Back workout for width: Mountain Dog training, Part I

Translator’s note: this article was written by a man I can relate to in many ways. Not because my physique is anywhere near as impressive as his, but because we have struggled with the same problems. Both the author and I have had to work extremely hard to build our backs and legs. We are also both living proof that getting results sometimes means taking an unconventional approach and finding your own way. But the following article also offers hints, tips and insights for more experienced lifters and those blessed with the best genetics. We will look at how you can turn a seriously underdeveloped back into one that catches the judges’ attention onstage. It is also worth mentioning that this same man has written equally good articles on training shoulders, legs, arms and chest. They cover techniques, methods and approaches to training that many people would never dream of.

The backstory

Early in my career, when I first started competing, I modeled my leg training on Tom Platz’s, because he had the best legs the world had ever seen. The training philosophy of “The Eagle” (translator’s note: Platz’s nickname) suited my goals and worked for me, too. It worked then, and it still works today.

For my back training, I tried following the great Lee Haney’s advice. I did hundreds of repetitions of time-tested exercises: pull-ups, barbell rows and dumbbell rows. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the results Lee Haney did.

I tried other approaches, too, including Dorian Yates’s and Bertil Fox’s methods. There were others as well. None of them produced results either.
At some point, I started training with the powerlifters at my gym. These were big, thickly built guys. A couple of them had even once competed in both a powerlifting meet and a bodybuilding contest on the same day.

Their philosophy was that the best way to build an impressive back was to deadlift: it was the foundation of everything. Unfortunately, there was one small problem in my case: deadlifts hadn’t produced any significant improvements in my back development either.

My powerlifting training partners and I tried high-rep sets, low-rep sets, heavy weights and lighter weights. We played around with frequency and tried sumo deadlifts, block pulls, conventional deadlifts and so on. Hopeless.
Adding to my frustration, I had found a way to make my legs grow, and they were developing so quickly that they were starting to draw attention to my underdeveloped back. My contest prep coach noticed it too. Before I went onstage, he advised me to spend as little time as possible facing away from the judges. He told me that unless I absolutely had to, I shouldn’t turn around and show them my back. During the mandatory poses, I was to be the last man to hit a back pose and the first to release it. My coach knew what he was talking about.

All of this was making me realize that nature hadn’t blessed me with good back genetics. No mass, no width, no density. It became clear that if I wanted to keep sharing the stage with the wide guys, I had to find something that worked. The traditional approach, using the standard exercises, clearly wasn’t working. I could either accept my underdeveloped back or find something that worked for me.

I was fortunate to have reached that realization. Many lifters never do. They spend years “banging their heads against a wall” without assessing their progress or examining why their training is producing the results it does. All because Dorian, Ronnie or Lee Haney trains that way too.

Get over it

Like it or not, you will benefit from understanding that the best backs in bodybuilding history aren’t solely the result of hard training. Genetics also play a major role: inherited advantages that most lifters don’t have.

Instead of copying Ronnie’s or Dorian’s back routines, look at what men with average or below-average back genetics do. Men like Rich Gaspari, Lee Labrada or Tom Platz. Their back genetics are far from ideal, but they have interesting approaches to training and an outstanding work ethic. Study the training philosophies of bodybuilders like these, who have reached an exceptional level with average genetics.

Back to the future

Fast-forward to 2004, and I felt I had made a breakthrough. I had been creative and managed to find exercises that really worked for me. A good friend helped me with this, too. Below, I will share my discoveries and my approach to back training. Let me tell you, these things really work. These approaches are effective—believe me.

I call my training philosophy “Mountain Dog Training” (MD Training). It is a training style or approach encompassing exercises, sets, repetitions and techniques designed to take your physique to a whole new level.

The key to making my training philosophy work is increased intensity, both in terms of the weights you use and the effort you put in per unit of time. Bringing up a lagging back requires a level of intensity born of creativity and even madness.

Principles, exercises and stretches

When it comes to building back thickness, the key is variety in angles: working your back from as many different angles as possible. The latissimus dorsi is a large muscle, both in mass and in the area it covers. To work that whole area as thoroughly as possible and bring out every detail, you need exercises that load the muscle from different angles. Different barbell rows, two-arm dumbbell rows and single-arm dumbbell rows are excellent choices for this purpose, especially if you weren’t blessed with good genetics.

