Just thought I’d come on here and give an update on where my training and diet is at.
Training
Back:
Close grip (v-bar) pulldowns:
4×10
Pendlay Rows:
135×8
225×8
315×10
365×5
Pulldowns:
4×10
Bent Over rows:
315×8
225×10
225×10
Seated rows:
full stack x 15
stack x 15
stack x 10, 3/4 stack x 10, 1/2 stack x 10
Seated dumbell shrugs:
3×15 100lb dumbells
Cable shrugs:
3×10
Dumbell spider curls:
3x failure
Hammer curls:
2x failure
I went pretty heavy on the pulldowns. I don’t know the actual weights because our pulldown machine has really odd weights. 150lbs on the stack will lift me off the ground…so I don’t know if it’s actually kilograms, or what. I went up to 200lb/kg on it for the last set of close grip pulldowns. All sets of regular pulldowns were with 160lbs.
I’ve kind of been doing a lot of bent over rowing lately. I’ve never been a fan of bent over rowing. I’ve just never been strong at them, and I never really felt that they really did much for me.
However, since I’m not really sure where/what I have planned next in this sport, I’m trying to have as much fun training as I can–so I decided to put some effort into figuring out how to get them to work for me.
Right now I’m doing three types of rows primarily.
Pendlay rows:
Here, I’m just doing a deadlift row combo. I don’t know if that’s even what Pendlay rows are, but that’s what I call them. ….On a side note…I hate naming exercises. When I’m training to build muscle, I’m never performing an exercise. I’m working a muscle. The exercise is used to work the muscle. I don’t care if I’m doing the exercise “correctly,” I care if whatever I’m doing is targeting the right muscle. I think too many people get caught up in doing an exercise (partly why I hate form police) rather than working a muscle.
Unless you’re a weightlifter or powerlifter, you should never train a movement…only a muscle.
Bent over rows:
These are supposed to be as close to the old-school, pre-Dorian Yates style rows as possible. I try to stay bent over more and not come up too high during the row. The bar goes down to about mid shin at the bottom of the movement and I row to my stomach with as little swinging/momentum as possible.
Yates rows:
I do these overhand, but I do them in the postion Dorian did his rows (which seems to be kind of the standard position people use for rows these days….somewhere in between bent at a 90 degree angle and completely upright). I’m probably strongest in these…but I’m close to as strong on the Pendlay rows.
I’ll usually do at least one of these movements every back workout right now (I’m trying to hit back twice a week as much as possible).
There is a 4th version of bent over rows that I like to do…and they’re really the only way I’ve ever “felt” the movement. It’s a WAY bent over version of bent over rows….bending past 90 degrees (so you’ll need to stand on a block) with a wider grip and rowing to your upper abdomen.
I’m king of putting this version on blocks for now while I play around with the other styles.
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