Earlier this year, Team MuscleMeds athlete and IFBB Pro Victor Martinez visited the Muscle & Strength HQ to give us an insight into how he built his physique.
In this video, Victor takes us through one of his back workouts.
Exercise 1: Lat Pulldown
Victor begins his back workout by getting the muscles surrounding his scapula warmed up.
Victor says most lifters, especially beginners, use too much of their arms when performing lat pulldowns. To counteract this, Victor does a quick routine to engage his lats before beginning his first set of lat pulldowns.
Exercise 2: Barbell Row
The barbell row is one of the “bread and butter” movements of building a big wide back. Victor claims many of the top Mr. Olympians would have never been crowned if it weren’t for this exercise.
Victor admits he has injured his back about 5 times performing this exercise incorrectly. Most people think to optimize the stretch during this exercise, you have to bend completely over. However, this isn’t the case and often times can lead to injury.
The best way to prevent injury during barbell rows is to stabilize the spine and focus on using the lats to pull the weight.
Exercise 3: T-bar row
For T-bar rows, Victor likes to use 35lb plates to increase his range of motion. This is one of Victor’s favorite exercise for building back thickness.
Much like barbell rows, it’s important to not bend too far over while performing this exercise.
On his final set of T-bar rows, Victor performs a drop set.
Exercise 4: Wide Cable Rows
For his final movement, Victor heads over to the cable row machine.
Victor likes to use a wide grip for seated rows as the hand positioning mimics that of a barbell row.
Since this exercise is performed in a seated position, it takes a lot of pressure off of the spine and allows him to better target his mid back. The perfect way to end a tough back workout.
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