I’ve built my back routine around exercises that work the lats from different angles and place them under different kinds of tension. These aren’t simply conventional exercises, nor are they necessarily exercises I invented. I’m also not presenting them to you to make myself look clever. The exercises below have formed the core of my back routine for the past six years. I should add that the appearance of my back has improved more in the last 6 years than it did in the preceding 15 years of training.

Back exercises

Meadows rows – I seriously doubt that I actually invented this exercise, but I still haven’t seen anyone else doing it, so I’ll take the liberty of naming it after myself. Feel free to laugh at me if you have evidence that Charles Glass was doing these back in the seventies.
This is a variation on the one-arm dumbbell row, but I use the end of a T-bar instead of a dumbbell. Stand at the end of the T-bar row machine where you would normally load the plates. Grip the end of the barbell (the plate-loading sleeve) with one hand and row. Be sure to use lifting straps. To get the most out of this exercise, find the stance, torso angle and hip position that give you the greatest stretch and let you really feel your lats working. With the right positioning, this exercise also works the lower lats well. It has contributed more to the size and definition of my lats than any other exercise. If you’re struggling to develop your back, give this exercise a prominent place in your back routine. Start with 4 sets of 10 repetitions.
Watch me demonstrate the exercise HERE.

One-arm landmine rows – another exercise that has helped me build my lats very effectively. Stand beside the loaded end of a barbell, grip the barbell and start rowing. As with the previous exercise, emphasize or focus on feeling the stretch at the bottom. Use smaller-diameter plates to give you a greater range of motion.
See the exercise HERE.

Bent-over dumbbell rows with pauses – this is an interesting new way to perform rows. Set up as you would for a standard dumbbell row, but let the dumbbell touch the floor for a second at the bottom of every repetition. Each row starts from a dead stop. What makes this method special is that it eliminates the use of momentum. Pulling a heavy dumbbell off the floor requires tremendous explosive effort, which loads the lats. I’ll take full credit for inventing this exercise.
Watch the exercise HERE.

To increase the width of your lats, incorporate intense stretches into your exercises.
Hard training can often leave your shoulder girdle and lats quite tight, causing them to shorten.
Some exercises naturally stretch the lats when performed carefully and correctly. These stretching exercises are excellent for improving muscle separation and stretching out the tendons and ligaments. They improve muscle separation, reduce stiffness in the lats and improve shoulder joint mobility.

Stretchers – this exercise has done more than any other to stretch my lats and release tension in my shoulder girdle. Stand facing a lat pulldown machine with one foot supported on the bench. Use a close grip and row down from above. As you let the weight return, fully straighten your arms and lower your head forward between them. As you pull the weight down, bring it to your abdomen below your chest, arching your back firmly to contract your lats. You may feel some slight discomfort in your shoulders during the first sets, but you’ll soon feel your muscles and joints loosen up and get a pump in your lats.
Watch the technique HERE.

Lat pulldowns with an added stretch – I love this exercise; it’s a great method and exercise for building back width. You must perform it correctly and with care, otherwise you’ll simply hurt yourself. A good, experienced training partner is valuable here. Perform the exercise just like a standard lat pulldown, but let your arms straighten fully at the end of the negative phase. Your training partner then gently presses down on the weight to apply a little extra pressure, giving the muscle an additional stretch. Apply the pressure carefully, when your arms are already almost straight.
Watch the technique to see what I mean, HERE.

You don’t need to prolong the negatives with this approach. Straighten your arms, pause briefly in the stretch under your partner’s pressure, then perform the next repetition.

Partial (quarter) lat pulldowns – these are lat pulldowns performed with a weight so heavy that you definitely couldn’t complete even one proper repetition through a full range of motion. Each repetition goes from the top down to head level, covering about 1/3 of the full range of motion. Again, make sure the muscle is stretched at the top. The weight may even be heavy enough to start pulling you upward. Although this is the technique I’ve described, don’t let your execution become too sloppy or rushed.
Watch the technique HERE.

MD pullovers – most people perform pullovers lying across a bench. Try my method. Lie along the bench with your head over the edge. Lower the weight slowly, then bring it back only as far as your forehead, no further. Performed this way, you’ll feel your lats open up with each repetition.
Watch the exercise HERE.

To be continued…

Author: Janar Rückenberg (translation)

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