Few Back Questions...

[WannaBPowerful]

I was wondering. What is the difference between wide grip pulldowns and close grip (hands facing each other) pulldowns? Also, is there any other way to widen your back besides pulldowns? What part of the back do rows hit, and do they help with the widening process???? THANX

 

[strong island]

No one exercise is responsible for wideness.

But by working the back with pullups, rows, deads etc. ..you will cause it to grow....and when it grows it will get wider as well as thicker.

my .02

 

[bitit]

In my opinion I would say that a great way to a wide back is lat exercises. Maybe you could try focusing on those but then again thats just my opinion.

 

[The Shadow]

Hand grip doe smatter - overhand grip on bb rows will focus on rear delts rhomboids more than an underghand grip which will hit lats themselves more.

 

[b fold the truth]

I love chins/pull downs with my palms facing...love them.

B True

 

[Dozerjay]

Closer grip seems to hit more of the belly of the muscle , wide-grip seems to hit the uppermost part of the lat right under the arm pit .

 

[Vortexx]

I am with Dazerjay here.... But mind that wide grip chins alone will not give you fully developed lats, alternate them every workout with medium grip chins. also reverse grip bent rows , dumbell rows and one-arm cable rows are excellent lat builders.

Also I noticed that free chinning is far more demanding than pulldowns but it renders better results. If you just start with them or after a short layoff, it's really hard to do a good amount of reps but you should hang in there and after a month you will do fine.

What i really like to do is some triple drop sets on a chinning station. First I lower the platform to the floor (put a plate on it to keep it down), so that i can use my free bodyweight, on failure i use the platform and the weightstack to assist me a little....

 

[Lestat]

I was going to start my own back thread but I'll add to this one:

When I workout everything besides my back.. when I am done I feel fatigued.. the muscle is drained.. and the next day its slightly sore..

But I NEVER feel this with back.. I can't get it sore.. I can't get it to feel like its been drained.. even though I can't do as many reps or anything..

I can also only do 5 pullups on my first set.. then 3.. then 1.. it sucks!!

I do wide grip pulldowns.. start with 80 then 90 then 100lbs.. but at 100lbs I can't only get like 5-6 good reps.

I do a seated row machine.. 100-110 lbs.

Sometimes I do 1 arm rows with 45lb dumbells..

I tried bent over rows on a smith machine with 95lbs..

And still my back is not sore at all! And it doesn't seem to be getting bigger either.. but the rest of my body is growing nicely.

Any advice?

brian

 

[needsize]

I was going to start my own back thread but I'll add to this one:

When I workout everything besides my back.. when I am done I feel fatigued.. the muscle is drained.. and the next day its slightly sore..

But I NEVER feel this with back.. I can't get it sore.. I can't get it to feel like its been drained.. even though I can't do as many reps or anything..

I can also only do 5 pullups on my first set.. then 3.. then 1.. it sucks!!

I do wide grip pulldowns.. start with 80 then 90 then 100lbs.. but at 100lbs I can't only get like 5-6 good reps.

I do a seated row machine.. 100-110 lbs.

Sometimes I do 1 arm rows with 45lb dumbells..

I tried bent over rows on a smith machine with 95lbs..

And still my back is not sore at all! And it doesn't seem to be getting bigger either.. but the rest of my body is growing nicely.

Any advice?

brian

It really sounds like you're not actually stimulating your back very much with your routine. That's really common for back as it can be really difficult to perform exercises in such as way that they hit the taregt area, your back, instead of other places like your bi's. That's where the whole mind/muscle connection thing comes in, instead of just going through the motions with your back exercises, focus on feeling it in your back when doing the exercise; it really made a night and day difference in my back development when I started to be able to do this properly.

One thing that's really important is too not worry at all about how much your lifting in any back exercise, it's hard enough to isolate your back without trying to lift too much weight.

Another point, is it doesn't sound like you're doing deadlifts. That's easily the most important exercise when it comes to building a respectable back, it's like trying to build good quads without squatting, it just won't happen!!

 

[Lestat]

I've tried deadlifting.... i dunno i feel like im fucking up my spine and lower back... I need a pro to show me how to in person sometime....

I need to get back to the mind muscle connection.. sometimes I am good at that sometimes not.. I used to be able to just visualize my arms as meathooks and just use my back to pull on them... kinda taking the bis out as much as possible.. I guess I proably am trying to up the weight when I shouldn't... but whenever I can do 12 good clean reps I feel like its took light since Im going for size..

I'll work on the deadlifts thing..

Thanks.

Brian

 

[needsize]

The key to deads, and I'm sure b fold will have some great hints to add, is to keep your hips low throughout the lift. When you grab the bar, drop your hips as low as you can get them, and concentrate on not letting them rise up while performing the rep, otherwise it turns into more of a stiff legged deadlift. If you keep your head up, and look either straight ahead or up, it'll help keep your back straight which in turn will keep the stress off your lower spine. But you're right, it is much easier to have someone show you how to do it in person.

 

[b fold the truth]

It takes time to feel out deadlifts...less than squats I think...but it takes time. It should hurt a bit on your back, lower back, spine, etc...it is making you stronger. It is strengthening your spine and every single muscle from your neck to your ankles...everything.

You can watch this video of me pullint 607 raw...it is fairly difficult for me and my form broke just a tad...but you can get an idea.

www.angelfire.com/journal2/bfoldthetruth/607deadlift51202.mpg

B True

 

[Lestat]

Thanks man... i'll see if I can get it down...

how many reps should i aim for in a set... you don't do it to failure either right?

 

[needsize]

Thanks man... i'll see if I can get it down...

how many reps should i aim for in a set... you don't do it to failure either right?

This'll spark another debate, I strongly believe sets of 5 reps is best, allows you to go strong but the reps are low enough to be able to maintain your form, that's basically all I ever do for deads and it sure worked for me

 

[warhawk]

Thanks man... i'll see if I can get it down...

how many reps should i aim for in a set... you don't do it to failure either right?

i agree with needsize, about 5 reps with good form. once i can do 6 or 7, i bump up the weight. it has worked well for me. good luck.

 

[b fold the truth]

Vary your reps. I increase my deadlift strength with box squats, pull throughs, rev hypers, etc...not with deadlifts. I don't do anything but singles with them but would not suggest going heavier than 5 for any reason.

I don't go to failure, unless I miss a PR attempt.

B True

 

[Lestat]

Hmm considering I don't know what box squats or rev hypers are..

 

[b fold the truth]

There might be a couple of videos of me doing box squats on my website...don't think I have any posted of me doing reverse hypers.

B True