One of Chris Bumstead’s goals in the off season is building thickness in his already-wide back. To build it up, dumbbell rows have been his go-to move. And as for the with he already has, Bumstead credits lat pulldowns.
Check out his tips and workout below to add thickness and width to your back.
Tips from Chris:
Every three back days, I change up the start of my back workout. I rotate through deadlifts for three back workouts, then switch to rack pulls for the next three workouts, and then I skip both, moving right to dumbbell rows, for the last three workouts of the cycle.
Rather than use a staggered stance on dumbbell rows, I like to square my feet to the bench where I stabilize my body with my resting arm. This really allows the movement to be more concentrated.
To hit your lower lat, make sure you’re performing seated rows low, to below your belly button.
Incrporating both close-grip and wide-grip pulldowns will help you target different back muscles. On my close-grip pulldowns, I use the rope attachment.
For my wide-grip pulldowns, I do two dropsets, aiming for 12 reos and then dropping down to a weight that will cause failure after about 15 reps.
When performing the dumbbell pullover, focus on a deep stretch and only come about 3/4 of the way up to keep tension on the lats.
I like to end my back workout with two burnout sets of back extensions (no weight added) to failure.
*Add weight each set working up to a last set of 6-8 to failure. Replace deadlift with Rack Pull after 3 workouts for the next 3 workouts. Skip Deadlift/Rack Pull after performing them each for 3 workouts, going back to Deadlifts after 3 workouts off.
