On Apr. 3, 2023, Lunsford posted a video to his YouTube channel where he works out with eight-time Mr. Olympia (1998-2005) Ronnie Coleman. The legend and Lunsford walk through a back and biceps workout together that could probably only be achieved by two bodybuilding superstars.

Before Lunsford and Coleman hit the gym, they spent much of a day together, doing things like getting breakfast at a diner and talking about the bodybuilding training process. Then, when it was time to get down to business, they wasted no time.

Here’s an overview of the back and biceps workout from Lunsford and Coleman. The routine took place at Coleman’s Signature Series gym. Note: The exact repetition and sets for each movement were undisclosed.

Deadlift

Lunsford and Coleman begin the session with a traditional deadlift. Given some of Coleman’s recent health issues, only Lunsford performed the movement, working in a few sets before the pair moved on.

Seated Cable Row

Lunsford and Coleman worked in some seated cable rows to center more on a horizontal training angle for the back muscles. The exercise is great for well-rounded back development if performed in a controlled fashion. Both Lunsford and Coleman powered through a few heavy sets while gradually increasing their weight.

Despite an apparent intensity, Coleman took the time to encourage Lunsford, perhaps giving him an appropriate description.

“Next up and coming Mr. Olympia is right here,” Coleman said of Lunsford as he worked out. “The future is here. You got the man in the house.”

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

To close out the back-focused portion of their session, Lunsford and Coleman implemented a wide-grip lat pulldown. A staple back movement in many training routines, the latissimus dorsi is under the microscope here. The duo performed a traditional lat pulldown with a wider grip before shifting to a few sets of a behind-the-neck variation.

Lunsford emphasized that contraction and technique were vital on the lat pulldown.

“Even though it looks like we’re swaying a little bit, you’ve really gotta make sure that you’re staying engaged with the muscle and keeping that constant tension,” Lunsford said.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl

Lunsford and Coleman isolated their muscles with preacher curls in the first part of their biceps workout. The nature of the movement restricts an athlete’s positioning, forcing improved work on the biceps. This makes preacher curls a great way to reinforce the biceps brachii muscles.

After warming up, Lunsford and Coleman pushed themselves through a few working sets as they prepped for the final segment of their day in the gym together.

Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curl

To differentiate from the preacher curls, Lunsford and Coleman closed with some sets of the hammer curl variation. Hammer curls work the long head of the biceps muscles and the brachialis near the forearm. With their back and biceps sufficiently trained, Lunsford and Coleman put a neat bow on their mutual session.

After getting the opportunity to pick the brain of a living Olympia legend, Lunsford was appropriately grateful. It’s not necessarily often a current star even gets a chance at this kind of meeting of the minds.

“What a day, man! That was a lot of fun,” Lunsford exclaimed. “It just felt like we all clicked right away. Just everybody here, and especially me and Ronnie [Coleman] hanging out and having a good time, man!”

Featured image: @dereklunsford_ on Instagram

The post Derek Lunsford and Ronnie Coleman Spend Quality Time Building Up Their Back and Biceps appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On Mar. 15, 2023, Yates posted a black and white Instagram photo of himself performing one of his signature exercises — a reverse-grip barbell row. In the accompanying caption, the six-time Mr. Olympia champion (1992-1997) went into appropriate detail about why he appreciates the barbell row as his favorite back-training mechanism.

Per Yates’ account, he could typically move a heavier weight with his barbell rows. However, he wrote that he usually lifted four 45-pound plates and one 25-pound plate on each side of the 45-pound barbell (totaling 455 pounds) as to maintain quality form.

Yates noted he usually performed this movement alongside former bodybuilder Paul Baxendale. He described an account where Baxendale initially utilized a lot of body momentum for his rows, partly due to the heavy weight on the barbell. Yates maintained that when Baxendale halved his working weight, his back grew noticeably over the next few months.

