engineer88’s BodyBlog

After being out of the game for a couple of years my perspective has changed somewhat, which is good.  I have been switching some things up, doing unorthodox or what I would have once considered weird things to hit my target muscle groups.  This has been a good thing for me.

So I really needed an exercise to target the outer lats since cable pull downs are not possible for me.  What I settled on was a variation of the dumbbell row in which I keep my torso turned partially towards the ground and row the weight into my ribs.  It works decently and I have a nice sore back to show for it.  =)

Here is my complete back workout now (not including Triceps which I also do on back day):

Deadlifts

Barbell rows wide grip

Barbell Rows reverse close grip

Modified Dumbbell Rows

Reverse Incline Flyes

I typically do one set of 24, 1 of 8-10 and 1 of 4-6.  The 24 set gets me good and gorged with blood as well as warmed up, however the weight is targeted to make me barely be able to finish as well as the 8-10 set.  I do the 4-6 sets a bit fast on the first leg of the rep and very slow when lowering and I pile on as much weight as possible.  The pumps and pain I get from doing it this way are amazing!

Well, since I am working out at home, I have some limited access to equipment obviously.  I miss belonging to a gym because even though I favor free weights, I still used machines for about 20-25% of my various workouts.  Machines like seated calf press, tricep pull-downs and reverse flyes are hard to replicate at home.

One of my biggest issues was back day.  I missed my T-Bar Row and cable pull-downs.  I have just honestly never felt like the dumbbell rows hit the back that well, which is odd because normally I favor dumbbells over barbells (I don’t even do chest presses with the bar, ever - only dumbbells).  Maybe I am doing them wrong, maybe I am too picky, but no combination allowed me to hit all of my back like I wanted too.

Well, after fooling around with some angles and hand grips I found two great exercises to work mid back.  Lower I have covered with deadlifts and upper with bent over reverse flyes.  What I found was that wide-gripped barbell bent-over rows and close grip with the hands in the reverse position were just what the doctor ordered.  It worked outer and inner mid back like a champ.  If you have not tried these two I would definitely recommend it, especially if you are working out from home and have limited access to machines.

I will probably add rows back in next week but do a slight variation (the angle of motion you use) just to add some width and get a little v-taper going on and hit those outer lats a bit more thoroughly.