Back Development Advice

I have been lifting for over 30 years now and this has to be some of the best advice I have seen in a mainstream muscle mag.

"I am trying to bring up my back on width and thickness. What type of exercises should I be doing?"

Answer by Hany Rambod:

For back width, nothing beats pull ups. Lat pulldowns are a good exercise, but they simply don't compare to pull ups, which are far more difficult and thus more productive. For back thickness, it's all about various free weight rows. (snipped). Deadlifts can also be a valuable tool for building a thicker back, but only when done with proper form. I've seen many bodybuilders injure their lower backs because they simply didn't know how to do the exercise correctly, and made common mistakes such as rounding the back.

Everyone who wants to add deadlifts to their back program should seek out an experienced trainer who can teach them proper technique. With that done a comprehensive back routine would include pull-ups, some type of barbell or dumbbell row, lat pulldowns, perhaps cable or machine rows, and deadlifts.

My one tweak is the free weight aspect of rows should be replaced by the many excellent back supported rowing machines out there. Protect that lower back!

What he states on deadlifts is spot on. Deadlifts done improperly can wreck you big time. Rounding the back and "parachuting" the deadlift will wreck you long term as well. Well, the majority of people that is.

How To Transform Your Physique #89

Winter is here. Ugggh. I have come to really hate winter.  I grew up in northern Michigan and snow. I went to college in the snow belt of Michigan Tech in the Western UP of Michigan. And, now, I am still in snow and ice and cold today.  Winter is a time for my cardio workaround as well.  Pushing or pulling the sled just doesn't work in the snow and ice.  I've tried. So, my workaround is jogging.  Today there is a below zero temperature with winds up to 40 mph.  No matter. I went out and did a mile.  I don't jog all out per say. That is go to the max and try and be Mr. Distance. I am just trying to keep some cardio during the winter months and burn a few calories.  Again, for health reasons.  It wasn't bad at all and traction was good due to some Yak Trax Pro's.  Plain and simple, these things work.  I have recommended them in previous years and it still sticks.  You can get a pair online and can see the product here.  You still need to be careful for ice spots and slick areas when jogging even with these on your feet.

The Holidays are again right around the corner.  My recommendation for eating still holds.  One or two days of eating anything you like won't kill your physique or put a load of body fat on you.  As long as you don't continue the "cheating" you'll be right back on track in about the same number of days you cheated. You'll likely gain a bunch of water so don't even worry about weight gain.  You should not be relying on the scale anyway for any assessment of your current condition.  It is just another data point.

I've continued doing mostly body weight exercises mainly due to convenience and I don't want to have any spine bearing exercises anymore.  Once I go back to a gym I'll be using machines.  I really continue to like the Hammer Strength plate loaders.

For you younger lifters, I can't emphasize enough that you need to get in control of your eating when you are young.  Because as you start to age, the number of calories you can take in without gaining fat will decrease.  You can see it all the time. You see it in actors. You can see it in co-workers. In family.  People have the tendency to get fat over time and with age.  They don't change their eating habits or really don't have them in order as they age.  You can not eat like a 20 year old when you are 45!

What's also interesting right now for me is that I am holding more muscle than I would think I would hang onto. I weigh about 190lbs and most people when I ask them would think I weighed 170.  I suppose that's good because of having a lower body fat.  I am not really eating that much for the majority of the week calories wise. The bummer thing about it is that I haven't really been able to lose much more body fat. I think I'd have to go completely bonkers with my training and mock entering a bodybuilding competition to go lower in body fat.  Hardly worth the effort given if I would have to work so hard to do it, it's not likely I could easily maintain it!

I've found a quick meal oatmeal that is really good. It's by Better Oats. I like it for a bunch of reasons.  First, it has no sugar.  Second, it's low in calories.  Third, you get fiber.  Fourth, it's portioned controlled.  Fifth, it's fast at only 90 seconds.  I do only the no sugar kind. You can take a look at it here.

Well, that is about all for now.  Just remember what I believe is one of the most important parts of a good program and it is not about the exercises, number of days, etc.  Whatever YOU do....be CONSISTENT.  String together weeks and months of never missing a workout or straying too far from your diet.

How To Transform Your Physique #88

I was recently reading where a guy lost weight on a junk food diet. That was no surprise.  As I have said before in this column, it really is calories consumed versus calories burned.  It really sucks getting old with respect to the ability to burn calories.  Is it a coincidence that as people age they gain weight?  It's like an epidemic.  How many people actually lose bodyfat as they get older?  Hardly ANY!