Here is how the “Barbell Row — Yates Style” guide reads regarding proper tips and steps to perform the exercise:

Barbell Row “Yates Style” Steps and Tips

1. Grip: Yates’ copy reads that the barbell row is the best exercise to build muscle on the lats and overall back. He would apparently utilize a reverse “underhand” grip while pulling his barbell into his waist. (Note: Yates has previously stated that he suffered a biceps tear while performing this exercise during preparation for his 1994 Mr. Olympia win, and subsequently switched to using an overhand grip.)
2. Stance: For Yates’ row, he would keep his body above parallel at a 70-degree angle to the floor. He wrote that this torso angle allows the lat muscles to contract better while protecting the back from injury. An arched position is vital to maximize full benefits.
3. Partial Reps: In order to align with proper intensity, because forced reps can be difficult with a barbell row, Yates writes that it’s best to perform partial reps at a certain point. Though, he would only perform partial reps toward the end of a set after he couldn’t work through a full range of motion.
4. Negative: As for the actual repetition, Yates would perform the eccentric portion (lowering phase) slowly while the concentric portion (lifting phase) received as much energy as feasible.
5. Equipment: Finally, Yates wrote that he “believes in using wrist straps” for any heavy-weight back exercise. The main purpose was to uphold a firmer grip, in turn allowing him to better target his back muscles.

Taking these cues from Yates probably wouldn’t be the worst idea for an athlete seeking a greater way to build back mass in the modern era.

These days, while seemingly maintaining his fitness at a high level, the 60-year-old Yates appears to be enjoying his retirement from competition more than anything. He has business ventures and resides in Brazil with his wife. That said, it looks like he knows he still has plenty of wise nuggets about bodybuilding to drop for those willing to learn.

Featured image: @thedorianyates on Instagram

The post Olympia Legend Dorian Yates Describes His Favorite Back Exercise appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

All of these illustrious achievements aside, the NFL legend still has a lot to learn when it comes to training in the gym. That’s where seven-time Mr. Olympia (2011-2017) Phil Heath recently came in.

On Dec. 13, 2022, Club Shay Shay posted a video to their YouTube channel that features Heath walking Sharpe through a back and triceps workout while also giving him short posing lessons. Being someone who tries to maintain a high level of fitness in retirement, Sharpe seemed to hold his own. Even still, it was apparent that Heath’s pointers were effective and left a mark on a fellow sports legend.

Here’s an overview of the strength-training routine Heath and Sharpe worked through together.

Lat Pulldown (Overhand/Underhand)

The icons’ session began with some overhand grip lat pulldowns. Heath’s main note of advice for Sharpe here was to hold the weight for a little longer on each rep so as to contract his muscles more.

“… We want to focus on the technique,” Heath told Sharpe. “We want to focus on the tempo. So we’re not going super fast because this has got momentum. We want to keep muscles under tension for a longer duration.”

After they finished the overhand lat pulldowns, Heath and Sharpe transitioned to an underhand grip variation. According to Heath, performing underhand pulldowns is necessary for bodybuilders because it helps round out the back muscles.

“A lot of people say, ‘Why would I do underhand lat pulldowns?’ Heath asked rhetorically. “Because we want to work on the sweeping of the lats. The lats can actually insert very, very low. You see a lot of guys that have it very up top, very high, and in bodybuilding, we want it to start so low, it looks like the Cobra.”

After finishing off these back exercises, Sharpe clarified how his preparation as an elite football player was very different from Heath’s physique focus as an elite bodybuilder.

“As a football player, you’re not really focusing on that [body aesthetic],” Sharpe said. “You’re focusing on functional strength. We did one-arm rows and dumbbell rows. That was the only thing we did for the back […] I don’t do curls because my thing was to push people off me.”

One-Arm Triceps Extension

After the heavy back portion of their workout, the pair implemented some one-arm triceps extensions, a cable pushdown variation. Heath had Sharpe focus on keeping his shoulder stable while he used his free handle to keep himself level during his reps. The purpose of this emphasized stability was to better isolate the triceps muscle.

Seated Cable Row

To top off their back work, Heath and Sharpe leaned on some seated cable rows as the last back movement in their routine. The duo had minimal corrections or new emphases on this exercise as they powered through a few quality sets.

Dumbbell Incline Triceps Extension

To close the overall workout, Heath and Sharpe performed sets of dumbbell incline triceps extensions. In a slight change-up, Heath suggested moving the dumbbells and elbows at the time. Per Heath, not keeping the elbows stationary helps lessen any potential elbow pain during this movement. Along those same lines, Heath noted the wrists can also be rotated during reps to ease tension on them.

Their meeting of the minds in the gym behind them, Heath and Sharpe will return to their usual spheres. Heath will be a color commentator on the lead 2022 Mr. Olympia broadcast team. Meanwhile, when not working out, Sharpe is a media personality on Skip and Shannon: Undisputed — a daily sports talk show on Fox Sports 1.

If this duo ever gets together to train again, they’ll likely have even more wise words of gym wisdom for each other.

