Gently down the stream...

Switched it up a bit last week with a big volume, row-heavy back workout that led to some INSANE pump and serious soreness the next day.  Make sure to eat your carbs before this 39 set MONSTER training session. “Overtraining” is a made up fairy tale.

Probably nothing you haven’t seen before, however a few twists that made all the difference. Changing up my form on barbell rows a bit was night & day. Pre-exhausting my lats is something I have never done before but, by the time I was done with my weighted pull-ups, I could have sworn I was able to fly away…

6 Sets 10-15 Seated Cable Rows (pre-exhaustion)

Using straight bar and a shoulder-width palms-down grip. Aim directly below the belly button and sit up straight 90 degrees or with a SLIGHT recline. I suggest using straps, pull with your elbows- keep them tight, shoulders rolled back.

The idea here is that during pull-ups, even with using good form and straps, the tertiary muscles (forearms, biceps) will exhaust before your lats do. By pre-exhausting the lats beforehand, you can bring them to hypertrophy more effectively.

5 Sets of Weighted Pull-ups.

See last week’s article.

Deadlifts 15 12 8 5 5

I don’t do these every week now that bodybuilding is my main focus (rather than powerlifting). I could write a whole article about them. I still like to get down to low reps with as heavy a weight as possible. There’s a reason this movement used to be called the “health-lift” in the early 1900s.

If you’re curious about form, obviously there is no better man than Mark Rippetoe. I do these with no shoes because I don’t own lifting shoes or Chuck Taylors.

(Kind of) Pendlay Rows 15 15 12 8 6 - Form Video

I would do that form but not come to a dead stop each time (thus “kinda” Pendlay Rows). And keep in mind you are rowing towards your lowest rib- little higher.

Dug up an article that explains the form that I like better than I ever could:

Once everything is nice and tight, your back is flat and neutral, and your lats are good to go, pull the bar to your xiphoid process, or lower part of your sternum. When you pull, you want your elbows close to your body. They don’t have to be rubbing against your sides on the way up, but you also don’t want them winging out away from the bar.

Visualize gripping the bar and using your elbows to throw it back, as though you’re trying to elbow someone behind you. The barbell row can turn into more of a grip exercise, where you’re desperately trying to hang on until you reach your belly button. Feel your way through your Pendlay rows by leading with your elbows instead.

When you’re working with heavy weight, the temptation will be to cheat, by using your legs and lower back and trying to stand up. Pendlay rows should be brutally hard, and you want to struggle with those last three inches of your range of motion, instead of turning this into a lower back extension move.

In order to get the most out of those last three inches—the part where you’re going to want to cheat—try to force your shoulder blades together, and really squeeze your lats. Most people, when they’re doing any type of back exercise, never really flex their lats. Instead, the mistake everyone makes is to shove their belly down, shove their chest up, and straighten their legs. Stay in position.

 Underhand Yates Rows 15 15 12 10 8 - Form Video 

This guy is doing them real heavy- I would utilize this form but do not move your back midrow- this engages your lower back more and is cheating. However, stand up at 45 degrees and pull to your belly button like him.

I feel these in a totally different area of my back compared with the previous barbell row. Obviously the grip is different, but the difference in stance coupled with difference in where the bar is hitting (ribcage vs. belly button) really affects the lift as well. Between the two barbell rows you’ll be putting slabs on your back in no time.

T-Bar Rows in the corner 15 15 12 8 6 - Form Video

A classic mass builder. Towards the heavier sets its okay to use a little body English but don’t make a habit of it. I also like to really like to get a good lat stretch at the bottom of these. Here’s Ronnie Coleman doing about 12 plates if you need something to make you feel weak and/or motivate you.

Kroc Rows 3x20+

This article goes over Kroc Rows top to bottom. Why you should be doing them, how to program them, form, etc. The idea is to pick a weight you think you can do about 20 of, and run your back to exhaustion. I use no straps on this exercise to help my grip out a bit while I’m at it. This exercise should be enough of a staple in your back day that it’s worth reading the entire piece…written by Matt Kroczaleski himself.

Straight pulldown 5x15-20 - Form Infographic

A lat isolation exercise to put the final touches on your back day. Hopefully you’re still alive.

Pull up or shut up.

There is an exercise that I see far too many folks not giving the proper attention it deserves, or even disregarding it completely. The pull-up.

Pull-ups are the classic back builder, and have been for decades (centuries?). In such a simple movement, you activate almost every muscle in your upper body:  grip strength (hands), forearms, biceps/brachialis, traps, lats, lower back, and abdominals. You get so much bang for your buck I would be tempted to call this “the bench press of the back.” As in- this is a movement you should be putting real focus on and performing early on in your training that day- before any isolation movements or direct arm work.

Step 1 – Okay, so I know I bring my chin above the bar. But… How do I actually do a pull-up?