I've seen some pretty radical training routines over the years.  Everything still will work...for awhile. And, that includes such radical programs.  Any radical program in volume or intensity cannot be done for long periods.  The nervous system will break down and you will feel sluggish and without "snap" during your sets.  This tends to lead injury from my experience.  In other words, the nervous system tends to go before injury occurs.

I was recently commenting on a YouTube video of a national level powerlifter.  I made the comment he was dropping his shoulders (he was) in the bottom and he ended up back lifting his squats.  Of course the first person to comment basically said "He's a top level powerlifter...who are you to tell him how to squat!"  Ok, great. Just like the biggest guy in the gym is the most knowledgeable. NOT!  All I was doing was trying to help the guy avoid some pain in 20 years.  But, hey, who am I to talk. I don't squat as much as he does.  :)

Boy, there are a lot of people around me having health issues. The majority of them are of the age 45-50 years old. Tumors on the brain. Tumors on the pancreas. Growths here and there.  What the heck!?  One person that is a neighbor literally has a couple days to live. Just a week ago he had months.  Cancer yet again.  It sure drives home the fact of not taking for granted your health.  And, we all do it. Until something goes wrong.

I've visited a few college gyms recently.  What was interesting is that there were very few machines.  I think it was part philosophy driven but also cost and space driven.  Hey, I am a barbell and dumbbell basement dweller so that was OK with me.  Not that I won't be changing my tune here in about 9 months when my daughter goes away to college. :)

Winter is arriving. This means I am switching to some non-optimal jogging.  I am not going to let my Sorinex Root Hog get trashed in the Iowa winter by any means.  Unlike the past years. It was also very hit or miss due to the weather and what the ice and snow (and sand and salt!) was like on the roads.

The holidays are around the corner. This means a lot of temptation to stray from the normal diet.  What is your strategy for the holidays with respect to diet? Shoot me an email at editor@cyberpump.com and let me know and I will share it with the other readers.

How to Transform Your Physique #87

I recently visited a commercial gym to work out. My son was home on the mid-term break and since his program via the track team is somewhat different I figured we would go have some fun at a local gym.  The facility itself had a lot of space which was nice.  It was very wide open.  They had an assortment of machines, Hammer Strength, and of course free weights. The free weight section was actually sub-par with only one squat rack. It was also in a smaller type room.  The bars were typical -- the weren't very good.  A good bar is the foundation of using free weights but you'll often find them to be cheap and without good knurling. At least that's been my experience over the years.  When I was going to college, it was much the same when I first got there. The bars were crap. My first duty as a member was to recommend we purchase Texas Power bars.  And, we did. Thank goodness!  Bent bars are even worse.  At least these bars were not bent.  My son is actually able to use chalk in his college weight room. Amazing!  That's another issue with a lot of commercial gyms due to the mess it can create. I can see their point, but when you have crappy bars with crappy knurling, holding onto the bar can be an issue in lifts like deadlifts. 

There were no suprises at the gym. You can always find people doing more talking than training.  You won't find an abudance of people working out intensely either.  At this stage of my own training, I find myself pretty flexible.  Many people and younger trainees get hung up on finding the perfect program.  What split should I use? How do I build my biceps?  Should I train this bodypart with that one? Heck, people even think that doing exercises like squats and deadlifts on the same day is taboo and they "won't have energy" to do both.  My goodness!  Won't have energy!? 

Let's talk about biceps development for example. Many trainees won't believe you don't need a ton of direct work if you are doing exercises like rows and chins.  I was reading an online bodybuilding forum and one of the top Mr. Olympia bodybuilders even said he never worked his biceps directly until just before a contest. And, he undoubtedly has some of the best arms in bodybuilding today!  So, what to do for biceps? This curl, that curl, blah blah blah.  Yes, do curls. That's good.  It really doesn't matter if you are seated, use a machine, bar with weights, stand on your head, or do it in a vacuum.  Use full range of motion. Pick an exercise and work them.  Pretty simple eh?  How's this for the best exercise...do the exercise you enjoy doing the most. What a concept eh!?  How often?  Who cares!  Are you really going to do them 7 days a week? Of course not. No one is that stupid.  Ok, that leaves...errr...ummm....a couple times a week. Great! Sounds good. :)  Boy, that's complicated eh?  There's so many excellent biceps machines out there why would you even need to use free weights? Unless you enjoyed using them more, right?  It's up to you.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Worry about being consistent if you are going to worry about anything.  Worry about using TRUE proper exercise form.  Worry about warranted progression.  Warranted progression is true progression.  It comes in SMALL increments. It's not "going up in weight" and "going down in exercise form" that you so often see!