Featured image: Club Shay Shay on YouTube

The post Phil Heath Guides NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe Through a Bodybuilding Training Session appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On Sept. 13, 2022, Björnsson shared an Instagram post where he displayed a shredded lean physique and a small sample of a challenging back and abs workout he recently completed. Judging by the respective short clips Björnsson includes, the workout features leg raises on a dips machine, one-arm hammer rows, T-bar rows with handles, and some reps on a reverse pec deck machine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)

[Related: Strongman Legend Eddie Hall Swims a 50-Meter Freestyle in 27.06 Seconds]

In the caption of the former Game of Thrones star’s post, the strongman legend wrote that the physique update and workout came after “12 hours of a hardcore day at work” while filming a “very physical fight scene” scene for an undisclosed movie/television show. Regardless of what Björnsson is filming for, he is indeed seemingly staying quite busy.

In March 2022, Björnsson defeated his former strongman rival and 2017 WSM champ Eddie Hall in the “Heaviest Boxing Match in History.” In the aftermath, Hall would honor a pre-match wager by getting a tattoo of Björnsson’s full name on his body. 

A few months later, in June, Björnsson disclosed that he had lost 13 pounds since his fight with Hall. The weight loss had apparently come as a part of an athletic experiment for the 33-year-old, who seems to be seeking a new long-term niche after strongman.

“I’m human like everyone else, and I’m going through a period in my life where I’m not 100 percent focused or dedicated all the time,” Björnsson wrote in his June Instagram post. “It’s weird because, for the last 10-plus years of my life, I’ve been super focused and driven because I’ve always had a goal to strive towards.”

This new update and workout might be an extension of the athlete’s early summer thought process. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)

[Related: Here’s How Eddie Hall is Eating Ahead of His Return to Strongman in 2022]

At the moment, Björnsson appears to be in a verbal war of words with British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury. The pair have been in talks for months about a potential fight but, at the time of this writing, have not set a concrete date. 

Fighting, let alone beating an established professional like Fury, would be a considerable step up in pedigree for Björnsson. In 33 career matches, Fury has won 32 times and never lost. Should Björnsson eventually fight Fury, it might signal a significant step forward for the strongman legend in finding a new athletic commitment.

Featured image: @thorbjornsson on Instagram

The post Hafthor Björnsson Looks Ripped After a Back and Abs Workout appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

For some, it’s chronic lower back pain, for others its rib-induced sharp pain around their shoulder blades, and for others still, it’s recurring back spasms that keep them out of the gym and in bed on muscle relaxants for days at a time.

I personally have suffered from all of the above. Rib injuries, likely due to years of hyperextension during my gymnastics days, were a common occurrence for years, and my lower back lit up from time to time.

Once I hit my late 20s, back spasms entered the equation. One time, I was so immobile and in so much pain that I let a friend slip me some unknown muscle relaxant. I didn’t even ask what was in it, but it was shaped like a little yellow house.

God bless that little yellow house! (It put me to sleep for 12 hours, but I woke up and the back pain was gone).

I digress. I’m relatively anti-drug and didn’t want to rely on pain meds to be pain-free, so I decided to spend some time investigating ways to take care of my back once and for all.

And if you’re looking to get started right away, here are seven exercises to work into your warm-up or cool down. I recommend going through these seven movements two or three times, three days a week.

Use Intent

I want to give you the most important piece of advice: Perform these exercises with intent!

What do I mean by performing with intent?

So often, I see people going through accessory work—be it banded movements or isometric holds—without much care in the world. It’s as if they see the warm-up or post-workout recovery work as the easy stuff they do at the end of their workout.

As a result, they rush through it in a totally unfocused way, because they’re already thinking about what they’re going to eat once they’re done.

When you do these movements right, they will be as hard, or even harder, than your “workout.”

Three tips for performing with intent:

1. Don’t rush.
2. Follow the prescribed tempos.
3. Build tension in your body during each movement.

Basically, what I mean is care more. And try harder.

Ok, we’re ready for the movements.

1. Single-Leg Raise and Hold

Stand on one leg. Raise the other leg as high as you can while keeping your raised knee straight. Can you get it to 90 degrees? Squeeze every muscle in your body as you’re doing this and stay stiff as a statue.

Start with 10 seconds per leg and work your way up to 20 seconds per leg.

