The following details my primary back and biceps workout from last Wednesday night at Kirkland Gold’s Gym.  John Meadows designed the workout, but I completely changed a few exercises that I avoid because they jack up my lower back.  Here is the workout…

 

Single Arm Pulldowns

 

Set 1 x 15 reps with 60lbs (warm-up)

Set 2 x 15 reps with 70lbs

Set 3 x 12 reps with 80lbs

Set 4 x 10 reps with 90lbs

Set 5 x 8 reps with 100lbs

 

*The key here is to pronate your hand at the top and supinate it at the bottom as you drive your elbow down.  I prefer to really extend my arm at the top to stretch my lat and then lean back slightly at the bottom and hold the contraction for a split second.

 

Dumbbell Rows

 

Set 1 x 15 reps with 90lbs

Set 2 x 12 reps with 100lbs

Set 3 x 10 reps with 110lbs

Set 4 x 8 reps with 120lbs

 

*Use the same rep scheme on this exercise as the single arm pulldowns, however I aimed to target more upper/middle back on these in a couple ways.  First, keep your hand pronate the entire time while rowing.  Second, set yourself up on an incline bench or in my case I used a decline bench to try and keep from being totally bent over.  Really stretch the upper middle back at the bottom before driving the elbow up and back.

 

Here is a video so you can see my form:

 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQiYGtVyXl0]

 

Seated Pulley Rows

 

I attached a couple extra carabiners to the pulley to limit the range of motion on this exercise.  I didn’t want it to become a lower back exercise at the bottom.

 

Set 1 x 8 reps with 220lbs

Set 2 x 7 reps with 230lbs

Set 3 x 6 reps with 240lbs

Set 4 x 5 reps with 250lbs

 

*Use a medium pronate grip and focus on really keeping tension on your lats the entire time, especially the eccentric portion of the movement.  Pyramid up in weight and down in reps.

 

Dumbbell Pullover & Shrug Superset

 

I did the following for 3 rounds.

 

Dumbbell Pullover x 10 reps with 70lbs

Immediately followed by…

Dumbbell Shrugs x 8 reps with 120lbs

 

*Lay on the bench for the pullovers and work the negative via a 3 second count on every rep.  On the shrugs the key is to hold the contraction at the top for a full 3 second count on every rep.

 

Incline Dumbbell Concentration Curls

 

Set 1 x 12 reps with 25lbs

Set 2 x 12 reps with 25lbs

Set 3 x 12 reps with 25lbs

Set 4 x 12 reps with 25lbs

 

*Lay face down on an incline bench placed at a slight angle.  The angle should be just enough that the dumbbells don’t touch the ground.  Hang your arms off the top edge of the bench and curl the dumbbells at the same time while smashing them together with your hands pronate the entire time.  Hold the contraction at the top for a 1 second count on every rep.

 

The set-up is kind of like this video from an old workout, but you’ll use two dumbbells instead of a fixed barbell:

 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvtKK7akAgU]

 

Cross Body Hammer Curls

 

I recently read an article by a guy I highly respect, Christian Thibaudeau, and he indicated you get much more muscle recruitment on this exercise with a slow tempo and pause in the contracted position and flex hard.  He was right!

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 35lbs

Set 2 x 10 reps with 35lbs

 

*Go slow and perform all the reps on one arm before switching to the other.

 

That concluded this back and biceps workout.

 

Train hard!

Mark