MostMuscle.com- Rolling 4x4 Back Development

Rolling 4x4 Back Development by Mark-Anthony Bailey

When you think of a 4 x 4 truck, you think of a strong, powerful, high torque, heavy towing, tough as nails monster machine. In fact, if someone used those words to describe your physique, you would sound like a super strong badass. Next to legs, a well-development, strong and balanced back is hard to find. This bodypart usually suffers from the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, resulting in a serious muscular imbalance and potential injury. How many people do you know with a back injury or back pain?

One must understand that the back is the sum of a large number of muscle groups that consist of the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezuis, erector spinae, and rotator cuffs. Some people include the muscle of the shoulder such as the rear and side deltoids since they are closely tied to back movements. With such a large number of muscles, all with there own unique origins and insertions you will have to use a wide variety of movements to develop the back as a whole. Variation is a key to progress and this program allows for continuous progressive variation. The 4x4 program is 4 sets of 4 exercises for a total of 16 sets. The number of sets may seem low but the intensity at which you should be working at, will more than make up for the number of sets. Like always, its quality, not quantity.

In this program you will perform one exercise in each category to the assigned rep/rest scheme for each group. Here is where the rolling part comes into play. This program is broken down into 4 week blocks. During the first 4 weeks all number 1’s will be performed in each group (Deadlift, Prone Chin-Up, Barbell Row, Back Extension), the next four weeks all 2’s are performed, and the final 4 weeks all 3’s are performed. This rolling progression allows for the variation needed to keep your body guessing but the blocks are longer enough to allow your muscles and nervous system to grow and adapt.

Exercise #1: Heavy Pulling Movement (4 sets/6-8 reps/3 min rest)

1. Deadlift
2. Snatch-Pull
3. Power Clean

Exercise group 1 are all heavy pulls. These exercises are to be performed in an explosive manner and you will be using relatively heavy weights (75%-85% of 1 rep max). These movements all place great stress on the musculature of the lower and upper back as well as the shoulder girdle, so the extended 3 minute rest period is used to allow for ATP levels to recover to near 85% of baseline. This will allow you to work much closer to maximal effort. If you were constructing our 4x4 truck, consider this group the steel chassis, the foundation for everything else to come.

Exercise #2: Bodyweight Pulling Movement (4 sets/10 reps-Failure/2 min rest)

1. Prone Chin-up
2. Chin-up
3. Pull-up

Group 2 is very basic indeed. My experience has been that people you can perform multiple sets of bodyweight pulls correctly not only have excellent back development but also have great upper arm and shoulder development and some serious grip strength. In this rep scheme your goal is to perform the 4 sets to 10 reps each. For some this may be a great goal but for others it may seems already relatively easy. For those whose strength levels are already high enough that this rep scheme presents little challenge perform the 4 sets each to failure constantly trying to improve on your previous totals. These exercises are the transmission as they are necessary in order to get everything else moving in the right direction (Up in weight!).

Exercise #3: Heavy Rows (4 sets/8-10 reps/Hypertrophy/3 min rest)

1. Barbell Row
2. Dumbell Row
3. Cable Row

Heavy rowing is one of the most underrated exercises for back width and thickness. Most people think of only pull-ups and lat pull-downs for latissimus dorsi development but heavy rowing can make an extremely big difference is an athlete’s overall power, back width and thickness as well as body posture. But to attain the maximum benefit from rowing, proper form is paramount. On the negative portion of the movement the athlete should allow his/her shoulders to internally rotate and the shoulder blades to achieve full protraction (let the shoulders roll forward and spread your shoulder blades apart). On the concentric portion, the athlete should now externally rotate the shoulders and retract the shoulder blades (throw the shoulders back and squeeze the shoulder blades together). This extended range of motion will allow for greater development of the upper and middle back region. Heavy rowing is the 400 horsepower engine under the hood in our 4x4 truck.

Exercise #4: Lower Back Work (4 sets/10-15 reps/1 min rest)

1. Back Extension
2. Swiss Ball Extension
3. Seated Good Morning

We have the chassis, the engine and the transmission but all these parts need to be bolted together by some serious lower back training. A strong, flexible lower back is the nuts and bolts that hold everything together. While the muscles of the lower back are indeed hit hard by the exercises in group #1, direct stimulation is needed to further develop lower back strength and stability.

Program Summary

Weeks 1-4
Deadlift, Prone Chin-Up, Barbell Row, Back Extension

Weeks 5-8
Snatch Pull, Chin-Up, Dumbell Row, Swiss Ball Extension

Weeks 9-12
Power Clean, Pull-Up, Cable Row, Seated Good Morning

After the completion of week 12, start over with week one’s protocol. Be sure to use heavier weights during the second cycle as you should have significant strength increase by this time due to better neuromuscular control and muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth…good stuff). Also be sure to include addition trap work into your shoulder routine to help support the heavy pulls.

There you have it. Give this program a dedicated try and I can assure you that your back will have so many hills, ridges and valleys that you will need a 4x4 just to get from point A to point B on your massive back.

Mark-Anthony Bailey is the Editor-in-Chief of MostMuscle.com. As an Exercise Physiologist and competitive natural bodybuilder, his goals have been to ensure that his clients get the latest information on training techniques, nutritional guidelines and lifestyle modifications needed to obtain optimal health. He can be contacted at: markanthony@mostmuscle.com