Tom Venuto's BodybuildingSecrets.com - Back Blasting For Muscle Thickness & Density (With New Training Photos!)

Back Blasting For Muscle Thickness & Density (With New Training Photos!)

Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT

Saturday, August 20th, 2005. Back day with my training partner Kostas. We drove out to Strong & Shapely Gym in East Rutherford, NJ for this one so we could use some of the different back equipment (and we brought the camera this time). Check it out…

BACK

A1 Hammer Strength Isolateral High row (grip machine arm, not handles; both arms together): 2 light warmup sets; 3 sets X 185 lbs per side (3 plates + quarters) X 8, 6, 6 reps
A2 T-Bar Row: Set 1: 115 lbs X 12 reps; Set 2: 125 lbs X 12 reps; Set 3: 125 lbs X 10 reps, drop to 90 lbs X 10 more reps
B1 Pullover Machine: Set 1: 150 lbs X 10 reps X 5211 tempo; Set 2: 150 lbs X 8 reps + 2 forced reps; Set 3: 150 lbs X 8 reps, drop weight to 100 lbs X 6 more reps + 2 forced reps
C1 Smith Machine Bent Over Rows: Set 1: 155 lbs X 15 reps; Set 2: 175 lbs X 12 reps; Set 3: 195 lbs X 10 reps; Set 4: 215 lbs X 8 reps

TRAPS

A1 Hammer Strength Seated Shrug Machine: Set 1: 230 lbs X 15 reps; Set 2: 270 lbs X 12 reps; Set 3: 270 lbs X 12 reps, drop to 180 lbs X 12 more reps

LOWER BACK

A1 Reverse Hyperextension: Set 1: bodyweight X 20 reps; Set 2: 30 lbs X 12 reps; Set 3: 50 lbs X 8 reps

CALVES

A1 Angled Standing Calf machine (“hack slide” calf): Set 1: 220, 240, 260 lbs X 6, 6, 6 reps (ascending set); Set 2: 240, 220, 200 lbs X 10, 10, 10 reps; Set 3: 200 lbs X 12 reps X 3115 tempo (5 second hold at top of each rep); Set 4: 160 lbs X 30 reps
B1 front calf raise/dorsiflexion (tibialis anterior raise): 3 sets X 15 lbs X 12 reps
B2 Nebula Seated calf raise: 3 sets X 90 lbs X 20 reps

Workout Commentary

We started with the same exercise as last week; the Hammer strength high row machine, only this time, we supersetted from the hammer row to the T-bar row. This was an absolute butt-kicker of a combination. By the last few reps of the T-bar rows, we were sucking wind, especially on that last set, which was a drop set.

What we did was to go very heavy on the hammer rows for a 6 rep max, then moderate on the weight on the t-bar rows for approximately a 12 rep max. Doing the superset between hammer rows and T-bar rows with the two different rep ranges on each exercise was challenging to say the least.

Next, it was on to that wicked pullover machine once again, same as last week, only heavier this time. I swear it feels like it’s pulling my upper lats underneath my armpits right out with every rep. This exercise just nails that part of your lats where they insert right up into the armpit and they’re visible from the front (as in a front lat spread, front double biceps or front “relaxed” stance).

We finished off the upper back with bent over smith machine rows, using the standard (overhand/pronated) grip and pulling to the low stomach. We kept our upper bodies pitched at about a 60 degree angle to the floor. This form hit the upper mid back including the upper lats, rhomboid, and lower trapezius. I could really feel it in the lats on the stretch and in the mid back on the contraction.

Traps were next. Three quick sets on the Hammer strength machine with a real nice squeeze at the top of each rep. A drop set on the last set.

Finally, for the low back, we hit the reverse hyperextension machine. This time, we started adding weight on the machine instead of just bodyweight for higher reps.

Onward to calves!

Once again, the calf session started with the angled standing calf machine (some people call it a “hack slide” calf machine (even though its not a hack machine, it’s strictly a calf machine). The angle that this thing is set on keeps the calves working continuously throughout the entire range of motion. There is full tension on the calves at the stretch position, at the midpoint and in the top position. Some calf machines seem to give more resistance in some parts of the range of motion than others. The standing angled calf machine has no “dead spots.” Great machine.

Next, something completely different. I rarely train my front calves (tibialis anterior), but just for kicks, decided to use the front calf machine and superset it with the seated calf machine. The front calf raise is simply a lifting up of the toes (rather than the heels), also known as a dorsiflexion. These machines are sometimes called “DARD’s”, which means “dynamic axial resistance device.” This is strictly a fine tuning exercise for a bodybuilder, but it can add a degree of polish to an already well developed calf. Incidentally, this is a good exercise for people prone to shin splits.

