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coolcolj
New member
This gets asked a lot around here - Ian King summed it up in a nut shell!
http://testosterone.net/nation_articles/235hm.jsp
I find it interesting in much bodybuilding/strength training talk that when back is mentioned, the entire focus in on the lats. Going one step further, on chin-ups and similar! In some circles, there is the un-thought-out belief that all you need to do for the upper back is chin ups. As such, you end up seeing a lot of rounded-shoulder physiques!
However, when I hear back, I think of:
• Lower back
• Spinal erectors (the way up the back)
• Upper traps
• Scapula retractors (including the lats, but a different line of movement)
• Lats or scapula depressors
These provide a "full picture" of the back! Now I know that this might not interest the "anterior conscious" (those who only care what they look like from the front!), but for me there is no better sight than the full back development you see in pictures such as that on page 255 of Stone and O'Bryants 1987 book Weight Training — a Scientific Approach. It shows a Russian performing a 500 lb snatch high pull! This is a back you may have seen in a number of photos!
If your aim to build what I like to see in a back, and you don't train to develop all five of these groups — you are not going to optimize your back development. And here are the five corner-stone programs to any and all impressive back development:
1. Bent knee deadlift
2. Power clean or snatch
3. Clean or snatch pull or high pull
4. Bent over rows
5. Chin-ups
Am I saying if you don't deadlift or do base Olympic lifts, you may not get the back development you could? Yes!
I understand that for many of you, there may be no one you can find in your immediate area to teach you how to do the Olympic lifts. Before you come to that conclusion, do your homework, including contacting the US Weightlifting Association, to see if they have an accredited coach in your area. If you don't succeed, in the absence of Olympic work (power clean or snatch), I recommend strict (no rounding of the spine) bent-knee deadlifts. In the absence of the clean or snatch pulls I recommend explosive or normal shrugs.
And of course, you all know what a bent over row and chin-up are! Just make sure you prioritize the rows as much as you prioritize the chin. By this I mean be conscious of the relative volume and sequence of each. Row with as much volume as you chin, and for every program that the chin appears high in the sequence of exercises within the workout or week, ensure the row gets the same priority in subsequent programs.
A final comment. If you are not going to deadlift (the bent- knee type), and there is no medical reason why you shouldn't be, I am very concerned for you, not only from a visual perspective, but also from an injury prevention perspective. Did you know (in my opinion) that the bent-knee deadlift (or similar, e.g. clean or snatch) could be one of the greatest keys to you reducing the likelihood of shoulder and arm extremity injuries? That the deadlift has the ability to negate the downsides of the bench in ways few other exercises can?
Just a thought to leave you with!
http://testosterone.net/nation_articles/235hm.jsp
I find it interesting in much bodybuilding/strength training talk that when back is mentioned, the entire focus in on the lats. Going one step further, on chin-ups and similar! In some circles, there is the un-thought-out belief that all you need to do for the upper back is chin ups. As such, you end up seeing a lot of rounded-shoulder physiques!
However, when I hear back, I think of:
• Lower back
• Spinal erectors (the way up the back)
• Upper traps
• Scapula retractors (including the lats, but a different line of movement)
• Lats or scapula depressors
These provide a "full picture" of the back! Now I know that this might not interest the "anterior conscious" (those who only care what they look like from the front!), but for me there is no better sight than the full back development you see in pictures such as that on page 255 of Stone and O'Bryants 1987 book Weight Training — a Scientific Approach. It shows a Russian performing a 500 lb snatch high pull! This is a back you may have seen in a number of photos!
If your aim to build what I like to see in a back, and you don't train to develop all five of these groups — you are not going to optimize your back development. And here are the five corner-stone programs to any and all impressive back development:
1. Bent knee deadlift
2. Power clean or snatch
3. Clean or snatch pull or high pull
4. Bent over rows
5. Chin-ups
Am I saying if you don't deadlift or do base Olympic lifts, you may not get the back development you could? Yes!
I understand that for many of you, there may be no one you can find in your immediate area to teach you how to do the Olympic lifts. Before you come to that conclusion, do your homework, including contacting the US Weightlifting Association, to see if they have an accredited coach in your area. If you don't succeed, in the absence of Olympic work (power clean or snatch), I recommend strict (no rounding of the spine) bent-knee deadlifts. In the absence of the clean or snatch pulls I recommend explosive or normal shrugs.
And of course, you all know what a bent over row and chin-up are! Just make sure you prioritize the rows as much as you prioritize the chin. By this I mean be conscious of the relative volume and sequence of each. Row with as much volume as you chin, and for every program that the chin appears high in the sequence of exercises within the workout or week, ensure the row gets the same priority in subsequent programs.
A final comment. If you are not going to deadlift (the bent- knee type), and there is no medical reason why you shouldn't be, I am very concerned for you, not only from a visual perspective, but also from an injury prevention perspective. Did you know (in my opinion) that the bent-knee deadlift (or similar, e.g. clean or snatch) could be one of the greatest keys to you reducing the likelihood of shoulder and arm extremity injuries? That the deadlift has the ability to negate the downsides of the bench in ways few other exercises can?
Just a thought to leave you with!
