Over the past 7 years of online coaching, I've worked with athletes, powerlifters, figure/bikini/physique competitors and "average jane" gym rat. At first glance, it doesn't seem like those folks have much in common.
But when you zoom out to the big picture, there is a major theme running true here.
Their weaknesses are their limiting factor.
The powerlifter who can't increase his squat needs stronger hamstrings and abdominals.
The figure competitor is lacking shoulder caps to make her upper body pop.
The athlete lacks glute strength and engagement, inhibiting how high he can jump and how fast he can run.
The average Jane's weak upper back leads to poor posture, headaches and shoulder pain.
All of those "weaknesses" are their most limiting factor. Improve that area, make it a strong point, and now you have a new weak area to bring up. It's a constant cycle.
When I started training newer stage competitors years ago, I learned quickly that many of them lacked shape and muscularity in necessary areas that were important for stage presence. Usually those areas were back and shoulders (although glutes and legs were a common theme too, but I found that it was easier for women to build muscle in their legs than their upper body.)
After doing my own shows, I realized that a typical 1x a week body part split of back/chest/arms/legs/shoulders wasn't going to cut it for me. Personally, I needed more shoulders. I started to add in a few shoulder exercises to back day and my chest day quickly became a second shoulder day.
After working with a few other coaches, we really noticed that the frequency of my shoulder training was key. Within 18 months of focusing on frequency, I grew those suckers!
Long story short.... Frequency is often a missing key for lagging body parts or muscle groups.
As I experimented with increasing frequency for the stage athletes I worked with, I began to find things that worked and didn't burn them out.
As Christian and I completed GPP and moved into some bodybuilding stuff, we took those same principles and applied them to what we wanted to work on.... BACK!
Day 1 is our hardest and "heaviest" back day.
Day 3 is a moderate intensity with a little more isolation.
Day 5 ramps intensity a little more, but only with a few exercises, finishing with some arm swole.
The volume waves throughout the week. We utilize drop sets, rest-pause sets and other modalities to finish a muscle off or create a massive pump. Heavy exercises are treated as such, going heavy and sometimes to failure. And other exercises have a tempos or stretches add in to create a different stress.
While you don't need to be a bodybuilder to use these ideas, be sure to balance it with the rest of your training. Below is an example of one of our heavy days:
Day 1
T-Bar row 5x8-12
Single arm lat pulldown 4x8 each
Chest supported row 4x10
Rear flyes superset with
Rear shrugs
Abs
While this day may not look like a lot, we used a few warm up sets on each exercise, pushing the T-bar rows really hard. The single arm lat pulldowns isolate and put a good stretch on the muscle, adding some more isolated fatigue. Then coming back to the chest supported rows, we have a pretty good pump going which adds to that exercise tremendously. Finishing off the upper back with the other exercises completes the day.
Remember that more, more, more is not always better. You don't need 15 back exercises on one day. Pick 4-5 and do them really well, focusing on exercise that YOU need to work on and also choosing ones that help you grow.
So far our combination of exercises chosen has been nothing short of awesome. So stay tuned for some more fun!!
