Back Exercises..

Well to cut it short recently added 2 new back exercises to my workout since i didn’t feel my lats and upper back that much but at the same time i feel like i have too much volume/exercises.I’m not sure what exercises to remove or if i should keep the workout how it is.
Here it is:

Back

BB Row(almost parallel.focus on mostly middle back with bench grip)
4 x 6-10

Lat Pull Down
4 x 6-10

Nuetral Cable Row
3 x 6-10

Straight Bar Rows(aiming upper back)
3 x 6-10

Deadlift(i feel these a lot on my lower back and not so much on the rest of my back. I was thinking of removing them , but people tell me noobies benifit a lot from these when bulking.I alos have very long arms)
4 x 4-10

Smith Machine Shrugs
4 x 12-15

Keep it simple and put your effort into fewer exercises. I like Thib Pulldowns because they are a good pre-exhaustion movement and take the bis out of play. Keep the pull downs and feel a hard squeeze on each rep. Never liked barbell rows personally.

Chins I do every-day ala Waterbury’s PLP program. Buy a chin up bar for home and bang reps out on it all day long.

Keep deadlifts on a separate day to back. I don’t think you can do them justice working them on the same day as back.

If you have trouble feeling back moves, you could try adding pauses at the top of the contraction - weights may be lower for a while if you do this though.

You could try an underhand grip - it was good enough for Dorian!

Are you getting stronger on the above exercises? If so I would be less worried about not feeling your back.

Common tips for feeling back recruitment:

  1. Slow down the negative of the movement
  2. Try 1.5 reps so lift, lower halfway, lift up, lower all the way
  3. Lighten the load, so the more efficient muscles do not take over
  4. On BB rows play around with where the bar moves to, or how flared or tucked the elbows are
  5. Bit weird but you could try scratching the muscles you want to engage before lifting
  6. If you don’t use straps, try them
  7. Pull with your elbows not hands

I’ll only speak for myself, but for my back I need to hit it high volume, every which way using any exercise available.

High rows, low rows, iso rows, cable p/d, hs p/d, rev gip, neut grip, narrow grip, wide grip, db rows, good form, loose form, hold, don’t hold, high reps, low reps

[quote]SteelyD wrote:
High rows, low rows, iso rows, cable p/d, hs p/d, rev gip, neut grip, narrow grip, wide grip, db rows, good form, loose form, hold, don’t hold, high reps, low reps
[/quote]

LOL - I like that

I’m the same way with not really feeling deadlifts in any other part of my back except my lower back. Rack deadlifts make my upper back WAAY more sore than deadlifts from the floor, so you could give those a try.

Thanks for all the input guys. I’m definitely going to try the rack deadlifts. The strain on my lower back is too strong.

i forgot what author it was that mentioned it but try visualizing pulling with your pinkies (as in leading the pull strongly emphasizing them.) It sounds stupid but surprisingly it worked for me

i forgot what author it was that mentioned it but try visualizing pulling with your pinkies (as in leading the pull strongly emphasizing them.) It sounds stupid but surprisingly it worked for me

Oh, and add in some eccentric less work using the sled as often as possible. Great way to build up the volume without overdoing things CNS-wise.

Do pullups. Lots of pullups.

Straps. Use them, always. You could try isolation excersises for higher reps, focusing on peak contraction (eg. straight arm pushdowns on cable station)to really get the “mind-muscle connection”.

And everything else, what have been mentioned before :wink:

one thing that helped me was imagining ure hands as hooks

if ure using straps grip it so ure hands are like hooks and lift with the elbows.

when doing barbell rows, lower the barbell so ure shoulders seperate and when u lift imagine lifting just with ure elbows, the second ure biceps start to contract ure not hitting ure lats efficiently.

as mentioned lower the weight and “feel” the rep… the mind-muscle connection for back is hard to grasp its not something u can see flexing in the mirror. if ure working out with someone tell them to put pressure on the lat while ure doing a rep u can feel the contraction better when u do that.

when doing pull ups i found pushing the chest out and keeping ure hips under ure body help me hit lats more.

the hardest parts on my body to grow are lats and traps, one thing thats help it is rack pulls they definitely my upper back more and there’s a few articles on here that say rack pulls help stimulate the upper back when done correctly.

also some people are real big on static holds in the pull up position and negatives, ure gonna have to experiment to see what works for you and what doesn’t…

What steelyD and plateau said. Try it. Stick with it for at least a couple months, evaluae results, determine how well it worked, repeat if it works. If not, make minor tweaks, repeat.

Also: try one-arm DB Rows, with a brief pause at contraction, squeezing your lats. Keep weight lightish, 8-15 reps, move up in weight as you get a feel for them. What kind of weight are you using?

if you feel the lower back too much during deads, you ared oing it wrong

Ya it sounds like on your deadlifts you’re doing something wrong, my guess is that you’re any or all of the following:

You’re letting bar leave your shins and not pinching those shoulders so as soon as the bar leaves the ground your back is leaning forward instead of upright and you have to almost hack goodmorning the top half of the lift. In the start of the lift you might also not be bringing your butt down far enough and if you combine that with the previous statement you’re ending up trying to almost (or entirely) stiff leg the weight.

Watch some videos of experienced guys deadlifting is there’s nobody at the gym you go to to ask. Also record yourself at least once from either a 45 degree angle or from the side entirely and either review it really critically yourself or post it up on here.

[quote]SteelyD wrote:
I’ll only speak for myself, but for my back I need to hit it high volume, every which way using any exercise available.

High rows, low rows, iso rows, cable p/d, hs p/d, rev gip, neut grip, narrow grip, wide grip, db rows, good form, loose form, hold, don’t hold, high reps, low reps
[/quote]

Ditto - High Volume / Heavy Weight combos.

[quote]Loudog75 wrote:

[quote]SteelyD wrote:
I’ll only speak for myself, but for my back I need to hit it high volume, every which way using any exercise available.

High rows, low rows, iso rows, cable p/d, hs p/d, rev gip, neut grip, narrow grip, wide grip, db rows, good form, loose form, hold, don’t hold, high reps, low reps
[/quote]

Ditto - High Volume / Heavy Weight combos.[/quote]

Haha I don’t think you left anything out. Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Back just seems like one of those muscle groups that has a shit ton of options available and with so many muscles involved in training back doing all these variations gives you the piece of mind you didn’t miss anything. Have to rotate some things in and out and that keeps it fun too.