hand on one side of your body on a bench for support.
Keep your back flat and parallel of the floor. With the opposite hand, grasp a dumbbell,
let it hang at arm’s length fully stretching the muscle. Keep your palm facing your
body throughout the full range of this exercise and keep your body steady and stationary.
Before starting, look straight down at your supporting hand, so it’s easier to keep
your spine straight (too many people round their backs, which changes the whole dynamic of
the exercise). |
| The Exercise |
Without
using any momentum, slowly lift the weight as far as you can. Simultaneously tighten the
abdominals to keep the body from rotating as you "row" the dumbbell. Pull the
dumbbell up and back toward your hips. Squeeze hard and contract the back muscle.
Concentrate on doing the work with your back, rather than your arm. Slowly lower the
weight to the starting position -don’t bounce dumbbell back up! Remember to keep the
weight always under control. |
| Sets |
Do
approximately 12 to 15 reps per side, for 3 sets, resting between 1.5 and 2 minutes
between sets. (Since this is more of an "isolation" exercise, and the last
exercise in your back workout, I want you to really fatigue your muscle fibers! If you can
do more than 12-15 reps, it’s time to increase the weight. |
