The following details my primary back and biceps workout from this past Wednesday night at Kirkland Gold’s Gym.  I trained by myself and the workout was based on a program by my coach, John Meadows.

 

Meadows Rows

 

This is a great piece of equipment to use for setting up this exercise: https://www.elitefts.com/core-blaster-1-1.html.

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 50lbs added

Set 2 x 10 reps with 60lbs added

Set 3 x 10 reps with 75lbs added

Set 4 x 8 reps with 85lbs added

Set 5 x 8 reps with 95lbs added

Set 6 x 8 reps with 100lbs added

Set 7 x 8 reps with 100lbs added

 

*Do plenty of warm-up sets and then grind out set of 8 reps.  I counted this as 4 working sets.

 

Dumbbell Rows

 

Set 1 x 8 reps with 130lbs

Set 2 x 8 reps with 140lbs

Set 3 x 8 reps with 140lbs

Set 4 x 4 reps with 150lbs -> drop to 140lbs x 4 reps -> drop to 130lbs x 4 reps

 

*Grind out sets of 8 on this exercise as well.  With your hand in a neutral position this should target a different area of the back than the pronate grip Meadows rows.  I went up a little in weight on my final set and did a drop set that wasn’t included in John’s program.

 

Dumbbell Pullovers

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 70lbs

Set 2 x 10 reps with 70lbs

Set 3 x 10 reps with 70lbs

Set 4 x 10 reps with 70lbs

 

*Lie on the bench vs. across it and work the stretch at the bottom and only bring the dumbbell to slightly higher than your head to maintain tension on your lats vs. chest.

 

Chins

 

Set 1 x failure with wide grip

Set 2 x failure with wide grip

Set 3 x failure with medium, semi-neutral grip

Set 4 x failure with medium, semi-neutral grip

 

*I used the cheater machine here to get more reps before hitting failure.  My reps ranged between 13 and 6 – FYI.

 

Seated Pulley Rows

 

John called for hyperextensions, but I did this exercise instead since hypers don’t work well with my lower back – FYI.

 

Set 1 x 5 reps with 220lbs

Set 2 x 5 reps with 230lbs

Set 3 x 5 reps with 240lbs

Set 4 x 5 reps with 250lbs

 

 

*I attached a few carabiners to the pulley to eliminate excess bending at the waist.  Pause the weight at the bottom, flex your lats and then drive your elbows back.  I used a narrow pronate grip on these today.

 

Biceps Tri-set: Dumbbell Curls -> Hammer Curls -> Machine Preacher Curls

 

Dumbbell Curls x 6 reps with 30lbs

Immediately followed by…

Hammer Curls x 6 reps with 30lbs

Immediately followed by…

Machine Preacher Curls x 6 reps with 85lbs

 

*The key on the dumbbell curls is to keep your palms up the whole time and lower each rep with a 3 second eccentric.  Immediately turn your wrist to the neutral position and perform the hammer curls with the same dumbbells you were previously curling.  Lastly, finish with machine preacher curls flexing hard at the top for a split second on each rep.  Perform the tri-set for a total of 4 rounds.

 

Dumbbell Preacher Curls

 

Set 1 x 8 reps with 15lbs

Set 2 x 8 reps with 15lbs

Set 3 x 8 reps with 15lbs

Set 4 x 8 reps with 15lbs

 

*My arms were already smoked by the time I got here so yeah, I really used 15lb dumbbells, lol.  The key here is to alternate arms.  While curling with one arm the other arm should be fully extended and the key is to actually twist your wrist so your thumb is pointing down as though you are pouring out a cup of water.  This will provide a great stretch on your lower biceps while the other arm curls.  As you bring one arm down, supinate the one that was extended and curl it up.  Do this back-and-forth until you’ve performed 8 reps with each arm.

 

That concluded the primary back and biceps workout.

 

Train hard!

Mark