I’ve got a confession to make: I’m fine with post-workout selfies, but I’m tired of seeing the same old ab and chest shots. Beach-muscle photos abound on social media, but there seems to be a serious lack of well-developed backs out there. I’m talking about dense lats, three-dimensional traps, a wide V-taper, capped rear delts, and lower-back musculature that makes foothills on either side of the spine.

It’s extremely tough work to build that kind of back, so it’s no wonder so many folks only take pics from the front. But if you want to stand out from the crowd, you’re in the right spot; the four techniques in this article are proven winners for unparalleled back development! Use them to take your back size, strength, and symmetry to new heights. Soon enough, you’ll be snapping selfies of your better side. ###Cobra Back ##Back Attack. So lets kick some back and take some names! Here goes!

1 DEADLIFT

Deadlifting forces you to use virtually every muscle in your body as you take the bar from the floor and transition to an upright position. In the chain of muscles involved in this process, nothing is left behind, and everything is forced to contribute.

It all starts with your lower back. Nothing will build your spinal erectors like the repetitive action of heavy deadlifting for reps. The deadlift is more than a lower-back exercise, though. As you move through the full range of motion and transition from the lower part of the lift to the lockout phase, your grip, lats, traps, and other upper-back muscles take over.

When you lock out the weight, you’re holding a very heavy weight in a dead-hang position, which places anabolic-spiking pressure on your traps, creating a synergistic combination that builds thickness in your upper back and shoulders.

TRAINING TIPS
To more effectively target your back, use a conventional hip-width stance when deadlifting. Furthermore, because the range of motion is greater than in a sumo deadlift, more mechanical work is done, and the muscles are under greater tension for a longer amount of time. Sumo deadlifts can maximize leverage for powerlifting, but aren’t great for building size, whereas conventional deadlifts serve as the gateway to hypertrophy heaven. When growth is the objective, you want to keep reps in a variety of ranges, working both low and high.
Everything in training operates on the risk-to-benefit ratio. When using good form, the risk is relatively low on this continuum, and the benefit is high. Stop deadlifting for the day before your form starts to breaks down. Otherwise, you’ll lose the desired training effect and potentially win the local chiropractor or orthopedic surgeon a new patient.
If you’re unsure of how wide to place your feet, use the same stance you’d do with a standing vertical jump. From here, you can adapt your stance to your personal preferences.

2 SINGLE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW
This movement is a tried-and-true bodybuilding basic, but I’m putting a unique spin on how you complete each set. Instead of following a vanilla formula of 3 sets of 10, let’s instead do as many reps as possible for a given amount of time! Your goal is to go for 30 seconds. For a 30-second set (each side), you’ll want to use a weight at which you can perform about 10 reps.

You’ll likely reach failure (at 2 seconds per rep), so you’ll continue with partial reps until you hit 30 seconds. Don’t stop your set when you reach failure! Start with your weaker side, and match the number of reps on your stronger side.

TRAINING TIPS
Start with your first set as your heaviest. On each subsequent set, reduce the weight by approximately 20 percent. So, if you’re using a 100-pound dumbbell for your first set, the second set would be with 80 pounds, and the third set with 65.
Doing the rowing movement unilaterally allows you to better concentrate on each rep, and then take the set beyond failure. Ultimately, this results in your backside muscles spending more time under maximal tension and enduring greater amounts of metabolic stress, two keys for hypertrophy.
This is about building a big back, so don’t let your grip be a limiting factor! By all means, throw on straps as needed.

3 STRAIGHT-ARM PULL-DOWN
Here’s one you’d never expect to make a list of big-back moves, because it’s a single-joint exercise, but it was a favorite of powerlifting bench-press world-record-holder Doug Young, a man who was built like a bodybuilder and even became a training advisor to a younger Arnold Schwarzenegger. In every upper-body workout—not just on back day—Young included 6 sets of straight-arm pull-downs.

