1. Two-Band Pull-Ups
The Two-Band Pull-Up is a very simple concept...instead of gripping onto a pull-up bar, you're going to gripping onto bands. This dramatically ramps up the tension on the lats.
Unconventional Training with Nick Nilsson
Back Exercises
The back is one of the most complex areas of the body, with a variety of muscles pulling in different directions. These muscle contribute to width and thickness and are critical for a balanced physique.
2. Two-Phase Decline Dumbbell Row
This variation of the Decline Dumbell Row makes a simple adjustment on the fly so that you can better target the ENTIRE back...the upper back muscles (like the teres major, rhomboids and middle traps) and the lats together.
3. Two-Phase Row-Raise
This exercise is a MONSTER for the upper back...it's going to hit the area in ways that NOTHING else can. The exercise itself consists of two phases...a barbell row and a "sort of" barbell front raise (you'll see what I mean).
4. Two Vertical Barbell Pull-Ups
If you want to develop wider lats, you do wide-grip pull-ups. And if you want wide-grip pull-ups to work even BETTER for developing wider lats, you do THIS exercise.
5. Three-Pause Pull-Ups
Don't be in such a hurry to finish your pull-ups! This is the biggest issue I've seen with people doing the pull-up exercise...there is little to no focus on tension, just a focus on getting that chin over the bar as fast as possible and doing the rep as fast as possible.
6. High-Tension Training For Lats Using Barbell Counterbalance Chin-Ups
This exercise will challenge your lats while forcing all momentum out of the chin-up exercise. You'll be using a balanced barbell with weight on the other end to ensure strict form and continuous tension.
7. Four Ways to Do Plate Weighted Chin-Ups With No Belt
Weighted chin-ups are an awesome exercise...however, what if you don't have a weight belt to add additional resistance? Here are four methods you can do with bumper plates to add weight to your chins.
8. Corner Rack Pull-Ups For Building Wider Lats
This variation takes the pull-up to a whole new level of stretch and tension on the lats, effectively targeting the outermost fibers of the lats for improving back width.
9. Two-Bar Meadows Rows for a Wider Upper Back
If you want to build a wider upper back, the Meadows Row is excellent for it. This variation allows you to work both sides of your back at the same time rather than one at a time, like the original version.
10. Isolate Your Lats With Upside Down Bar Pulldowns
To maximize lat isolation when doing pulldowns, we're going to change things up just a little bit in terms of how you grip the bar. Very simply, you're going to turn it upside down so that the angled ends are pointing UP instead of down.
11. Hip-Braced One-Arm Dumbbell Rows For Building The Back
The one-arm dumbbell row is a great exercise for working the back, however it's also prone to be abused because of how tempting it is to use a lot of power to lift heavier weights. This variation braces the hips to prevent you from using too much momentum to heave the weight up, resulting in greater tension on the back muscles.
12. Build Bulletproof Spinal Stabilizer Strength With Typewriter Hypers
This is a not a heavily loaded or glamorous exercise but it has the potential to SAVE your back from severe (and possibly accidental and stupid) injury. You're going to train your spinal stabilizers muscles with offset loading and anti-rotational training.
13. Bar-Band Leverage Pulldowns For Targeting Lower Lats
The lower, inner aspect of your lats (the origin points) are normally very hard to specifically target with most pulldown or rowing exercises. This banded pulldown variation allows you to dig right into there very effectively.
14. Assisted/Resisted Band Pull-Ups For Lats
This unique setup gives you assistance out of the bottom and resistance at the top...all with one band! This will give you an amazing challenge (and pump) for your lats.
15. Dumbbell On Bar Chin-Ups For a Stronger Back and Grip
Instead of gripping onto the chin-up bar, you're going to grip onto a dumbbell set on TOP of the chin-up bar. And how you set it up can dramatically increase the loading on one side of your back, along the lines of a one-arm chin-up.
16. One-Arm Bench Plank Dumbbell Rows For Back And Deep Core Anti-Rotational Strength
Even though this is a back exercise, it actually hits the deep core muscles very strongly because of how they're activated to stabilize the load while you're lifting it.
17. See-Saw Barbell Rows and Pulldowns For Upper Back
This is a free-weight yet machine-like setup for doing rows and pulldowns for your back. It takes all the stress off the lower back for rows and forces you to maintain strict form to very effectively isolate the upper back and lats.
18. Top-Stop Dumbbell Rows For Upper Back Mass and Strength
This variation of the one-arm dumbbell row forces greater loading onto the upper back and lats while performing the exercise...and allows you to use a heavier weight than you normally could.
