9 EXERCISES TO BUILD A BIG BACK
Build a bigger back with NPC Bodybuilder Justin Shier's top nine exercises to add width and thickness to your back.
Justin Shier's Big Back Workout
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Set | ||
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 15 |
| High Cable Pulldown | 3 | 15 |
| Standing Face Pull | 3 | 15 |
| Machine Pullover | 3 | Failure |
| Lying Leg Curl | 1 | 10-15 |
| Deadlift | 6 | 10-12 |
| Dumbbell Seal Row | 1 | Failure |
| Smith Machine Bent-over Row | 3 | 10-12 |
| Close-grip Pulldown | 3 | 25 |
| Seated Cable Row | 1 | Failure |
Best Supplements to Boost Workout Performance
To take his performance and intensity to the next level, Justin uses a properly formulated bodybuilding supplements. He starts by consuming HOSSTILITY pre-workout, about 20-30 minutes before he trains. This complete all-in-one bodybuilding pre-workout enhances muscle pumps, energy, endurance, strength, and focus, to support even the most challenging workout sessions. He follows up his pre-workout with INTRA[R3] intra-workout, which he sips on throughout his training session. With high-quality carbs in the form Cluster Dextrin highly branched cyclic dextrin (HBCD), vegan-friendly essential amino acids, PeakO2 mushroom complex for endurance, betaine, and electrolytes; this is the best intra-workout supplement to support his muscle-building goals.
Building a Bigger, Stronger Back
Back days always fall on Mondays, his favorite training day of the week. He begins his workout with a giant set of lat pulldowns, cable pulldowns, and face pulls. He performs these exercises back-to-back for a total of three sets of 15 reps each movement to warm up his back for the heavier compound movements ahead.
He then moves on to machine pullovers and does three sets to failure. Each rep is performed with precision, focusing on driving a hard contraction throughout the movement. He pauses at the bottom of the movement to squeeze the contraction briefly, then he slowly returns to the weight back to the start position where he allows for a full stretch, again with a pause. He has found that pausing in a fully stretched position allows for better growth.
Next, he hits one set of 12-15 reps of lying leg curls. Although this exercise isn’t typically seen in a back workout, Justin uses this to warm up for his next movement, heavy deadlifts. For deadlifts, he removes his shows and performs the exercise barefoot. He does six sets, increasing the weight each set. The fifth set is performed as his top set, followed by one more backoff set with dead stops.
After a heavy compound movement like deadlifts, Justin likes to move on to dumbbell seal rows. He starts the movement with his arms in a fully lengthened position to open up the scapula and aims for this stretch at the bottom of each rep. He performs one working set to failure.
From there, he moves on to Smith machine barbell rows. He performs this movement standing on a box and positions his hands closer together when gripping the bar. Standing on a box ensures he gets a full range of motion on each rep without bottoming out. He focuses on driving the elbows back deep into his lats to maximize the contraction at the top of the movement. He does three sets of 10-12 reps each set.
Next up is close-grip pulldowns. He performs three sets total, using drop sets to reach 25 reps each set. He finishes the workout with one set of seated cable rows to finish off his back.