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Rate My Workout: Get Your Back in the Habit

Al C. from Palm Beach, FL, asked us to review his back routine. Here’s how we fixed it.

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  • 30 Min

  • 4

  • Yes

rmr-july-august-one-arm-row
rmr-july-august-one-arm-row

In Al’s case, he’s mainly doing bilateral training— using both arms at once. That’s fine for letting you train heavy, but you won’t get as full a range of motion or stretch on your lats as you would from training one side of your back at a time. Add unilateral work with one-arm barbell rows and meadows rows.

Directions

One-Arm Barbell Row
Use a landmine unit or wedge one end of a barbell into a corner and grasp the other end just behind the sleeve (the thickest part of the bar where you load the plates). Stagger your stance so your trailing leg is closest to the bar and bend your hips back so your torso is almost parallel to the floor. Row the bar to your side as if doing a dumbbell row.

Meadows Row
Use the same setup as above but stand perpendicular to the bar and grasp it on the sleeve itself with your palm down. Row the bar up so your arm rises to 90 degrees. To preserve your grip, you may use straps on one or both lifts.

Al’s Old Workout

M&F Rating: B+

  • Deadlift – 5 sets x 3 reps
  • Bentover Row – 4 sets x 8-10 reps
  • Lat Pulldown – 3 sets x 12 – 15 reps
  • One-Arm Dumbbell Row – 3 sets x 20 reps

Let Us Revamp Your Routine

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Routine

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Al's New Back Routine

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 1 of 4

Summer Shred – Deadlift

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
5
Reps
3
Rest
30 sec
Exercise 2 of 4

One-Arm Barbell Row

Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
8-10
Rest
--
*Superset with meadows row.
Exercise 3 of 4

Meadows Row

Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
6-8
Rest
30 sec
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