2. Superman Hold

Lay prone. Keep your legs straight and raise your feet, shins, and knees off the ground, as well as your arms, head, and chest. Raise them as high as possible. Point your thumbs to the sky as if you’re giving the sky a thumbs up. Stay as tight throughout your body as you can.

Start with 20 seconds and work up to a 40 second to 60-second superman hold.

3. Overhead Dumbbell Hold

Stand with perfect posture. Keep your rib cage down, your spine neutral, and your bum cheeks squeezed together. Then press and a DB or KB in a perfect overhead position. You should feel the muscles in and around your shoulder blades working overtime if you’re doing it correctly.

If you can’t do this with weight and maintain the correct position, try it without weight and fight for as good of a position as you can.

Start with 30 seconds per arm and work up to 60 seconds per arm.

4. Bent Arm Dumbbell Hold

Similar to the above: Stand with perfect posture and hold a DB at a 90-degree angle with your knuckles facing the sky. Keep the DB directly in front of your body at eye level. Don’t let your elbow drop as you get tired. Go as heavy as you can while maintaining perfect positioning, and where you can feel your back on fire.

Start with 30 seconds per arm and work up to 60 seconds per arm.

5. Turkish Sit-Ups

This is basically the start of a Turkish get-up, but you stop at the top of the sit-up. Similar to the above to exercises, your shoulder blades will be working double time, and in this case, your entire core will be feeling it.

Start by laying flat on your back with a DB pressed out with a straight elbow, like at the top of a bench press, in the right hand. Bend the right knee so the right foot is flat on the ground. Use your left arm to help sit you up to the top of a sit-up. Ensure the weight remains directly over your center of gravity the whole time.

The movement ends when the DB or KB is directly over your head like at the top of a shoulder press and your body is sitting straight up like at the top of a sit-up. Then slowly control the weight back down the way you came. Think about taking 3-5 seconds to sit-up and 3-5 seconds to lower.

Start with 8 reps per side and work up to 20 reps per side.

6. Barbell Rollouts

On your knees (with your knees on a mat for comfort) and a barbell (loaded with weights on both sides) in front of you, roll the weight as far away from your body as you can while keeping your body in a perfect hollow body position.

You may find these really hard and won’t be able to roll the bar that far away from you. That’s OK. Over time, you’ll be able to push the barbell further away from your body until your body is almost parallel to the floor all the while maintaining a straight body position. Think about taking five seconds to roll the bar out and five seconds to roll the bar back.

Remember, only go as far as you can while maintaining a good body position. If your lower back gives out and collapses, you have gone too far.

Start with 5 reps at a time and work up to 10 or 12.

7. Loaded Sumo Stance Good Mornings

In a sumo stance with a moderate weight on your back, send your hips back as far as you can while maintaining a perfectly neutral spine. Keep your shins perpendicular to the ground and your shoulder blades squeezed together. Keep these slow and controlled. As you stand back up again, squeeze your bum cheeks together, hard.

For this exercise 10 to 15 reps per set is a good number to aim for. As you get comfortable with these, add more weight.

Good luck bulletproofing that back!

You might also like:

• The Best Back Workouts
• Physiotherapy Exercises For Lower Back Pain
• 10 Short Daily Drills To Combat Back Pain
• Heal Your Lower Back Pain With These 5 Yoga Poses

The post 7 Exercises to a Bulletproof Back appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I picked up a waiting room magazine bearing the headline: Healing Your Own Back Pain. Being a physical therapist, my interest was piqued. After ten minutes of reading and looking for my jaw on the floor, I was dismayed about several things:

The other day I was sitting in a waiting room in a radiology department. We were there with my son to figure out if he had stomach flu or appendicitis (thankfully, it was just stomach flu, although my thanks may be different if I’m puking in a few days).

I picked up a waiting room magazine bearing the headline: Healing Your Own Back Pain. Being a physical therapist, my interest was piqued. After ten minutes of reading and looking for my jaw on the floor, I was dismayed about several things:

1. In describing common low-back ailments, rather than educate the consumer, the magazine left me (an educated consumer) wondering if I had a herniated disc or cancer. Fail.
2. The “Top 3” ways to “cure” back pain were passive therapies. So now Johnny Back-Pain feels better, but the problem is still there.
3. Aside from Pilates, which is a great way to strengthen your abdominal and spinal muscles, there were no suggestions for active treatments for low back pain.

So instead of getting suckered by this pseudo-science, let’s take a real look at why your back behaves the way it does, how it moves, and what simple techniques you can perform prior to working out to give your spine the love it needs.

