When constructing a workout routine, a classic problem involves the 4 versus 5 day training schedule. For most of us, only training 4 days per week is highly advantageous for recovery purposes. You get 3 days of rest, which is ideal for giving your body both the time and resources for recovery.
However, most body part splits are predicated on a 5-day split. Chest, back, legs, arms, and shoulders usually receive their own days, typically personified in the workout routines of the pros that we emulate after reading the magazines. When we try to condense these routines, we end up crunching some days together.
Where should muscle groups like shoulders be trained? With back? Or on their own, requiring you to place triceps with chest and biceps with back? This is the most common split, and it provides both problems, and opportunities, when it comes to combining back and biceps training.
Back training is often divided into two distinct sections. The first is thickness, which includes movements such as rack pulls, barbell pullovers, close grip lat pulldowns, cable rows, and T-bar rows. These movements make the back thick. The second group is width, and includes bodybuilding movements such as back extensions, wide-grip lat pulldowns, wide-grip bent-over rows, and pull-ups. These exercises should be completed together in their groups, to fully saturate a muscle group with blood before moving onto other sections.
When you combine biceps and back training, it's important to realize that you are actually going to be completing three separate workouts. The first will be for back thickness. These movements are heaviest and often the hardest, and will require you to be at top strength. Be aware of the fact that you are only able to dedicate one-third of your total gym time to back thickness.
Therefore you should choose your exercises wisely, and make every set and rep count. After completing these exercises, move on to the back width portion of your routine. Your back will already be very warmed up, but you'll want to include some stretching and higher-rep movements to really activate those muscle fibers in the wide section of the lats. Finally, you will embark upon biceps training. They'll already be pumped, so dive right in. Complete the standard compound movements such as barbell curls and alternate dumbbell curls, and then move to isolation work. You're only dedicating one-third of your total workout time to biceps. Therefore you should train quickly and with purpose. Once you realize the clock is nearing an end, finish up the biceps, and get some protein and carbs into your system immediately. You need these nutrients to help you recover from this very tough three-headed routine!
In addition to the challenge, there is opportunity to be found when combining these muscle groups as well. Ideally, when you train back, you should be using your arms as "hooks" to move the weight. Despite this goal, you will undoubtedly stimulate the biceps as you train back. They are, after all, a listed secondary group for back movements. This will result in you needing fewer sets that usual to being the biceps to failure. Finally, don't forget to tack on 4-6 sets for forearms at the conclusion of your routine!
Author Resource:-
Dane Fletcher is the world-wide authority on bodybuilding and steroids. He has coached countless athletes all over the world. To read more of his work, please visit either www.BodybuildingToday.com or www.SteroidsToday.com
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