Use an overhand grip- palms facing out. The area for pull-ups will vary from gym to gym obviously. My gym has these thick bars on top of the set of tables with loose rubber on them for “grip.” I hate these. I really prefer doing pull-ups on a simple knurled, straight bar. Believe it or not, I put the bar on the Smith machine all the way up, lock it, and use that for my pull-ups. It’s just comfortable.

It’s okay to use straps. I don’t think any of us are doing powerlifting competitions anytime soon. We’re in the gym to work our back, not our grip strength. Your grip on your tiny fingers will obviously fail before your massive lats do, so, why not? I recommend doing some grip work later in the lift to keep yourself balanced (Kroc rows), but, for pull-ups I prefer to use the straps.

Grip the bar about shoulder width. Too wide can put excess pressure on your shoulders. Too narrow and you’re limiting the muscles you recruit to do the movement.

 

Focus on using your lats, NOT your biceps or forearms. A good mental cue here is to pull with your elbows. Think about driving your elbows downward, almost like you’re trying to hit a guy in the head that’s trying to grab you from below.

Scapular retraction. I’ve talked about this in a previous article, pull your shoulder blades together- back and down.

Pull your chest up towards the bar, get your chin over the bar, and control yourself on the way down.

Step 2 – How do you program them?

For a long time, I understood the value of pull-ups, but I just couldn't get over sets of 10. I even got up to 5 sets of 10… but I just couldn't get over that hump. Maybe 12 on my first set, but that was IT. This is very, very common. Two months ago I decided I was going to attack this movement and started reading up, reaching out to trainers, and strategizing.

My first step was to lean out a little. 5’10 225 was not a good look when trying to pull my bodyweight up.

The real revelation came when I purchased a dip belt and started doing weighted pull-ups.  Honestly, if I wanted to get stronger (aka, do more), why was I training the exercise utilizing the same exact weight every week, every rep? It makes no sense. If I want to build a big bench, should I just pop on 135 and try to do more reps each week? No, I should load a few plates on and toss some heavier iron around, increasing each working set.

Lately I've been on a big 15-15-12-8-6 kick in terms of how I do my rep schemes for compound movements. So I figured I would do something similar. For the first two sets, I would do as many pull-ups as I possibly could with bodyweight and then cheat my way to a few extra using my legs for pumping power at the bottom.

Aside: doing an actual pull-up, and cheating using leg pump, resistance bands, or jump/negatives, is INFINITELY more effective at improving your pull-up than doing lat pulldowns or the assisted pull-up machine. With lat pulldowns, they do have their place. However, doing the movement sitting down completely removes the lower back, abs, and stabilizers from the movement. No bueno. The Assisted pull-up machine keeps helping you throughout the movement while realistically you probably only need a little kick in the ass at the bottom. You read last week about cheating- it’s OK to do it on this movement to bang out a few extras. Pumping legs or wrapping a resistance band are options.. another option to push past failure if you are completely spent is to simply JUMP to the pull-up position and do a slow, tight negative on the movement.

From there, I’d simply at a 10 pound plate on my belt, and try to get within 2-3 of my first two sets.

Then another 10 pound plate, dropping the reps another 3 or so.

For the last set, I’d really overload it and do 3-5 reps.

With this said, I was starting in a decent spot. Being able to do 10-12 bodyweight pull-ups is OK, but maybe you can only do 5. Well that’s okay too. I still recommend that you add some weight, cheat a little if you need to, and really struggle with it. Do 2 or 3 at a time if you need to, rest a little, then grind out a few more. Follow a rep scheme similar to the 15 15 12 8 6, and just break the sets up with mini-rest periods. There are a lot of ways to attack it, but step 1 is to add some damn weight. If your gym doesn't have a  dip belt, or you don’t want to spring for one, you can even just hold a weight in between your sneakers or thighs.

For me, it seemed futile at first. Struggling to do a set of 5 pull-ups with a 35 lb plate around my waist. However, 8 weeks later, today my scheme was…

15 Bodyweight

12 (+3 cheating) 25lb

10 (+2 cheating) 25lb

6 (+2 cheating) 35lb

4 (+1 cheating) 45lb… then I took the belt off and banged out 12 bodyweight right after. So, on my fifth set, AFTER 4 pull-ups with 45 lb, I was able to do better than my first set from 8 weeks ago.

This doesn’t make me the best pull-up artist in the world but I was damn proud of my progress in such a short time. For cheating, that means a little leg pump at the bottom to help get me out of the hole.

In addition to all of this, aesthetically, I am seeing my back get wider and thicker, and I feel I’m getting better back days overall.

In short… take pull-ups seriously. Use good form. Add weight. Grow wings.

If you'd like to read further on the subject, here's a great T-Nation article: Take your Pull-ups to the Next Level.