I made a change to my weekly training schedule to accommodate snow skiing on the weekends. As you may know my typical primary leg workout fell on Saturday, however this time of year I prefer to hit the slopes on either Saturday or Sunday. As such I’m moving my primary leg workout to Wednesday night so that my secondary leg workout will fall on the weekend. If I ski then I will skip my secondary leg workout. Skiing is a serious leg workout already! Here is what my weekly training split will look like moving forward:
Monday – primary back & biceps
Tuesday – secondary chest, shoulders & triceps
Wednesday – primary legs
Thursday – secondary back & biceps
Friday – off/hot yoga
Saturday – primary chest, shoulders & triceps
Sunday – secondary legs or snow skiing
The following details my primary back and biceps workout from Monday night. The workout was a modified version of a John Meadows program and I trained alongside my bride. Here are the details…
Neutral Grip Pulldowns
I used a medium/wide neutral grip attachment here – FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 110lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 120lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 130lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 140lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps with 150lbs
*The key here is to drive your elbows down, flex as hard as possible for a 1 second count and then slowly extend back up. Keep making small jumps in weight using perfect form until your form is compromised by the 10th rep. I counted this as 4 working sets.
Hammer (Dorian) Rows
Set 1 x 10 reps with 3 plates
Set 2 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25’s
Set 3 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25’s
Set 4 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25’s
*Aim for 4 sets of 8 reps. I went a little light on my first set so I bumped up the weight slightly on sets 3-4. Do one arm at a time and use a nice full range of motion. I do these with my chest against the pad, but I lower the seat so that I’m standing.
Prone Dumbbell Rows
I used a semi-inclined utility bench here – FYI.
Set 1 x 15 reps with 60lbs
Set 2 x 15 reps with 60lbs
Set 3 x 15 reps with 60lbs
Set 4 x 15 reps with 60lbs
*Lay face down on an incline utility bench. Drive your elbows back, but keep them perpendicular to your torso and flex hard for a split second in the contracted position. This should hit the upper back and traps.
Superset: Pulley Simulated Rack Pulls & Kettlebell Pullovers
Pulley Simulated Rack Pulls x 6 reps with 250lbs
Immediately followed by…
Kettlebell Pullover x 12 reps with 50lbs
*I created the pulley simulated rack pull due to my lower back preventing traditional barbell rack pulls. The key is to hinge at the waist and flex your lats the entire time. Also use a moderately wide, pronate grip to activate traps and upper back as you pull. Move immediately to kettlebell pullovers. Perform this superset for 4 rounds.
Here is a video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN3DbCg0AFE]
One Arm Supinated Pulldowns
Set 1 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 3 x 8 reps with 80lbs
*The key here is to lean back slightly, drive your elbow down hard and contract your lower lats at the bottom for 1 second on all reps.
Barbell Curls
I got the technique for this exercise from a best tips article for building biceps on T-Nation. This was Paul Carter’s suggestion. The concept is pretty basic. Grab a barbell (45lbs) without any added weight and do 100 reps with it. Go to failure on each set, rest as needed and keep going until you’ve hit 100 total reps. I think this took me about 7 or 8 sets to complete – FYI.
That concluded this primary back and biceps workout.
Train hard!
Mark