From the calf front raises it was straight onto the Nebula seated calf machine. This particular calf machine has an adjustment that allows you to perform the exercise with a greater degree of flexion in the knee. This makes the exercise more difficult and on this machine all I needed was 90 lbs (two plates).

And that was a wrap… another day at the office!

Posted 20 August, 2005 in Workouts

Comments

chris said:

Tom,

Your workouts rock, and your Burn The Fat book is turning me into a shredded machine. But I'm totally confused on one issue. At my gym there are some beasts. They come in, they pump iron, and they leave. Most never do cardio and those who do are lightly walking on the treadmill with very little effort. Yet, these guys are totally ripped. And here I am busting my ass, walking out of the gym soaking wet in an all out effort to be shredded. How is it these guys (some of whom compete and are not thin ectomorphs) get and stay ripped without doing hard cardio? As your book denotes, it's all about calories, and if you're not busting your hump on cardio, you aren't burning many calories, and that doesn't add up to "shredded". Yet somehow it does... Thanks,

Chris

Posted on Aug 25, 2005 11:41 PM

Tom Venuto said:

Never compare yourself to other people. Compare yourself to yourself. Your goal should be to become better than the you of yesterday. Get more ripped than the you of yesterday... get more muscular than the you of yesterday... get stronger than the you of yesterday. Show yourself and the world a new and improved physique every year. Be your best every time you step onstange... But don't ever try to be like someone else, some "beast", who may very well be taking all kinds of drugs and / or be a "genetic superior."

PS youre correct that I stated in chapter 5 of My BURN THE FAT book that fat loss all boils down to calories. But in the chapter right before that (chapter 5 on body types), I also explained that your ultimate potential is very much tied into your genetics and body type. Once again, be the best you can be with the body type God gave you.

Posted on Sep 05, 2005 01:22 PM

Diablo, Rojo said:

I have found something interesting that I am sure it is not new to you:

What is the difference in size between an arm measuring 12" and and one measuring 16"(measured around the biceps flexed):

Well let's see:

Warning: I will make some really nasty aproximations!
The shape that the measure tape takes around the arm is close to a circle.

The length of a circle formula is: 2*pi*r;
So the aria of a circle formula is: pi*r*r;
pi = 3.14;
r = radius of the circle;

So let's do the math.
For the 12" arm:

2*pi*r=12 => pi*r=6 => r = 6 / pi => r = ~2;
A1 = pi*2*2 => A1 = 3.14 * 4 => A1 = ~12.5;
For the 16" arm:
2*pi*r=16 => pi*r=8 => r = 8 / 3.14 => r = ~2.5;
A2 = pi * 2.5 * 2.5 => A2 = 3.14 * 6.25 => A2 = ~19.5
So let's see how many times the 16" is bigger than 12":
A2 / A1 = 19.5 / 12.5 = 1.56 So the the 16" is 56% bigger.
Let's do the calculation simply by measurement:
16" / 12" = 1.33 So the 16" si 33% bigger than the 12".

We must conclude that the difference in size of the arm between a 12" and a 16" one is certainly bigger than 33%

but smaller than 56%. So a guy must pack more muscle to grow from 15" to 16" than from 14" to 15".

So Tom, who knows maybe I gave you an ideea about what to write in the next Fitness Renaisance Newsletter. Maybe you can inform us more about the differences in size between different parts of the body.
And in the last place: Sorry for my English, I am writing to you from Romania.

By the way, where is the last newsletter? Almost three months passed by.

Posted on Sep 05, 2005 01:59 PM

Tom Venuto said:

Whoaa, you lost me there with all that mathematics and pi stuff.... I'm just a muscle head from New Jersey, you know (and I failed algebra in high school, LOL). Seriously, though, I have no interest in knowing my measurements because bodybuilding is all visual and not quantitative. The judges do not come up on stage and tape meausure your body parts when you compete. If you think about it, some of the finest physiques in history, were not the largest: Frank Zane, Lee Labrada and Francis Benfatto come to mind in the pro ranks. I prefer to go by the mirror.

Re: the newsletter. I have not published the fitness renaissance newsletter (www.fitren.com for the past three months. I took off for the summer but will continue publishing in the fall. I HAVE continued publishing the burn the fat newsletter (www.burnthefat.com) every week, as well as blogging my workouts here on a daily basis. This site (bodybuilding secrets) is going to remain focused strictly on bodybuilding, while www.burnthefat.com is strictly a fat loss site, and fitness renaissance will be a natural health and fitness site. Having all three sites and newsletters will allow me to provide more targeted content to people with interest in a specific subject (come back HERE if you want bodybuilding info)

Posted on Sep 05, 2005 02:41 PM