RELATED: How to Stop Your Lower Back Pain

A Painful Reality

Back pain is the second most frequent reason people miss work after the common cold. In 2010, according to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, lost work productivity cost the United States $297.4 billion. This cost is related to medical expenses, temporary employment replacements, insurance and workers’ compensation claims, and payments for permanent disability.

“Since none of the spinal supporting structures are actually supporting anything, we rely on our connective tissue (disc, ligaments, etc.) and spinal integrity to do the work.”

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, one in five people will experience low back pain in their lifetime. One in twenty will be unable to work because of an acute occurrence or recurrence.

READ: The Rabbit Hole of Back Pain: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Want You to Know

What if we could start out this year a little differently? What if instead of spending money on passive therapies like acupuncture and massage and sinking even more money into Pilates classes we’ll stop attending in a month, we figured out why our back hurts, fixed our movement, and Let it Go? (cue Frozen music)

The Real Culprit Behind Low Back Pain

Musculoskeletal low back pain happens due to one culprit – poor movement. All the junk that comes along (herniated discs, nerve impingement, and muscle strains) is just a result of that. Our poor movement patterns start with our lifestyle. We sit down.

THINK OUTSIDE THE DESK: Desk Workouts, Cycle 1

The illustration below depicts the three natural curves of a standing upright spine. Our spine moves in three dimensions: flexion/extension, side bending, and rotation. Each segment of the spine has the ability to move upon one another independently so we may adapt our movement to tackle the tasks placed in front of us.

Furthermore, we have an intricate system of muscles and ligaments that support our spine, like guy wires on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Below, you can see a disc between each segment, a little space for nerve roots to pass, and ligamentous attachments. Each segment also has a joint above and below, referred to as the facet joint.

Low back pain often originates from the facet, the nerve root, or a disc that’s been compressed or herniated. Since none of the spinal supporting structures are actually supporting anything, we rely on our connective tissue (disc, ligaments, etc.) and spinal integrity to do the work. It’s like asking the man who won the Boston marathon to enter a weightlifting competition and expecting him to win.

“Even when we sit in a ‘better’ position, we provide constant tactile sensation to the glutes and hamstrings, sending a neurologic signal for them to not fire anymore. We have lengthened the spinal erector muscle group and cued them to stop firing.”

Look at the images below. The fellow on the right is sitting with slouched posture. Note the loss of curvature in the lumbar spine, the increase in angle of the thoracic spine, and the straightening of the cervical spine. Additionally, note the tilt of the pelvis.

LEFT: Sitting with good posture; RIGHT: Sitting with slouched posture

Even when we sit in a “better” position, we provide constant tactile sensation to the glutes and hamstrings, sending a neurologic signal for them to not fire anymore. We have lengthened the spinal erector muscle group and cued them to stop firing. What happens when we leave our cozy little cubicle, drive (yet again sitting) to our local gym, and ask our bodies to perform feats of amazing athleticism?

READ: Sleep to Win: How Your Mattress Could Be Affecting Your Training

In addition, as we sleep, our intervertebral disc height increases. By lying supine, we allow good, healing nutrition and water to enter the disc. When we wake up, our discs are chubby with fluid and vulnerable. There is more cushion, but it is in a confined space and can press on nerve roots.

Make Things Right With Your Spine

If you tend to be a morning exerciser, your top priority is to wring out some of that fluid before you lift something heavy. A few sets of ten standing back extensions and a few sets of supine lower extremity rotation are key prior to killing your morning workout.

“As we stand and sit throughout the day, all that healthy fluid is squeezed out due to the effect of gravity. That means there is less cushioning between your vertebrae and nerve roots.”

If you are an evening exerciser, your disc state is much different. As we stand and sit throughout the day, all that healthy fluid is squeezed out due to the effect of gravity. That means there is less cushioning between your vertebrae and nerve roots. Your job is to reestablish some of that nutrition and fluid. Lying supine with your feet up for about five to ten minutes, followed by bending from one side to the next will provide your discs with what they need.

Consider this rant a little snippet of a three-part series. Next, we’ll address signs and symptoms, as well as learning the difference between when to seek help and when you can help yourself. Finally, we’ll come up with a sexy top-ten list of preventive exercises. And this year, maybe you’ll truly “Let it Go.”

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Back Pain: Get Educated and Let It Go appeared first on Breaking Muscle.