How many times have you seen the expression “bodybuilding shows are won from the back”? If you look at Olympia history, you’ll see that the old saying rings true for a reason. Many top champions have left with the gold medal and the big check because of their presentation when facing away from the crowd.
We’ve taken a look at how five multiple-Sandow winners blasted their biggest muscle group, and the reasons why they added those specific moves to their training repertoire.
Yates was a big advocate of using the Nautilus Pullover machine because of how it helped him stretch the lats further and forced him to contract them harder when he pulled the handle down. As he explained in a video interview about the move, he began with this movement because felt his was one of the biggest reasons his lats were so developed. Any time he performed a lat spread to the front or from the rear, it was normally lights out and “The Shadow” would leave with another Sandow.
“That would be what I started my back routine with every time. It isolates the back, it isolates the lats. There’s no involvement of the biceps,” he said. “There’s no other exercise that does that.”
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Kevin Horton
Ronnie Coleman – Bent-Over Barbell Row
You know about the legendary lifts of eight-time Sandow winner Ronnie Coleman. One of them was 500-pound barbell rows for reps. He explained to Flex that while it’s a basic move, he found the bodybuilding benefits were anything but.
“Get used to the expression ‘compound movement,’ until it becomes a beloved cliché. It’s the key to my muscle mass for every bodypart; even more so for back, since that’s the most complex muscle group of all. It needs to be developed simultaneously for thickness, width, drape and detail, and that requires very heavy three-dimensional weight resistance, which coordinates all of its muscles, as well as those of the trapezius complex.”
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Kevin Horton
Phil Heath – Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown
“The Gift” knew that using machines would add years to his training and career, and that method certainly appeared on back day. One of his favorites was a reverse-grip lat pulldown, which required a greater range of motion and provided opportunity for more overall work of the lats. He explained why in a training video for Flex.
“I’m just trying to keep constant tension. People ask me why I like doing these with the squeeze at the bottom and it’s because of more constant tension of the lower portion of the lats and greater contractions.”
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Chris Lund
Jay Cutler – T-Bar Row off the Floor
Four-time Mr. O Jay Cutler was no slouch in back development, either. When he was pursuing and eventually defeating Ronnie Coleman for the top title in bodybuilding, he told Flex he found moves like the T-bar row off the floor to be better for him than doing rows with a pad or a rack.
“I just felt like this was good for the density in my back. I did this when I was trying to improve and compete against Ronnie (Coleman) in the Olympias. Especially off the floor, I found doing anything like deadlifts off the floor or T-Bar rows off the floor, even bent-over rows off the floor, I got more back development that way.”
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Chris Lund
Lee Haney – Behind-the-Back Barbell Shrug
Lee Haney would do behind-the-back shrugs differently than most. Instead of pulling up with his traps only, he would pull up on the bar until his elbows bent, which activated the rear delts, too. The most dominant bodybuilder of the 1980s shared his reasoning in one of his training videos.
“I prefer doing these from behind instead of from the front because the traps are in the back. I feel to get the entire trap area, down the back, you should perform shrugs from behind. I also recommend using straps when doing trap movements. It will help save your grip.”
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Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness/ Per Bernal/ Kevin Horton
Sample Back Training Workout
Now put all those moves together in this back-breaking workout regimen. Rest 2 minutes between sets.
Pullover Machine – 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps.*
Bent-Over Barbell Row – 3-4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 10 reps.
Close Grip Lat Pulldown – 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.
T-Bar Row Off the Floor – 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Behind the Back Shrugs – 3 sets of 12 rep
*Do the first two sets with lighter weight. Perform the last set with heavy weight to total failure.
