BLASTING MY BACK

[bigsexy74]

hey does anyone have any suggestions on how to really blast my back, i have been able to get a good pump in all other body parts. i can only do 2 pullups( yes sad i know but im working on it). back routine is as follows

reverse grip pulldowns
deadlifts
bent over rows
seated cable rows

i feel good after a back workout but i dont get the good sore feeling or should i not be feeling that? thanks

 

[marco wolf]

When doing your reps, hold in the contracted position for anywhere from 2-6 seconds. Start at two and work up if need be. You'll use less weight, but get a better feel for the muscles.

 

[Resolve]

Deadlifts, weighted chins, rows - all in large doses.

 

[doingwork30]

A good way to raise your number of pullups and blast your lats is negative pullups, jump to the top and then lower yourself really slowly and repeat. if you have a dipping belt, strap some weight on and feel the burn. its an insane pump.

 

[bigsexy74]

alright, thanks guys, i will try to implement some of these ideas into my routine

 

[thapr3dat0r]

I had the same problem. Trying to smoke my back but never getting sore or feeling satisfied with my back workouts. Then I started deadlifting and that all changed. But if your deadlifting and still not getting sore, try concentrating on your back muscles while you lift and do your lifts slowly and very controlled. Like mentioned previously, focus on the negative part of your lift. Also try doing your back workouts but trying to not use your arms.

 

[Chubbinmuffin]

Try bent over dumbbell rows. I can feel it a lot more with dumbbells than a bar.

 

[bigsexy74]

Try bent over dumbbell rows. I can feel it a lot more with dumbbells than a bar.

will definitely try that also

 

[wearedbleedblue]

I had the same problem. Trying to smoke my back but never getting sore or feeling satisfied with my back workouts. Then I started deadlifting and that all changed. But if your deadlifting and still not getting sore, try concentrating on your back muscles while you lift and do your lifts slowly and very controlled. Like mentioned previously, focus on the negative part of your lift. Also try doing your back workouts but trying to not use your arms.

You started getting sore in your back from deadlifts? I always thought deads were a posterior chain exercise i.e. hams and glutes. I've been sore many a time in my glutes and hams, never in my back from deadlifts.

 

[Cllake]

A good way to raise your number of pullups and blast your lats is negative pullups, jump to the top and then lower yourself really slowly and repeat. if you have a dipping belt, strap some weight on and feel the burn. its an insane pump.

Never thought about that, thanks fo the post.

 

[Turkelton]

You started getting sore in your back from deadlifts? I always thought deads were a posterior chain exercise i.e. hams and glutes. I've been sore many a time in my glutes and hams, never in my back from deadlifts.

ditto...my back only got sore from deadlifts when I was still learning and my form sucked

 

[Rodja]

ditto...my back only got sore from deadlifts when I was still learning and my form sucked

The worst/best soreness I get in my back is from 10-12 sets of sumo deadlifts.

 

[thapr3dat0r]

You started getting sore in your back from deadlifts? I always thought deads were a posterior chain exercise i.e. hams and glutes. I've been sore many a time in my glutes and hams, never in my back from deadlifts.

Yep. Posterior chain doesn't end at the waist tho. It also includes your erector spinae and trapezius, does it not? But I'm no personal trainer. IMO, if your traps and lower back aren't getting sore from deads, something is wrong. Just my opinion, I guess everyone is different. I also squeeze up and back at the top of my deadlift, so I dunno. Maybe my back is just weak and catching up to my hams and glutes. I really only kill my hams with stiff-legged deads and glutes with squats.

 

[Mulletsoldier]

You started getting sore in your back from deadlifts? I always thought deads were a posterior chain exercise i.e. hams and glutes. I've been sore many a time in my glutes and hams, never in my back from deadlifts.

With proper form, one should have a relatively sufficient activation of the trapezius and rhomboids during full extension of the deadlift. If you are not (in some way) activating at least those muscle groups in the back, your center of gravity may be too forward, or you are not taking the lift to full completion. Which isn't to say that the legs will be more activated than the back, which is the case, but simply that some activation should be occurring regardless.

 

[wearedbleedblue]

Ideally you'd like to keep your scapulae back and down during deadlifts, which should ideally turn off a lot of trap activation. Most people are over developed in the traps and not developed enough in the scapular retractors anyways. The "lower traps" as they're called sometimes.

 

[WarMachine000]

Try bent over dumbbell rows. I can feel it a lot more with dumbbells than a bar.

On my last set of those yesterday I tacked on two dropsets- killer!
As for the pullups, when I was young I had a hard time with them. I put a chair under and behind me with my toes on it. When I couldn't get any more, I would push with NY toes just enough to help(like forced reps). After a couple of weeks I noticed a difference!

 

[bigsexy74]

alright, so tonight i did the db rows....holy sheet.... i really felt that, it was such a great range of motion, i pulled my shoulder blades together and held it for a couple seconds. that really did the trick thanks boys

 

[TheLastRonin]

Deadlifts, weighted chins, rows - all in large doses.

..x2

 

[bigsexy74]

..x2

ya deadlifts are already included in my back routine. can't do more than one chin or pullup hence the alternatives until i drop some more weight.

 

[TheLastRonin]

ya deadlifts are already included in my back routine. can't do more than one chin or pullup hence the alternatives until i drop some more weight.

Ah yes I see now. It'll come man.

 

[TheLastRonin]

Ideally you'd like to keep your scapulae back and down during deadlifts, which should ideally turn off a lot of trap activation. Most people are over developed in the traps and not developed enough in the scapular retractors anyways. The "lower traps" as they're called sometimes.

Your lats are acting isometrically in humeral extension with a lot of weight. If you lift heavy an with proper form, you work the lats.

Here is another explanation by MR;

"The trapezius has the broadest muscle origin in the human body. It goes all the way from the base of the skull down to T12. It receives the force that the rigid spine transmits, the force generated by the muscles that open the knees and the hips. That force is then transmitted across the traps and the rhomboids to the scapulas. What hangs from the scapulas? The arms. And then if you’ll look at it, every single time you see somebody pulling a heavy bar off the floor—every single time—it’s the scapula that is plumb to the bar, not the arms. Why would that be? Because the scapula is the thing below which the bar hangs. The tensional force of the weight in the hands is transmitted between the scapulas and the grip by the muscles, ligaments, and tendons that anchor the bones in place isometrically. The traps and rhomboids transfer the force to the scapulas; the triceps, biceps, forearm muscles, grip muscles, and the ligaments and tendons form the chain from which the weight hangs; and the lats act on the humerus to keep the arms at the angle they have to be to place the load directly under the scapulas."

 

[ItsHectic]

While we are on the topic of the scapula, a while back I had to see a physio because my shoulders clicked on side raises, I got given a few exercises to do which some of them seemed a waste of time, with the idea from some of the exercises I was given I developed my own exercise to balance scapula strength, not sure what muscle it isolates but if I had to guess I would say the rhomboid major.

Get a high pulley and stand sideways to it with the pulley at its highest position and grab it with your closest arm straight beside you pointing towards the pulley with your hand just above shoulder height so arm at about a 50degree angle and using only your scapula pull towards you with tension kept throughout the whole set, reps should be around 5-10.

Its the same motion you do when you hold your scapula in/down for chest and shoulder work etc but rather than doing a hold you are actually strengthening it directly.