I’d been doing so many high intensity workouts with the trainers lately that I hadn’t had a chance to try out a lot of the great equipment here at Gold’s. Back is something I really enjoy training and I really try to make the most of the opportunity.
There are some great hammer strength machines at Gold’s Venice and these are what I try to take advantage of. We have a few of these that I use back home and there are a few that I don’t have access to – namely a wide grip hammer pull down and hammer low rows (reverse or regular grip).
The hammer pull down is not surprisingly very similar to a lat pull down or chin up. It is a good alternative to either of these exercises. The low row (with regular grip) tends to target the upper lats. I prefer to use one arm at a time for this exercise and stabilize by holding on with the free arm.
My basis for structuring my back workouts is generally that I like to do a balance between exercises which work on width, and exercises which work on thickness. Whether or not it is true I tend to think as follows: pull down exercises for width, close grip rows for lat thickness, wide grip rows for middle back thickness. Since there are certain exercises I can’t do due to my injury such as bent over rows and T Bar rows, the hammer machines provide a suitable alternative for rows to help build thickness without putting pressure on my lower back.
So to give you an idea of what I’m trying to work on with each exercise here is my workout labeled according to what I’m focusing on:
Back
Wide grip lat pull downs – 170 x 12, 180 x 10, 190 x 8, 200 x 6 (lat width)
Close grip lat pull downs – 170 x 10, 180 x 9, 190 x 7, 200 x 6 (lower lat width)
Reverse grip lat pull downs – 160 x 12, 170 x 10, 180 x 8, 190 x 6 (lower lat width)
Wide grip hammer pull downs – 230 x 12, 270 x 8, 270 x 8, 290 x 6 (lat width)
Close grip hammer rows – 320 x 10, 330 x 8, 340 x 7, 350 x 6 (lat thickness)
Hammer low rows – 180 x 14, 200 x 12, 230 x 10, 250 x 8 (lat thickness)
Wide grip hammer rows – 320 x 8, 320 x 8, 330 x 6, 330 x 6 (middle back thickness)
Supported wide grip T Bat rows – 145 x 6, 135 x 7, 135 x 7, 135 x 6 (middle back thickness)
Abs and Lower Back
Decline Crunches – BW + 10 x 40, BW + 10 x 30 (twisting), BW + 10 x 30
Hyperextensions – BW + 25 x 30
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