Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
A few newsletters ago I mentioned the middle traps’ line of pull as it relates to fiber direction…
Most of the mid-back fibers run upward at a steep angle. I won’t show the cadaver photo again; I’ll use an intricate graphic instead: \\ // [Read more…]
There’s controversy surrounding any type of rowing exercise…
Drug-Free Mr. Universe and biomechanics expert Doug Brignole used to say the row is not a good mid-back exercise because the traps don’t connect to the arms—they originate near the shoulder capsule and insert along the spine…
That means the mid-trapezius muscles’ function is to retract, or pull together, the shoulder blades… [Read more…]
So do rows suck ass for back mass or not? They are not ideal, that’s a biomechanical fact…
The direction of resistance is simply incorrect for both lats and mid-back activation… [Read more…]
Q: You have V-handle pulldowns as the Ultimate Exercise for lats [in the X-traordinary X-Rep Workout]. I do those for the power pyramid then wide-grip pulldowns for a density drop set. But I feel the wide-grips in my lats more. Can I reverse the order and do the wide pulldowns for the pyramid, then the V-handle pulldowns for a density drop set?
A: Absolutely! Your question is similar to one we had for chest before. In that case, we suggested switching the order at every workout to emphasize a different line of force for optimal size effects. You could do that with lats also (and it will help your arms look huge too, as you’ll see in a moment)… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been reading about 3D Positions of Flexion, and it makes total sense. Most of the three-way hits for each muscle are straightforward, but I’m confused about midback. Is a row classified as the big midrange exercise? With a barbell row, the arms squeeze the shoulder blades at the top, which is the contracted position. Is a barbell row both a midrange and contracted exercise?
A: You need to look at the lats and midback together to understand the three positions of flexion for each. For lats, you use pulldowns or chins as the big midrange exercise. Then you follow with pullovers for stretch and stiff-arm pulldowns for contracted.
For midback muscle building, there’s no need for a midrange exercise—you get that on the pulldowns or chins for lats. Those exercises pull the arms down and back, which affects the lats as well as the midback…
[Read more…]Had a great chest and back workout on Saturday, so the Monday muscle mayhem occurred with just one day of rest. Not bad! Motivation was high, so that always means a great one… [Read more…]
Ended this morning’s workout with some bloated biceps. I didn’t do much different than the last time, but they seemed to swell up very nicely, and same goes for delts and midback… [Read more…]
The post-workout result today was thunderdome delts. Okay, maybe just really-good-pump delts, but I believe in the power of positive thought. LOL! Delts, back, biceps, and forearms all got a gargantuan pump… [Read more…]
This morning’s workout produced the ideal feel for every muscle group. Delts felt incredibly good. Back and arms felt great, too, though there was a slight lower-back spasm during bent-over laterals. Nothing bad seemed to come of it, but it definitely woke me up… [Read more…]
