resistance training

For most aspiring lifters, it’s all about building a huge chest and arms. Week after week they slave away on endless sets of bench presses and barbell curls in search of the rippling muscle gains they want so badly. Not surprisingly, those gains never appear in any significant form.

It’s obvious why most lifters neglect the back muscles. 1) The back is not a “showy” muscle and you can’t see it in the mirror. 2) Back training is far more stressful and taxing to the body than chest or arm training. 3) Most lifters are simply unaware of how important the development of these muscles really is.

70% of your upper body muscle mass resides in the back area! Nothing can replace the upper body thickening effect of big, bulging lats and a set of wide, tall trapezius muscles. That’s how important your back is. I am, of course, talking about the major muscles of the back: the lats, traps, spinal erectors, rhomboids and lower back.

If you want to succeed and have a wide back, just follow these simple steps.

1) Deadlifts. I cannot possibly stress the importance of this lift enough. There is not a single exercise out there that can even come close to matching the effectiveness of a basic, bent-legged barbell deadlift. The deadlift will stimulate growth throughout the entire back complex and should be the cornerstone of your routine.

2) A vertical pulling movement. These exercises mainly target the lat muscles and will help you to attain that wide, v-tapered look from behind. You can try with lat pulldowns, v-bar pulldowns and chin-ups.

3) Horizontal pulling movement. There are a ton of different rowing movements to choose from: bent over barbell rows, dumbbell rows, seated machine rows and cable rows just to name a few.

4) A shrugging movement. While not quite as important as the above mentioned lifts, a shrugging movement should still be performed at the end of the workout to target the upper traps and develop that mountainous, diamond-shaped look from behind. A basic barbell or dumbbell shrug will do the trick.

Okay, let’s put it all together Deadlifts – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps. Overhand Chin-Ups – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps. Bent Over Barbell Rows – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps. Barbell Shrugs – 2 Sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Make sure to keep a written record of every workout that you perform, and focus each week on increasing either the weight that you lift or the number of reps that you perform within the given rep range.

What about specific routines for the chest? What about the biceps, triceps and shoulders? How about the thighs, calves and abs? Don’t worry, I will write about them in future articles.

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