In some pulling movements, the biceps are the limiting factor. But when you do a single-joint movement like this one, the biceps are taken out, which allows you to better isolate your lats. And this exercise does that especially well.

Straight-arm pull-downs can be performed with a lat bar or rope attachment on a cable lat station. Knock them out for one minute straight—don’t worry about reps—with a weight around your 20-rep max. Go at a controlled pace, focus on range of motion, work the muscle, and control the negative.

TRAINING TIPS
Some movements aren’t ruined by cheating and may even be enhanced, but this is not one of those movements. Keep it strict!
At the top of the movement, focus on stretching your lats; on the way down, focus on tightening them, keeping your arms extended throughout. By keeping your torso slightly inclined, you’ll more effectively target your lats.
Keep the negative portion of the rep under control at all times, taking up to five seconds to reach the top position before starting your next rep.
If you have trouble feeling your lats during the movement, do a lat-spread bodybuilding pose for six seconds prior to performing the exercise, and slow down the negative to a full five seconds.

4. Neutural Grip Pull Ups

Most of us are familiar with the overhand-grip pull-up; a neutral grip simply means your palms face each other. Here, you want them about shoulder-width apart. This movement is much more friendly on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders than either the overhand or underhand (chin-up) version.

The primary function of the lats is to pull the humerus (upper arm) down and into the body, but they also have a synergistic role in extension and lateral flexion of the spine. Both of those functions take place with the neutral-grip pull-up, which is why many bodybuilders feel it is the king of lat-building movements.

Start the pull-up from an arms-extended position, and hold the bar keeping tension in your lats and shoulders while squeezing your glutes. Pull your chin over the bar by driving your elbows down; lower your body under control to the starting position.

TRAINING TIPS
Why be normal? Do these pull-ups in cluster sets so you can sneak more volume into a minimal amount of time. Do 3 reps, rest 15 seconds, and repeat this sequence for four minutes.
If this is too easy—which is highly unlikely, because you won’t know until toward the end—by all means, add weight. If this is too difficult, do these band-assisted, or use an assisted pull-up machine.
To increase intensity, do these with a five-second eccentric; once you can no longer maintain that tempo, switch to a traditional tempo.

But all of this is just advice. You can do whatever the fudge you wanna do!!

Keep Punching, Lifting and growing Strong,

Crystal aka Barbell Barbie NY

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You see it on Flex Magazine, Muscle and Fitness Hers, Shape Magazine. Beautiful Women, Amazing Abs, Glutes from the Gods. But you wonder Why don’t I look like her? Well in today’s blog we will provide you the information to get the best body you need.

1.CRAZY WITH CARDIO

There’s no question that getting sufficient cardio is key to looking great and burning fat, but it’s important to be mindful of how you perform cardio in terms of type and duration. Grinding on the treadmill for 30 minutes is going to have limited effectiveness in the long term. Yes, it burns calories during the session, but the aftereffect is quite minimal, and it can get stale fast.

“It’s important to mix it up in the gym and make sure you have a well-rounded fitness regimen,”I often sees women doing too much steady-state cardio, spending hours on the StepMill to no avail. “Being a cardio-machine bunny can jeopardize your muscle gains and burn you out.”

Instead, Latona recommends a healthy mix of 1-3 steady-state sessions per week alongside two high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions. Not only is HIIT more efficient, allowing you to get in a heart-racing, sweat-pouring training session in a mere 15 minutes, but it also burns more calories post-workout and lessens the chance of tapping into your hard-earned muscle along with fat.

Just make sure to wind down after your intense cardio sessions by walking and stretching. I suggest you attend a yoga class to help your muscles relax and your body unwind. Remember, recovery is a two-way street. “Taking care of your body will allow it to work hard for you which, in turn, will help keep you motivated,” she says.

2 NOT BUILDING A MUSCLE BASE
A focus on weight loss rather than muscle gain could also be the reason your progress has stalled. “The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest.”

