In this post, I’m going to teach you how to build a downright incredible back with ease.
Now here’s the craziest part: building an amazing back is pretty damn simple. You see, I have an equation for developing a big back. It goes something like this… The stronger you are on weighted chin ups or pull ups, the better your back will look.
In fact, I’ve never seen this equation fail. The problem though is that people get so focused on hitting their back from different angles and performing lots of sets and reps, they miss the cardinal rule!
What is the cardinal rule you ask? Progressive overload.
The most effective and efficient way to build a great back is by becoming a beast on weighted chins.
Focus hard on weighted chins and in a matter of months, you’ll have TOO much back size. In fact, I can’t even do traditional chin ups or pull ups anymore or I’ll bust out of all my jackets.
This is why I do close-grip chins. It takes a little work off my lats and puts more on the biceps.
The Best Way To Do Weighted Chins
The most effective way to do weighted chin ups is in a reverse pyramid fashion. I recommend doing something along the lines of this:
Set 1: 5 reps
Set 2: 6 reps
Set 3: 8 reps
Your first set is the heaviest set and the goal is to get 5 reps. Then you’ll rest 3 minutes and drop the weight by 10% of TOTAL WEIGHT (bodyweight + additional weight). For this set, the goal is six reps.
Finally, you’ll rest an additional 3 minutes, and drop the weight by another 10% of TOTAL WEIGHT. For the final set, I recommend shooting for 8 reps.
Now the key is this: the next workout, you want to increase each set by 2.5 lbs. So, essentially, every workout you’ll be adding 2.5 lbs to your weighted chin ups. That may not sound like a lot, but after months of training you can build up to 100+ lbs, pretty easily…
If you’re using a standard weight belt, this can get VERY uncomfortable and distract you from the exercise, so I highly recommend getting a high-quality weight belt.
This Is How RPT Weighted Chins Look
Here’s how reverse pyramid training would look like with weighted chin ups…. Lets assume you weight 200 lbs and are doing your first set with 50 lbs. That’s a total weight of 250 lbs (so you’d reduce the weight by 25 lbs, on the second and third set)..
Set 1 – 50 lbs for 5 reps
Set 2 – 25 lbs for 6 reps
Set 3 – Bodyweight for 8 reps
Then, the next workout you’d do 52.5 lbs for 5, 27.5 lbs for 6 and 2.5 lbs for 8 reps! For a warm up, I’d suggest doing five bodyweight chin ups, resting a couple minutes, then doing 3 chin ups with half of your heavy set (25 lbs x 3 in this case).
How Strong Should You Try To Get?
I like to give people strength standards, to shoot for! Here they are (note: “bw” = bodyweight):
- Decent – 0.2 x bw for 5
- Good – 0.35x bw for 5
- Warrior – 0.5x bw for 5
- Greek God – 0.65x bw for 5
- Superhero – 0.8x bw for 5
If you can build up to the Warrior level, you’ll have a pretty damn solid back – you’ll appear powerful, capable and well developed. If you hit the Greek God level, you’ll begin to really, really stand out. As well, your strength will be godlike.
If you get to the Superhero level, people may very well mistake you for a real-life superhero. I’m on the verge of hitting the Superhero level myself; it’s coming – and people freak out when they see my back!
This Will Make Your Arms And Back Look God-Like
This method is so effective that it will blow your mind. I can’t stress the effectiveness of this protocol enough! Get strong on weighted chin ups and you will build incredible, real-world strength and your back and arms will look godlike.
There’s no need for anything else, really. If you do too much for back, you may actually find it harder to progress on your strength and your muscle growth will plateau.
Remember, less is more!
Bottom Line: I’ve helped thousands of people build up to some seriously heavy weighted chin ups and you can bet your ass they build a phenomenal back in the progress.
Each and everyone of my courses includes weighted chin ups, they really are that powerful.
