weak upper back

[red machine]

im seem to have found a weakness, being when i pull near max at times my upper back starts to crumble ie starts to round over,its the 1st thing that seem to blow out.

i pull sumo so im pretty upright so this shouldn't really happen so i think its prob because of a weak upper back? any thought on building a upper back of steel?

[Big john]

face pulls

heavy dumbell rows

chins

and V bar green band rows

[Calvin]

im seem to have found a weakness, being when i pull near max at times my upper back starts to crumble ie starts to round over,its the 1st thing that seem to blow out.

i pull sumo so im pretty upright so this shouldn't really happen so i think its prob because of a weak upper back? any thought on building a upper back of steel?

I too have this problem. I pull conventional and nearing my max i find it hard to lock out. Can usually pull past the knees but then go static.

Big john i incorporate much of the above but still doesn't seem to strengthen up the scapula.

[runveerun]

I too have this problem. I pull conventional and nearing my max i find it hard to lock out. Can usually pull past the knees but then go static.

Rack pulls and banded deads are good for helping lockout.

[red machine]

face pulls

heavy dumbell rows

chins

and V bar green band rows

i do stack of chins, face pulls and quite a few row, but norm just light to get abit of blood moving, maybe start doing some heavy one you reckon?

[BarBrother]

This may not work for the template you run but we (the GS boys) have always had a seperate day just to train back. the importance of back strength , especially upper back is often underated. Your traps are probably fine it will be more rhomboids and other scapula stabilsers that need work.

Exercises we always include are bench rows. BB rows. Adding bands aswell to accentuate teh contraction at the top range. Using heavy movements but more volume aswell to work on muscular contraction aswll as muscualr strength

[red machine]

This may not work for the template you run but we (the GS boys) have always had a seperate day just to train back. the importance of back strength , especially upper back is often underated. Your traps are probably fine it will be more rhomboids and other scapula stabilsers that need work.

Exercises we always include are bench rows. BB rows. Adding bands aswell to accentuate teh contraction at the top range. Using heavy movements but more volume aswell to work on muscular contraction aswll as muscualr strength

thank man, will def look to hit the back some more as im shocking on it, only really do deads, chins and light rows time to time, i really need to add a 4th day into my training to hit more of this assis kind of stuff to up the weak points

[Big john]

i do stack of chins, face pulls and quite a few row, but norm just light to get abit of blood moving, maybe start doing some heavy one you reckon?

hard and heavy bro - when i was running Pman's template i had in alot of heavy DB row work along side with face pulls varying in weight and rep range 6-18 and then some heavy pulldowns with negative chins to finish...after doing deadlifts

being when i pull near max at times my upper back starts to crumble ie starts to round over

imho i believe when you start to round esp upperback traps..the back is finding its strongest position, aslong as your lower back remains tight/arched throughtout the lift. Its gonna happen esp when u get up to the heavier/maximal loads..me i just embraced rounding from day one

[BarBrother]

imho i believe when you start to round esp upperback traps..the back is finding its strongest position, aslong as your lower back remains tight/arched throughtout the lift. Its gonna happen esp when u get up to the heavier/maximal loads..me i just embraced rounding from day one

i agree in a sense that it is finding its strongest position but only because of muscular inbalance. If the back muscles where strong and balanced there woudl be no need to round the back. A round back may help deadlifting but will hurt your bench especially shirted because your upper back cannot hold the eccentric contraction of heavier weights and loos all tightness and groove on the press. It can also hinder the squat where setting up tight is key. And i dont hink anyone would suggest squatting with a roundback is beneficial.

From my point of view if you have time and an opportnuity to make a muscle group stronger then use it.

[steak]

imho i believe when you start to round esp upperback traps..the back is finding its strongest position, aslong as your lower back remains tight/arched throughtout the lift. Its gonna happen esp when u get up to the heavier/maximal loads..me i just embraced rounding from day one

Im not sure Im 100% comfortable with what youre saying here...Hes pulling sumo and is not "naturally rounded" like you and I'd have to agree with BB( :shock: ) and supplement the training with a back day or as we do in WS add it in twice a week. Its a weakness in this case and can be brought up to strength with the appropriate work. In particular Bar and DB rows, banded deads, rack pulls, chest supported rows and the like all spring to mind.

IMHO this is what he should be aiming for form wise....and there aint no rounding here....

[Big john]

m not sure Im 100% comfortable with what youre saying here...Hes pulling sumo and is not "naturally rounded" like you and I'd have to agree with BB( :shock: )

oh for sure, Im not advocating his should pull rounded (esp if hes pulling Mumo).

the back is finding its strongest position

ok i may have worded that wrong there. if anything when rounding starts its the back trying to compensate for any muscle imbalance is what i should have put.

[Viking Power]

imho i believe when you start to round esp upperback traps..the back is finding its strongest position, aslong as your lower back remains tight/arched throughtout the lift. Its gonna happen esp when u get up to the heavier/maximal loads..me i just embraced rounding from day one

Im not sure Im 100% comfortable with what youre saying here...Hes pulling sumo and is not "naturally rounded" like you and I'd have to agree with BB( :shock: ) and supplement the training with a back day or as we do in WS add it in twice a week. Its a weakness in this case and can be brought up to strength with the appropriate work. In particular Bar and DB rows, banded deads, rack pulls, chest supported rows and the like all spring to mind.

IMHO this is what he should be aiming for form wise....and there aint no rounding here....

I agree with BB and Steak - I would also say work on strengthen the hips / abductors it should be one complete move mate as we know, I am still working on this myself as I had a similar issue but since I added hip work in it has help me so far for the complete move on the lighter - medium stuff to this point fairly quickly plus add the back work mention above even if its only one exercise each week and rotate it brother more is not always better come in fresh and smash it train hard RM see you in a few weeks mate 8) .

[steak]

the complete move on the lighter - medium stuff

to add to what VP is saying here you could do your main work sets then drop the weight back to say 60%-65% and concentrate on form with say 3-4 sets of 6 as assistance