Train Like an Athlete by ATHLEAN-X (Video Podcast)

If you want to get a bigger back you have to use light weights. That’s right. Heavy weights alone will not be enough to build your best back since using them exclusively will definitely cost you a chance to get a full contraction on your lats, a prerequisite for optimal back development. In this video, I’m going to show you two techniques you can use in your next back workout to help you build a bigger back fast.

The importance of this lies in the fact that when we train with pulling exercises we tend to never reach a full contraction. This is because the hardest part of most pull exercises like a lat pulldown, one armed row or even a barbell row, is the end. Your highest effort is needed to reach a full contraction of the muscle and hold it for a split second. If you contrast this with a pushing exercise like a dip, bench press or shoulder press, the end of the exercise provides a moment of relief.

Peak tension in these exercises occurs in the middle of the rep whereas the tension tops out in the end of the back exercises mentioned. That said, you can take advantage of these point of the rep by simply learning to lighten up on the weights and leave your ego at the gym door from time to time. If you include at least a few sets of max contraction lat work with lighter weights, you will see a fast increase in the muscle growth of your back.

Along with the light weights you can also incorporate one of two techniques shown here to really ensure that you are getting the most out of every rep in your back exercises. The first is using one and a half reps. The use of this rep style forces you to eliminate any momentum and contract the weights down and back, as during the lat pulldown or one armed row. Perform one full rep and then return the weight half way, only to re-contract it again and bring it back to a complete squeeze.

The next thing you can do is a fiber blast. This is where you get to the end of the rep on your back exercises and perform three pulsed reps at the end range. The idea here is that even if you haven’t reached a full contraction on the first attempt, the three additional pulses will help you build and recruit more muscle fiber activation to ensure that you do.

Either of these techniques will work just as well as the other, however they are both reliant on the use of lighter weights. The key to the success of the methods and ultimately the growth you will see in your back and lats is getting used to including sets with light weights in your back workout. I do realize how uncomfortable this can be to some who have been trained to think that the only way a muscle will grow is with heavy weights.

That is simply not true. Muscles don’t only grow through progressive overload of tension. They can grow throw more focused tension and that comes through a better overall contraction of the muscles targeted. For instance, if you want to get better lats you need to learn how to take the lat muscle through its full function and squeeze it as hard as you can at the end of every rep.

For a complete workout program that helps you to not only build a bigger back but to get a more muscular physique from head to toe, be sure to head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. See how pro athletes train and how you can copy the same workouts and methods that they use to unleash the athletic body in you in the next 90 days.

For more back workouts and ab workouts designed to get you stronger and ripped at the same time, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24