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Mr. Smith's back workout: build up your back in less than 30 minutes with the versatile Smith machine - Body Shop

Men's Fitness, May, 2003 by Joe Wuebben

Your back is a huge, intricate mass of muscle, and to train it effectively you have to periodically subject it to new challenges. Instead of your normal routine-wandering from cables to dumbbells to the lat pull-down and all points in between--we'd like to suggest that you become acquainted with Mr. Smith.

Putting yourself through a Smith machine "7-11" approach, i.e., doing a complete back workout on a single piece of equipment, might not be your first choice, but listen to what Dominic Scherillo, International Sports Sciences Association-certified personal trainer at L.A. Workout in Woodland Hills, Calif., has to say on the subject. According to Scherillo, a back workout on Mr. Smith offers the following benefits:

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* One-stop convenience (if you didn't earlier, now you should get the 7-11 reference).

* Multi-angled training--essential for optimal growth.

* Lessened risk of injury due to a fixed travel path, and a broad range of safeguards should your muscles fatigue midrep.

* Option to regulate the total range of motion.

* Isolation of targeted muscle.

And if you're ever stuck on a desert island with nothing but a Smith machine and a hankering to train your back, you'll be prepared (never mind the other body parts you'll be able to hit, but that's a different article).

THE EXERCISES

1. PULL-UP (latissimus dorsi, teres major, trapezius) Slide the bar as high up as it will go on the machine and hook it in place. Grip the bar evenly just beyond shoulder width with your palms facing forward, and let yourself hang without touching your feet to the ground (1a)--you may have to bend your knees. Keeping your elbows back and chest up, pull yourself up with your lats until your chin clears the bar (1b). Slowly lower yourself back down until your arms are completely extended and repeat.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

2. MODIFIED CHIN-UP (latissimus dorsi, teres major, biceps brachii) Position the bar slightly above waist level. Lying underneath the bar, grasp the bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Your back should be off the floor, with your feet out in front of you and your arms fully extended (2a). From this starting position, slowly pull yourself up, attempting to touch your upper chest to the bar (2b). Squeeze your lats at the top, slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

3. BENT-OVER ROW (latissimus dorsi, teres major, rhomboid, posterior deltoid, trapezius) Assume a firm, comfortable stance with your knees slightly bent and your body in close to the bar. (You may have to stand on a box if your Smith machine doesn't lower far enough.) Bend at the waist so the bar is directly under your navel, and grasp the bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Unhook the bar and start the movement with your arms held straight down (3a). Pull the weight all the way to your stomach, leading with your elbows (3b). At the top of the motion, squeeze your shoulder blades together for a count. Return to the starting position and repeat.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

4. ONE-ARM ROW (latissimus dorsi, teres major, rhomboid, trapezius, posterior deltoid) Stand beside the bar with your knees slightly bent, your outside hand grasping a support structure for stability. (You may have to stand on a box if your Smith machine doesn't lower far enough.) Grasp the bar with your inside hand and disengage it. Make sure that your working arm hangs directly perpendicular to the floor (4a); if it doesn't, you'll have to reposition your body accordingly. With your body angled almost parallel to the floor, pull the weight up as high as you can and squeeze at the top (4b). Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

5. BEHIND-THE-BACK SHRUG (trapezius, posterior deltoid, rhomboid) Using an overhand grip, grasp the bar with your hands approximately shoulder-width apart. Unhook the bar and bend your knees slightly for stability. Start with the bar hanging down and your shoulders depressed (5a), then lift your shoulders as high as possible, keeping your arms straight (5b). Hold for a count at the top, then slowly lower the weight and repeat. Your shoulders should remain "rolled back" throughout the movement.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

THE STEP-BY-STEP

1 You'll begin the workout with a basic pull-up or modified chin-up--whichever one you feel more comfortable with. "Do pull-ups [or modified chins] first to get a good stretch through your whole back," explains Scherillo. Since some guys can do 15 to 20 pull-ups at a time, while others are hard-pressed to squeeze out two on a good day, just do as many as you can on each set. If that means three reps, so be it. It's a place to start. Set a goal to hit 10 in the next month or so.

2 The next exercise is the one that's really going to put some meat on your back. Scherillo says the bent-over row is the toughest one of the bunch, which is why it goes second in the routine, after your lats have been warmed up from pull-ups.

3 Next comes another rowing movement, the one-arm row, which offers further isolation, as you'll now be concentrating on one side of the back at a time. Scherillo likes the one-arm row because it hits the lats, rhomboids and middle trapezius.

Mr. Smith's back workout: build up your back in less than 30 minutes with the versatile Smith machine - Body Shop

Men's Fitness, May, 2003 by Joe Wuebben

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