Do NOT attempt this back workout unless you are serious about gaining size!
It may just kill you.
What doesn’t kill you though, makes you stronger.
This back workout, didn’t kill me (although it felt like I was going to die) and it definitely made me stronger. Last Sunday I sat down with an NPC physique competitor and rising star gunning for his pro-card this year, and had a serious discussion about the strategy I need to use to pack on another 30 pounds. This included much more than just workout strategy and we dove deep into nutrition, carb cycling, dirty bulk days, and a whole lot more. That being said, one of the strategies we discussed was throwing power lifting to the wind and focusing solely on bodybuilding style lifting.
That being said, we determined that the next step was to continue to force as much blood into the muscle cells as possible. This would be accomplished by checking my ego at the door and drastically dropping the weight, increasing the reps, and cutting my rest time down to zero…yes, I said ZERO. The question you’re asking yourself right now is obviously, “How do you do this without stopping?”. The answer is giant sets.
Giant sets are when you stack four or more exercises back to back without resting in between the exercises. The completion of one full circuit would constitute one full set. The competitor I spoke with was very specific in that I was to walk slowly to the each exercise to allow a little ATP replenishment. He also mentioned that sipping my BCAAs within 20 seconds of completing each exercise was the critical window for delivery of these extra nutrients. They would be essential in helping me complete the giant sets and not becoming catabolic.
There was to be no rest other than walking to and from each exercise. This included finishing the entire set and starting all over again. We were slated for four (4) sets of the full circuit.
Giant sets for back workouts
We decided test run the giant set on our back day but didn’t want to jump right into it. We started the workout by warming up with three super sets of pull ups and dips. Once we up to operating temperature we grabbed a wide grip pull down and buried the bar in our chest for 3 sets of 20, 15, and 12.
Then the giant set from hell began.
As we looked around contemplating the set, we had to chose between equipment that wasn’t being used. We staggered our bags on a low row, Hammer Strength lat pull down, cable straight arm push downs, and T-bar. This way, no one would snag our equipment while we were off at another “station”.
By the second set, I could feel my body actually getting chills and my glycogen stores starting to deplete. I’m theorizing that the chills are the lack of blood flow to the skin capillaries since it’s being forced deep into the muscles. We’re recruiting more muscle fibers than ever before, deep down in the targeted muscle group. There’s a lot of blood that needs to get to these muscle fibers.
By the third set, it was huffing like the big bad wolf and had to drastically drop the weight on all of the exercises. The rep scheme was 12 reps on all exercises.
Upon completing the giant set, both Brandon Griffith and I pretty much collapsed and were dead to the world for about 5 minutes. The photo at the top of this article was taken immediately after my last set in this giant set. When I said this wasn’t for the faint of heart, I meant it. Serious lifters only.
The back workout didn’t end there
Because we dropped the weight and took zero rest in between sets, Brandon and I had pretty much knocked out the entire back workout in 25 minutes. For us, that simply wasn’t enough. Even though we had done close to 240 reps already, our bodies told us we needed to continue. We decided to super set wide grip bent over rows with reverse grip cable rows (palms up). This was the nail in our coffin – but it was one helluva nail.
The full back workout is below, but first have a look at our nationally acclaimed shredding programs!
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The Contest Prep Back Workout from Body Spartan
Lat Pull-downs, wide grip
| Set | Super Set | Reps | Weight | Rest |
| 1 | No | 20 | 175 lbs | 1 minute |
| 2 | No | 15 | 190 lbs | 1 minute |
| 3 | No | 12 | 205 lbs | 1 minutes |
Giant set
No rest in between sets. Slow paced walk from each exercise to the next while sipping BCAA’s.
| Set | Exercise | Reps | Weight | Rest |
| 1 | Close grip cable low row | 12 | 250 lbs | None |
| Hammer Strength lat pull down | 12 | 2 plates each side | None | |
| Straight arm push-downs | 12 | 165 lbs | None | |
| T-bar row | 12 | 2 plates | None | |
| 2 | Close grip cable low row | 12 | 235 lbs | None |
| Hammer Strength lat pull down | 12 | 2 plates each side | None | |
| Straight arm push-downs | 12 | 165 lbs | None | |
| T-bar row | 12 | 2 plates | None | |
| 3 | Close grip cable low row | 12 | 205 lbs | None |
| Hammer Strength lat pull down | 12 | 2 plates each side | None | |
| Straight arm push-downs | 12 | 165 lbs | None | |
| T-bar row | 12 | 2 plates | None | |
| 4 | Close grip cable low row | 12 | 190 lbs | None |
| Hammer Strength lat pull down | 12 | 2 plates each side | None | |
| Straight arm push-downs | 12 | 165 lbs | None | |
| T-bar row | 12 | 2 plates | None |
Super set
No rest in between sets. Slow paced walk from each exercise to the next while sipping BCAA’s.
| Set | Exercise | Reps | Weight | Rest |
| 1 | Bent over barbell row – extreme wide grip | 12 | 135lbs | None |
| Seated cable row, underhand grip, medium width | 12 | 190 lbs | None | |
| 2 | Bent over barbell row – extreme wide grip | 12 | 135lbs | None |
| Seated cable row, underhand grip, medium width | 12 | 190 lbs | None | |
| 3 | Bent over barbell row – extreme wide grip | 12 | 135lbs | None |
| Seated cable row, underhand grip, medium width | 12 | 190 lbs | None | |
| 4 | Bent over barbell row – extreme wide grip | 12 | 135lbs | None |
| Seated cable row, underhand grip, medium width | 12 | 190 lbs | None |
Summary
It worked but it’s not for everyone. This is a level of training that is far beyond what the average person is capable of. If you’re a novice, I wouldn’t recommend jumping into this back workout. Put a pin in it and save it for when you’ve hit a wall and can’t put on any more muscle.
For the more experienced readers, come prepared to work harder than you every have. The weight cannot be so light that you are gliding through the workout. You need to be hitting failure at the end of each set. Failure – not fatigue. Failure is when you absolutely cannot move the weight any more, no matter how hard you try. If you aim for this, you are going to grow.
