When it comes to getting that classic golden era bodybuilder look, building a well-developed back is a must. Adding the right amount of thickness and width to your back muscles can not only help you develop a more powerful look while giving the appearance of a narrower waist.
Incorporating back exercises into your routine can offer many benefits including:
- Improved posture: If you find yourself constantly slouching over because your upper body muscles are lagging, strengthening the muscles in your upper back could help reduce some discomfort you feel in your neck, shoulders, and lower back.
- Injury prevention: Stronger back muscles can provide more support and protection to your spine. This is important for people that do physical activities that place a great deal of stress on their core.
- Increased upper body strength: The back muscles play a major role in many upper body lifts, whether they’re playing the main role in moving a weight or simply providing stability. If you’re hitting a plateau with your upper body strength and don’t really do many back exercises, you may find that paying attention to these muscles can help improve your overall strength.
- Improved athletic performance: Your back muscles play a role in various movements that can support athletic performance. Whether you do CrossFit, rowing, or some other sport, having strong back muscles can help provide you with more stability and power.
Unfortunately, many people struggle to maximize their back workouts because they neglect some of the back muscles, overlook some effective exercises, and they choose the wrong weight intensities on some exercises.
IFBB Pro Sadik Hadzovic is focused this year on making his back grow. We got an all-access look at Sadik and Dr. Michael Camp’s back workout routine to learn from the pro’s on the keys to a successful back day workout.
Sadik’s Full Back Workout
- Warm-Up
- Deadlift
- Dumbbell Pullover and Pull-Up Superset
- Plate-Loaded Pulldown
- Machine Row
- Behind the Neck Pulldown
- Rear Deltoid Fly Machine
- Chest-Supported Rear-Delt Flys
Warm-Up
We like to start every workout with a little bit of cardio. After cardio, we do some warm-ups, some t-spine mobility work. Then we move straight into “Ys and Ts” on a stability ball. The purpose of these warm-ups is to prime ourselves for the workout by getting our blood flowing to the back muscles.
The Deadlift
4 x 10 @ a heavy weight
We like to start out with a compound movement and there is no better movement than the deadlift. The deadlift is the squat of the upper body. We’re going to work up to four sets of ten reps at a heavyweight. We’re really trying to focus on our form for this exercise.
Pullover & Pull-Up Superset
3 x 10 - work up in weight
Now that we activated our nervous system by doing a compound movement, we’re moving into a superset. We’re going to do the old-school dumbbell pullover superset with pull-ups. On this pull-up I use a little assistance from my lower body because I’m fatigued from doing the superset. We’re going to try to work up in weight to really work on that v-taper, stretching out those lats to get that nice shape.
Plate-Loaded Pulldown
4 x 10 - work up in weight
We’re focused on driving our elbows back as far as possible to get the maximum contraction. If you can and you’re not too fatigued, try to hold the weight for one second at the peak of the contraction. We do four sets for this exercise and work our way up in weight.
Machine Row
3 x 10 @ a heavy weight
Nothing fancy here, we’re trying to build up thickness. You know what they say, you’ve got to row if you want to grow. We’re doing three heavy sets for this one. Drive your elbow back and try to contract as much as possible on this exercise.
Behind the Neck Pulldown
4 x 10 – work up in weight
This is a very crucial move for me, I’m trying to build my upper back. What I’m doing here is I’m trying to envision a back double bicep pose. I’m really trying to accentuate my back and contract as much as possible.
Rear Deltoid Fly Machine
3 x 10-15 @ a light to moderate weight
On back days we also like to incorporate rear deltoids. We use the fly machine to bring out those rear deltoids.
Rear-Delt Flys
3 x 15 @ light weight
Finally, we have chest-supported rear-delt flys. It doesn’t take a tremendous amount of weight to load up the rear delts because it’s a small muscle. We keep the weight light on this exercise.
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