But this doesn’t mean you have to skip cardio for weights. “If time constraints have you feeling stuck to choose between cardio and lifting, try combining them both!” “An intense HIIT session that incorporates a lot of muscle power can burn fat and build muscle like you’ve never known before.”

Some great exercises are pushing a weighted sled and sweating it out with the battle ropes. Looking to cut down on time even further? Take notes from this fitness pro. “Try adding your cardio between weight lifting sets,” “Jump squats, jumping rope, and plyometric training are prefect for that.”

If you’re going to try this technique, just make sure you swap your rest periods for bodyweight exercises that don’t task the same muscle groups with which you’re lifting. For example, throwing jump squats between sets of heavy squats may fatigue your legs too quickly, so try push-ups or something less lower-body intensive on days you train legs.

3. FEARING FATS
Protein’s not the only macronutrient that can leave you feeling fuller longer. Incorporating the proper types of fat into your diet can play a role in keeping you satiated, as well. “Foods such as meat and dairy have saturated fat that you may only want to eat in moderation, but olive oil and avocados provide healthy unsaturated fats that you want to take in”

4. EATING TOO MUCH PROCESSED FOOD
In addition to your total calories and macronutrient breakdown, you should also pay attention to food quality. “Try and stay away from processed foods if you want optimal results.”

Practice shopping just the perimeters of the grocery store instead of going up and down the aisles.” “That’s where you’ll find the whole foods—think vegetables, meats, whole grains, and more—that your body will thank you for. Remember, filling your cart with healthier items means prepping yourself for quality gains!

Then, when you do have a cheat meal, make sure that it doesn’t replace that day’s healthy eats entirely. “If you eat food high in sugar or simple carbs, make sure to pair it with a food high in fiber,”. “You’ll do less damage that way.”

5. SLATHERING EVERYTHING IN SAUCE
One of the biggest problems pro fitness model Amanda Latona sees people making is neglecting to track the add-ons they use when preparing their meals. Long story short, condiments count!

“Dressings and sauces are full of hidden sugars and fats, so be sure to check them carefully,” she says. “You may have the best of intentions eating that salad and chicken breast, but if you slather it in a heaping of heavy dressing, it changes the nutritional value of the meal entirely.”

Amanda recommends that you always ask for the sauces or dressing on the side and pick a lighter or sugar-free version whenever possible. “Try mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, or dry spices for added flavor without the calories,” she says.

6. UNDEREATING
Cutting calories isn’t always equivalent to cutting fat, especially if you cut too drastically from the very beginning. While you need to expend more calories than you consume in order to lose weight, if you go too far, dieting can work against you. You may begin to lose muscle, and your metabolism may eventually adapt to your new low levels of caloric intake.

“Not eating enough can cause the body to store or hold on to more fat,” “Plus, the fatigue and bad mood associated with crash dieting will undoubtedly make it much harder to work out and stay positive about your goals and progress.”

7. MISSING KEY MICRONUTRIENTS

If you don’t cut smart, a reduced-calorie diet could leave you short on the vitamins and minerals your body needs. “Being in a caloric deficit may mean you aren’t getting enough of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids needed to keep your body running at an optimal level,” Latona Says.

In order to make sure you’re fueling your body to optimal levels, she recommends you supplement with an omega-3 product, a multivitamin, and branched chain amino acids.

In Summary Understanding your body and the science behind it is a beautiful thing. Love yourself regardless of what you do right or wrong in and out of the gym. We are here to help you with Nutrition and Fitness forums that give great advice. A chiseled body is not built in a day. It takes years of blood, sweat and tears. But all of this is just advice. You can do whatever the fudge you wanna do.

Keep Lifting and Staying Strong,

Crystal aka Barbell Barbie NY

References:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/amanda-latona-fitness-360-training.html
http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/3-things-sabotaging-your-weight-loss
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/amanda-latona-fitness-360-nutrition.html

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