Two-time WNBF World Champion, Nancy Andrews, recently told me that you can always pick a winner from the back. Line up every bodybuilder on stage, go through their front shots and side poses and you may have several close calls. The judges start biting their finger nails trying to place one through three....but, then...they turn around. Hard gluts and a wide, thick back ensures first place, second goes to the next hardest competitor with maybe a little smaller back, and third goes to the one who's a little soft and has a mediocore back. I agree with Nancy. With very little exception, the winner usually has the best back and is the hardest. Do the names Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, and Ronnie Coleman ring a bell? What body part are they known for? See what I mean?

I'm going to divide back training into three categories: genetics, biomechanics, and program design. First, you have to understand the genetic shape of your back. The three Mr. Olympias I just mentioned have super wide, thick lower lats. They have less tendon and more muscle belly constituting their lats. More surface area means more potential for width which means more potential for thickness. I hate people like that! If you're like me, you may have higher lats which means less surface area for width etc. You, unfortunately will never have the widest, thickest back, BUT, you will display more of your lower erector spinae and can have just as thick mid and upper back size. It's a different look, but the detail can be impressive as well. Even if you don't have the back shape you like, you owe it to yourself to maximize every fiber you do have. So, don't let my rant discourage you, just be prepared to work harder and smarter than everyone else!

Biomechanics. It's hard talking training without having my hands on someone to teach them. I fear the best explanation will still be hard to apply. Think about your shoulder blades primarily. When you do a pulldown, your shoulder blades should protract up and around your rib cage though you don't let your arms extend completely. Once your shoulder blades are as elevated and protracted maximally, reverse the motion beginning with the shoulder blades and let your arms follow. This is an important neurological step. You have to stretch the lats upward to engage a myotatic stretch reflex without taking the stress off the lats. That's why you don't want to "let go" of your arms and straighten them completely. Once the stretch reflex is primed, you start by pulling with your lats, not your arms. If at this point, your arms take over and you start pulling, the lats get far less involvement and your biceps and rear delts do more work. Complete the motion smoothly and contract the lats hard at the bottom before starting over.

This same "feeling" of scapular control applies to rowing. It helps to have someone place their hands on your shoulder blades while you practice this so that you get some external feedback as well as internal. You can also have them press moderately in the heart of the lats so you feel exactly where the contraction should start. This neurological training is very valuable and I often use it with clients.

I'll throw in more biomechanical tips that apply to each exercise I discuss, but I want to move into an overview of training design. The back has a red, slow-twitch fiber dominance that make a slightly higher rep range effective. I still like heavy movements, but to skip from light, quick warm-up sets into heavy sets without feeling great contractions is a mistake. Deadlifting, rowing, and pulldowns/chins are the basic back movements with other supplemental exercises thrown in occasionally. In the next article on back training, I'll give a sample back workout with a variation or two. The program design details will also be discussed as they are critical. So, for now, work on squeezing and releasing the shoulder blades to maximize lat work. This is a necessary set up to make the actual workout worthwhile!