Nick W.’s BodyBlog

From Lee Haney to Ronnie Coleman, just about all of the Mr. Olympias have been known for their massive backs. The back will make or brake your physique. They push the triceps out on the relaxed pose and broaden your shoulders. Along with making you appear much larger and wider they also help with most lifts. Your bench if greatly affected by your lats. Along with having a great back you will find that they (Mr. O’s) all stuck to the basics. Dont get caught up in the hammer strength machines and cables. Also dont focus too hard on strict form. Allowing a bit of a sway is more than okay as long as you get a good squeeze and controll the negative. Of course this doesnt mean to just throw the weight up, but a little lee way is appropriate. Another big mistake is people see straps and a belt as a weakness. This is far from true. Your back is a large and very strong muscle group, MUCH stronger than your forearms. Your back will be able to lift much more than your forearms will allow. So wear straps! Your focus on back day should be on BACK not forearms. If you want a strong grip do wrist curls.
       My lats are among my strongest muscle group in both strength and appearence. if you look at the lat spread shot from the NPC Rhode Island Muscle you will see that although my arms/chest arent as developed as the over all winner, my lats match his completely. The other day a friend of mine from school who is one grade above me hit back with me at my house. He has been lifting a little longer than me and is a pretty big guy, and we ARE friends but not BEST friends, so there was the feeling of having to show each other up. We pushed each other, and in turn I had the strongest workout to date. Keep in mind at this time I weighed no more than 155lbs. Here is the routine I did…

Wide Grip Lat Pull downs: 100×15, 125×12, 150×11, 165×8-10
Bent BB Rows: 135×12, 185×12, 185×15, 225×10, (275×2)= occasional maxout
T-bar Rows: 2px15, 3px12, 4px10, 5px8….(p=45lb plates)
Stiffleg Deadlifts: 135×6, 225×6, 315×6, 365×2,

(Would usually do one other excercise like DB rows w. an 80lbs, before deads but kept it shorter and did something different at the end).

THE DIFFERENCE: Previously the most I got out of BB rows was 185×6-8, and 225lbs for 6 reps, now I got 185×15, and 225×10-12. I will shoot for 400 on deadlifts shortly.

I will continue to compete AFTER the summer, I will keep you all posted.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.