ok...well a few people have asked about what weight training program i am doing now....here it is...
( taken from beyond low carb)
Baby got back
The back can be thought of as vertical and horizontal planes. Back training should really be split into two workouts - one devoted to horizontal pulling (thickness based workout / rowing movements) and one devoted to vertical pulling (width based workout / pull ups).
The hit you get from heavy deadlifts on leg day will round out your back workout.
Horizontal Pulling - Barbell Rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)
- T-Bar Rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)
- Rack Pulls (vary the pin height, usually set them set below the knee/mid shin area)
Vertical Pulling - Lat Pulldowns (various grips and widths)
- Pull overs (Nautilus, cable, bar)
Grip
Pick one and stick with it throughout the course of the program - then switch when you want to change exercises. This would be most consistent and you'll be able to tell whether you're progressing or not. If you take a bent BB row - you'll find that you can probably lift more weight with a supinated grip because the biceps are assisting the movement. So if you're switching back and forth between grips during each workout, or every other workout, then it may be difficult to gage progress.
Supinated grip means palms facing your body.
Pronated means palms facing away from your body. Semi-supinated means palms facing each other. A pull-up uses a pronated grip, palms facing away from your body. Chin-ups use the other two grips.
TYPES OF DEADLIFTS
SLDL
SLDLs are decent for the hip extension function and therefore your lower back, but not so much for great upper back development, at least comparatively speaking.
Regular Deadlifts
Regular deadlifts are a 'hip dominant' exercise. They hit the whole posterior chain - from hamstrings up to traps. They are the king of back development.
Do them first in your back workout.
You can be pretty sure you're doing it right if you're getting war wounds on your shins. It's basically a sign that the bar is staying really close to your body, which is correct.
You keep your sets short for two reasons:
- 1. It is a complex movement and form tends to break down with higher reps.
- 2. It is a strength movement. Your goal is to get strong on this exercise.
Keep the reps under 5 with regular deads. You can go higher with stiffs.
There IS overlap between these two exercises. SLDLs obviously hit some back, and regular deads obviously hit some hams. But stiff leg deads will not do for your back what regular, off the floor deads will.
Rack Pulls
A rack pull is like a regular deadlift off pins.
Click here for rack pulls
Pulling from the floor is more difficult. The weight has more distance to travel, and uses more glutes and hams. If you pull from pins you can focus on your back, which is essentially what’s working on the upper portion of a deadlift, and because your ROM is shorter you should be able to lift a bit heavier. Vary the pin height, but not set to set or workout to workout. It's a matter of being able to gauge your progress. If you change things too frequently, you really can't tell, from a strength standpoint, if you're progressing or not. You might stick with something for four weeks, and then switch it up a bit.
BUILDING IT INTO A WORKOUT
You could pair the horizontal pulling workout with horizontal pushing (chest) and the vertical pulling with vertical pushing (shoulders) to ensure that volume around the joints is kept constant.
However, this assumes for the most part that muscle groups are being trained once per week.
An upper/lower split or an undulating split (with increased frequency, where everything basically gets hit twice per week) is better for hypertrophy. The one thing you have to consider when doing this is that the volume per bodypart per workout is lower, but the weekly volume, since you're hitting the muscle more often, is still fair.
4 DAY SPLIT
DAY 1 - HORIZONTAL PUSH PULL
Horizontal plane back (pull)
Select from:
- Bent barbell rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)
- T-Bar Rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)
- Rack Pulls (vary the pin height, usually set them set below the knee/mid shin area)
Horizontal plane chest (push)
Select from:
(Standing calves, short, heavy sets)
DAY 2 - QUAD DOMINANT LEGS
Go short and heavy on two quad dominant exercises and lighter with higher reps for one ham dominant exercise. (Here, hams are accessory, so they go lighter, with higher reps)
(bicep work)
DAY 3 - VERTICAL PUSH/PULL
Vertical plane back (pull)
Select from:
- Lat Pulldowns (various grips and widths)
- Pull overs (Nautilus, cable, bar)
Vertical plane shoulders (push)
Select from:
(Seated calves, long sets)
DAY 4 – HIP/HAMSTRING DOMINANT LEGS
Opposite from day 2. Go short and heavy on 2 hip/ham dominant exercises and light with higher reps for one quad dominant exercise. (Here, quads are accessory, so they go lighter, with higher reps)
(Tricep work)
all sets/reps on this workout are short and sweet ( 6 sets 4....5 sets 5...5 sets 6....etc) EXCEPT the accessory exercises obn leggie days...these should be longer reps with lighter weights.
but i did it and now its over with! yay!
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