Most bodybuilders will agree on the fact that wide grip chin ups are highly effective for building back thickness and width like no other movement. However, a large percentage of these bodybuilders will also have a laundry list of excuses why this exercise isn’t for them. Maybe they can’t “feel” the movement how they’d like. Maybe they believe they’re too heavy. Maybe they just don’t like to feel weak and exposed as they struggle with four reps while 155-pound runners in the gym are able to knock out triple the number of repetitions (or more!) in a single set. Whatever the case, bodybuilders wary of this movement will propagate a number of fallacies to help justify their avoidance of this exercise. It’s time to dispel these myths! “Pulldowns do the same thing” Many a lazy bodybuilder sporting ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

If you want to place well in bodybuilding shows at any level, you’re going to need to develop an impressive back. To do so, you’ll need to stimulate the thousands upon thousands of muscle fibers in the back using a variety of approaches to what is essentially a single movement, the lat bar pulldown. The stance and hand positioning we employ can change our results. Let’s learn more. Standard wide-grip pulldowns This movement is the tried-and-true standard for growing the muscles of the back. Most bodybuilders believe the wider the grip, the wider the lats will be forced to grow. Six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates has proclaimed this movement ineffective due to the fact the wide grip causes the biceps to fail long before the biceps – but there are thousands of other bodybuilders and trainers who ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

The back is a tricky muscle group. With body parts such as chest, shoulders, or thighs, a wide variety of repetition ranges is essential for stimulating growth throughout all the muscle fibers. While it is true that the back does contain its fair share of slow and fast-twitch muscle fibers which are indeed stimulated through different repetition ranges, much of the actual definition seen in the back, such as the desired “Christmas Tree” effect in the lower back, is attributed to low body fat and water deprivation. When it comes to training the back for mass as well as shape, heavy compound movements are the way to go. Barbell Rows Start your routine with barbell rows to really target the upper lats, for some width, and a great deal of thickness. Slowly bring the weight up from the hanging ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

When one talks of great backs in the history of bodybuilding, Lee Haney and Victor Martinez come to mind as two of the best. Both men were blessed with wonderful genetics and trained very hard, but they trained very intelligently as well. They both attested to the importance of using chin-ups, or wide-grip pull-ups, in their back routine. They knew this movement worked like none other, and the results that they saw were undeniable, and in the case of Lee Haney, still discussed decades later. Chin-ups, or wide grip pull-ups, are essential because they stimulate the body in a way that no machine can emulate. It is man against gravity, and man must win. Every possible stabilizer in the upper body comes into play, and the abdominals and arms get a heck of a workout as ...

If you like this article, click here to share: