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those TV psychics who, for a small fee, will tell you that your wife is cheating on you with
the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker), back training is an enigma. Given the
form that I see most trainees use in the gym, it's a wonder that any of them can start a
lawnmower without throwing their entire lumbar spine out of alignment.
I'm equally puzzled by most of the exercises performed by the majority of trainees. If they
were enrolled in a mime class, they would no doubt get high grades for their impression of a
man lifting a fat woman out of mud puddle. I, however, would give them a failing grade for
their workout technique.
It doesn't have to be difficult, though. Take the following exercises, for instance. In my
estimation, they are the top seven upper back exercises that should make up the core of your
upper back training. They are the exercises that give you the most bang for your training
buck.
Without further ado, here they are:
1) Sternum chin-ups
This variation of the chin-up, which was popularized by Vince Gironda, involves leaning
back throughout the entire movement. In this variation, the lower portion of the chest should
touch the bar.
You can use either a supinated or pronated grip, and the grip can
vary from narrow to shoulder-width (the latter being more indicated
for the stronger trainee).
As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far
away from the bar as possible and arch your spine throughout the
movement. At the upper end of the movement, your hips and legs
will be at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your
collarbone passes the bar and your sternum touches it. By the time you've completed the
concentric portion of the movement, your head will be parallel to
the floor.
If you've never seen anyone do it before, that's because it's damn
hard. I consider this movement the king of compound movements
for the upper back because it works more than just the lats. It also
creates a great overload on the scapulae retractors.
The beginning of the movement, however, is more like a classical
chin, while the midrange resembles a pullover motion. Finally, the end position duplicates
the finishing motion of a rowing movement.
If you're an advanced trainee pressed for time, I would make the sternum chin-up a staple of
your back routine. If you're particularly strong and you still find it easy, you may want to
slow your concentric tempo. One of my female assistants Jos?e Tremblay from Montreal
can do them using a 5050 tempo (that's five seconds on the way down and five seconds
on the way up). Who ever said that women can't do chins?
By the way, one of the ways that I assess the quality of a coach or personal trainer is by a
simple test. If qualified, a coach or personal trainer should be able to get a female trainee to
do 12 shoulder-width supinated chin-ups in 12 weeks that is, of course, assuming that her
bodyfat is within normal range. This test, as you can imagine, clearly indicates that there are
very few personal trainers out there who know what they're doing.
3) Subscapularis pull-ups
In this variation of the pull-up, assume the starting position of the
wide-grip pull-up and pull yourself to the bar until the upper pecs
make contact with the chin-up bar.
So far, so good just like normal. However, once you get to the top of the range of motion,
push yourself away from the bar, and lower yourself under control.
Believe me, your subscapularis muscles will curse you for the next three days because
they're strongly activated as you attempt to control the descent. I often prescribe these to
athletes who overuse variations of power snatch exercises. This movement will, in the long
run, help provide some structural balance.
this exercise, the lighter you're going to make the weight stack that's assisting you through
the concentric range. I hope, however, that this last fact doesn't come as any shocking
revelation to any of you out there.
For this exercise, I prefer to prescribe at least six sets of two to four repetitions per set.
Warning: If you experience shoulder discomfort at the bottom of the range of motion (the
hanging position), it's a warning sign that you may have less than optimal shoulder
mechanics. You may want to consult a shoulder specialist that can evaluate and correct your
shoulder mechanics.
One method of training that's particularly effective is to do 6-8 reps on the Strive machine
with a pronated grip, keeping the upper arms parallel to the ground.
Once concentric failure is reached, the athlete is then instructed to immediately switch to a
semi-supinated grip and go to muscle failure by doing another 6-8 reps.
Of course, other brands of seated rowing machines are also superior to the standard fare
found in most gyms. I like the bilateral machine made by Magnum, and the Flex machine
also has sound biomechanics.
You might realize, after reading this article, that I'm particularly partial to chin-up and pullup movements. That's true. In fact, I think that most athletes could build an impressive upper
back by using the chin station alone.
Regardless of which of these particular movements you decide to adopt and I hope you
adopt all of them I think you'll find that they're far more effective than the usual
movements.
At least, that's what the psychic hotline told m