quick new pic

[bdiamond]

only b/c i'm not satisfied how the others came out and i don't like taking too many pics right now b/c i feel kind of bloated with water from creatine. anyways, 22 years old 6'3 about 230lbs. bulking now.

[WHOADY4SHOADY]

You looking good man , keep up the good work.

[bdiamond]

i really need to bring out the back width, any suggestions?

[Warrior]

Originally posted by bdiamond
i really need to bring out the back width, any suggestions?

What are you doing for back now?

[bdiamond]

i start off doing wide grip pull ups as many sets as it takes to get to 50 (usually 4) basically a warm up.
Then bent over barbell rows 3 sets 6-8 reps
Then Close grip seated rows 3 sets 6-8 reps
Either close grip or wide grip pull downs on lat machine 3 sets 6-8 reps
One arm dumbell row 2 sets 6-8 reps.

it takes me awhile to get the muscles in my back goin.

[dangit]

I started doing dead lifts on my back day this year and it's really helped me out. Wide grip pull ups are a good basis for bringing out your lats too. I always start with those and then throw in dead lifts in there somewhere.

I also throw in wide grip pull ups with my chest workout near the end of it. I usually super set my last chest exercise with wide grip pull ups. This helps bring a ton of blood to my lats and really pumps them up.

I've had great reasults with this. Also, try to flare out your lats when doing a back workout. This will help bring them out. You might feel like people are thinking you're showing off, but it will help them out a great deal. Arnold constantly flexed the muscles he was working out when at the gym and it really helped him.

[Warrior]

Originally posted by bdiamond
i start off doing wide grip pull ups as many sets as it takes to get to 50 (usually 4) basically a warm up.
Then bent over barbell rows 3 sets 6-8 reps
Then Close grip seated rows 3 sets 6-8 reps
Either close grip or wide grip pull downs on lat machine 3 sets 6-8 reps
One arm dumbell row 2 sets 6-8 reps.

it takes me awhile to get the muscles in my back goin.

Sounds like you are using a strength routine when hypertrophy is your main goal. Like dangit said - deadlifts will pack on slabs of beef because of the intensity... but try this:

Bent Over Barbell Rows, 5 sets, 4-8 explosive reps, 120 sec RI
One Arm T-Bar Rows, 4 sets, 10-12 rythmic reps, 90 sec RI
[S-1] Seated Close Grip Machine Rows, 3 sets, 10-12 reps, 0 sec RI
[S-1] Machine Wide Grip Front Pulldowns, 3 sets, 12-15 reps, 0 sec RI
[Rest Interval for supersets = 120 seconds]

Remember to keep continous tension - do not lock out or stop the tension on the muscle group - for maximum hypertrophy you have to completely fatique it. If you have to stop - the weight is to heavy. Training for size has less to do with how much you push but how you push it.

[Warrior]

Originally posted by Peter North
Warrior are you saying that you should go to failure on all sets for max hypertrophy or what were you referring to by that statement??

Failure? Yes. Forced reps? No. Basically when training for max hypertrophy you limit the rest for the bodypart by keeping your rest intervals minimal - under 2 minutes (almost any bodypart will become nearly recovered after 120 seconds) and depending on muscle group and repitions used. Using supersets, giant sets, drop sets and so on work very well. In the beginning - strength training can make you grow like a weed - but as you advance you need these advanced principles.

When strength training, or training for relative/limit strength, rest intervals can include anywhere from 2-5 minute RI's with lower reps to allow for maximal loads - as well as forced reps to get your CNS used to heavier loads - sometimes using a load over your 100 percent 1RM (w/ a spotter of coarse).

By continuos tension I am referring mainly to tempo. A 4-0-2 tempo works well for large bodyparts... 4 seconds in the negative, 0 sec pause and a 2 sec positive range. 3-0-2 for shorter range movements like Biceps curls. But when I mentioned explosive reps in only his first exercise I ment more of a 2-0-2 just for that movement.

I believe a big mistake people make when training for size is they stop and subsequently fail to keep continous tension. For example, people that do a Bench Press locking out after every rep. As soon as you stop your muscle group starts to recover unless you are in a static contraction. You need to burn out those ATP/CP stores by fighting your body's desire to make it easy... by squirming with improper form or stopping the tension.

Training like this makes proper diet even more important because calories expended become increased due to a higher pulse rate. A post workout carb/protein mix becomes even more necessary to begin recovery and decrease cortisol - if you want to grow. A GH response (in the form of a GH spike) is also more likely to occur form this type of training.