Social media star and bona fide Men’s Classic Physique Competitor, Sam Sulek is back in the gym following an impressive eighth place at the Arnold U.S. and seventh place at the Arnold U.K. this past March, and the big man is now hoping to make some serious gains with his back before returning to the competitive stage.
“I think I’m going to start with all rows, then all pulldowns,” explained the content creator who has a proclivity for getting his pump on. If you would like to follow this heavy back day, here are the exercises that Sulek selected. Just be sure to figure out your own form by going light first, then finding a working weight that suits your individual strength level.
Sam Sulek’s Complete Back Workout Routine
- Mid-Back Row — 3 Sets to failure
- Inclined T-Bar Row — 2 Sets to failure
- Seated Cable Row— 1 Set to failure
- Seated Machine Pullovers — 3 Sets to failure
- Seated Cable Lat Pulldowns — 3 Sets to failure
How to Build a Classic Physique Back Like Sam Sulek
“We all know, you’re working your lats in a row,” explained Sulek of the mid-back row. So, to make sure that this row was not hyper focused on the lats, the bodybuilder raised his elbows, and rowed upwards to bias his shoulders. Sulek said he wanted to feel like his rear delts could “bump each other” at the top of this exercise. “They’re not going to be able to, but that’s what I’m kind of trying to imagine.”
While Sulek aims for failure, he is also looking to execute complete reps. To that end, he’s not afraid to drop the weight down in subsequent sets, allowing him to maintain a full range of motion during exercises such as the T-bar row, hitting the lats, rear deltoids, traps, and rhomboids, thus making this move excellent for the upper back.
Sulek remained stationery for his bench assisted cable rows, taxing the biceps, lats, and shoulders in order to build his upper-back. He then headed over to the seated pullover machine, where the big man shared that his basic criterion for any exercise is for the weight to be heavy enough that he “feels it”, and yet light enough that he can still “squeeze it”. Of course, pullovers punish multiple muscle groups, including the lats, rhomboids, deltoids, triceps, and even the pecs in order to move the load. Tip: Don’t lock out your arms at the top of the movement.
For his final exercise, Sulek chose seated cable lat pulldowns, picking up the narrow grip bar attachment to reduce wrist strain while maximizing back engagement in his first two sets. The bodybuilder then opted for the regular lat bar attachment for his last set of the day. Not only will cable pulldowns add mass to the latissimus dorsi, but they will also provide gains in the biceps, trapezius, rhomboids, and posterior deltoids.
Post pump, Sulek treated his almost 4.5 million YouTube subscribers to one of his popular posing sessions, revealing his granite like back and enviable lat spread in the process. “I’m leaving the gym a happy camper,” he explained.
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