19. Sandwich Rows For a Thicker Upper Back
If you want to build a thicker, more solid upper back, this exercise is exactly what you need. You'll be using two dumbbells to sandwich a medicine ball while you row, giving you massive activation of the middle traps and other upper back muscles.
20. Plate Handle Pull-Ups For Shoulder-Friendly Back Traning
Pull-Ups are one of the most effective bodyweight exercises for building the lats and building overall upper back strength. But pull-ups on a solid bar can be tough on the shoulders...this setup fixes that.
21. Contralateral Antagonist One-Arm Dumbbell Rows for an INSTANT Boost in Strength
Be INSTANTLY stronger with your one-arm dumbbell rows using this unique nervous system-enhancing method. By activating the contralateral antagonist muscle you instantly jack up your nervous system strength by 10%.
22. Inverted Half-Off Cable Rows For Strict Rowing With Zero Lower Back Stress
This version of the Seated Cable Row takes literally ALL of the stress off the lower back while allowing you to perform a perfect form row for targeting the back.
23. Dumbbell-As-Handle Pulldowns For Back and Grip Strength
This exercise is a standard pulldown done in a very non-standard way...using a hex dumbbell as a pulldown handle. This puts your hands in a wide-open position, which is extremely challenging to the grip and forearms.
24. Low Pulley Prone Pulldowns For Building Lats
This is one of the best "isolation" exercises for lats you can do...it's a compound exercise but the setup forces the lats to take center stage while keeping you from moving and cheating. This puts massive muscle-building loading on the lats.
25. Feet-On-Bench Chin-Ups for Greater Lat Stretch
This simple adjustment to the chin-up will give you a greater stretch focused on the lats at the bottom of each rep. Normal dead-hang chin-ups can shift that stretch into the shoulder joint more...not necessarily a bad thing but it's less stretch on the lats.
26. Two-Phase Pull-Up Rows For Complete Upper Back Work
This simple two-phase exercise hits the upper back with a vertical and a horizontal pull, giving you more overall work on your upper back. As well, the transition between the two pulls puts even MORE tension on the lats for additional growth effect.
27. Vertical Chest-Supported Pulldowns for Targeted Lat Training
This is a similar concept to a chest-supported row only done with a pulldown to hit a vertical pulling movement pattern to strongly target the lats. By blocking your chest, you take away all extra body momentum and more effectively force tension onto the lats.
28. Cross-Body Dumbbell Rows For Upper Back
This variation of the dumbbell row puts a nice stretch on the muscles of the upper back at the start of each rep. This is a fantastic way to build up the upper back.
29. One-Bar One-Band Chin-Ups for Stable and Unstable Back Training
This exercise gives you the best of both worlds...a stable-bar chin-up on one hand and an unstable-band chin-up on the other hand...at the same time. This one hits the lats very effectively and in a very unique way (and hits the core as well!). I've also included a One-Arm Hanging Pulldown lower on the page.
30. Chest-Supported One-Arm Dumbbell Rows
This setup allows you to perform strict one-arm dumbbell rows with support to make it easier on your lower back while increasing the contraction and stretch on your back.
31. Strength Curve One-Arm Pulldowns to FULLY Work Your Lats
This unique method of holding the pulldown bar allows you to work heavier in the top half of the range of motion where your leverage is stronger and lighter in the bottom where your leverage is weaker, EXACTLY matching the strength curve of the exercise in a way similar to a Nautilus machine.
32. Coan Hold Rows For Working the Back, Core and Especially Grip
The Coan Hold (one-arm barbell isometric hold for grip) was pioneered by powerlifting legend Ed Coan. This version of the exercise uses a similar action with the barbell gripping paired with a one-arm dumbbell row to bring in the back and core as well.
33. Bumper Plate Barbell Rows For Upper Back, Grip and Finger Strength
This barbell row variation works the back but also VERY strongly targets finger and grip strength. You'll be doing a barbell row but using a bumper plate UNDERNEATH the bar to grip onto instead of the bar itself.
34. Upper Back Rack Pulls...The "Secret Weapon" Exercise for Upper Back Thickness
This is a killer method for building strength and thickness in the upper back with very heavy weight...much more than you could row. You're going to be engaging the upper back while then using the large muscles of the posterior chain to set up the loading.
35. In-Set Supersets For Building The Upper Back
This very simple technique will allow you to work your upper with different directions of resistance within the same set. As a bonus, you'll also get some good lower back training as well.
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About Nick Nilsson
Flying in the face of conventional wisdom, he’s known around the world as the "Mad Scientist of Muscle” for a reason.
An expert in kinesiology, physiology and anatomy, Nick helps people just like YOU create the body you want, especially when nothing else seems to do the trick.
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