Until next time...don't sweat the small stuff. This is simple stuff. Don't make it complicated.

How To Transform Your Physique #86

So I was watching some videos on YouTube and happened across a back workout of Branch Warren who is one of the top bodybuilders right now.  The first thing I noticed was how sloppy he was in some of his exercises.  Take his back for example.  In the video below you'll see pulldowns that would get most of us eventually injured. Heck, it may injure him too at some point.  There is no where near the amount of routine, supplements, exercises to use, when to workout, etc. information as compared to "HOW" to perform the movements effectively.  To this day, I am at a loss as to why this is the case.  Check this out:



I was watching Fred Fornicola do a high intensity back workout on YouTube. Yes, he demonstrated it. But there was no description as to what he was doing at the time with his body. Was he trying to keep his elbows in? Contracting his lats? Wondering what he was going to have for lunch? HAH! He went thumbless? Why?  What about breathing?  How about overall body position during the movements?  You'll see him observing his body at the start of the chins. What was he looking at?  What was he checking?  How did he know how to stop.  Now, I am not busting Fred's chops (ok, just a bit!), but this is actually better than most for what you see with respect to really focusing on how to perform the movement in detail.



Proper form is at the foundation of the successful strength training routine.

How To Transform Your Physique #85

The last 3 days I did a little experiment. I pushed the sled 3 days in a row. And, I seemed to get in better shape each day believe it or not.  Yes, I had to be VERY careful but the sled allows me to be very deliberate and high intensity without worrying about tweaking something. Pushing the sled is like doing sprints...but I am basically walking!  I didn't expect to adapt as fast cardio wise. My recovery time was reduced each day.  I obviously cannot keep this up, but this again points to the ability to do short bursts of higher frequency to get the body to make some gains.  I am trying an experiment in the bench press for the next month.  Keep in mind that my mind is pretty open about workout routines as anyone who has seen my KTA program can attest to this.  KTA is really a shocker program based on the Blacksmith theory as I call it.  Old time Blacksmiths didn't have the option of resting a day in between sessions. They were right back at it. And, they adapted.  I do believe the hands and forearms are somewhat unique though. After all, we use our hands and forearm muscles constantly during the time we are awake.  Even in the shower, shaving, and brushing your teeth...you use your hands. 

The "rebound effect" is something that can be manipulated but it can be very much hit or miss unless you have a very well thought out and disciplined program.  Train too much into overtraining territory and you might get injured or be too far into the hole to recover and rebound.  There are also a lot of other variables that can put a monkey wrench into this tricky tactic for gains.   So, I am experimenting with short and radical routines a bit and using myself as the lab rat. :)

I forgot to mention I even added weight to the sled in the course of the 3 back to back days.  My body obviously got the message it needed to adapt and adapt NOW. I don't expect it to continue and won't be stupid and continue to pull sled again tomorrow or the next day.

How to Transform Your Physique #84

Boy, time sure is flying by. Pretty soon snow will be here. I am already thinking about ways to jog/run the hill in the winter time. There is no way my root hog will be left out in the garage during the winter.  Or, if it is it will be covered up and not used with all the sand and salt.  We continue to really like the lawn mower push with the Root Hog. It really blasts your upper body as well as lower body. 

I have really noticed that it's getting harder to drop that last portion of bodyfat compared to 5 years ago. Ah, it sucks getting old. ;)  I have been working very hard with hill running and the root hog.  And, of course mostly bodyweight strength training.  I again notice I don't need to eat very much to sustain myself.  It also reminds me of how much I used to eat when I was younger. I would blow up like a blimp if I ate that much today!

My son is going off to college this week. I've trained him since he was 12 down the basement in our home gym. I will miss our Saturday workouts.  I told him he is going to have to scope out someone to spot him he can train to spot and work out with as well (maybe).  I had something like 4 different training partners when I was in college.  Typically they had no set routine and were game to train the way I was. The result was always good gains for them because it was consistent hard training with the basics.  No magic formula needed.  I told him he could just add sets to get his work in if necessary as it becomes very dangerous to go hard to the end of a set with someone who doesn't know how you lift let alone with NO spotter whatseover.  Not smart.  He'll be better equipped though overall as I have seen the weight room.  My son has recently learned the role of proper nutrition in overall body composition.  He's learned it at a much younger age than me. Much younger.  As a teenager, forget it.  I ate everything and anything. ;)