Do We Have To Do Pulling Exercises To Develop The Back? Or Is It A Myth?

We HAVE to do Pull-Ups & Rows to build the back right? Is it actually a myth? A lot of the framework for developing the body and understanding how it's developed usually is from Bodybuilding and Exercise Science. Now Bodybuilding training has its place to an extent (look to the old timers when I mean this) for targeting weak points and as a form of building size and strength, it isn't the Babe Ruth of developing the our bodies.

We have taught that pulling exercises are the only things that build the back. Not necessarily true. Afterall, if you don't do Pull-ups and Rows, you'll develop imbalances and weakness in that area right? Pull-ups are a great exercise and their variations along with rows ranging from weights to bands work really well but it doesn't always have to be conventional to get the back going. Think of people who have incredibly developed backs like those in Yoga, Dance and even Qi Gong. Many of these people don't even do pull-ups almost at all yet some of their development is just jaw dropping, traps and all. How can that be?

Working with weights aren't the only things that stimulate the muscles. Contracting and utilize tension or TUT, you can stimulate the muscles to a great degree. That's where something like Athlete 20XX can come into play, it's another look at how to utilize the mind/muscle connection. Qi Gong is another example that has helped developed muscle whether practicing soft or hard Qi Gong. It has many exercise that hit the upper back and rear delts. Matter of fact, if you pay attention, there can be better developed natural muscle stimulation than from poorly executed weight training movements. 

Some Yogis have some bad ass development because of the practice of building that posture from spending a lot of time on the mats. They're structured and controlled. A lot of people take their eye off the ball in the sense where the back muscles are more than used than just to Pull & Row. The big picture of the functioning muscles is the stimulation of the Shoulder Girdle & Stabilization of the Spine. You can build some solid development in the back from doing Push-ups or even Push-ups held in Isometric fashion because it puts a lot of emphasis on the shoulders and spine which also connects to stabilizing the Core Muscles. It may sound contradictory because these are pushing exercises but the principle still applies here.

Animal Style Movements train the back and spine to a really high degree. Think about it, the scapula is in constant motion and your spine is working like crazy in order to stabilize you in various postures or awkward positions. The muscles in the middle back are the (no pun intended) backbone when it comes to being engaged in order to hold the scapula in place or stabilizing as well as needing to move the scapula in different directions.

The low back or in this case the Spinal Erectors are worked big time throughout the Animal Moves as well along with static holds and various postures in Qi Gong. As you can see, you don't need to do a ton of deadlifting, pull-ups or row in order to experience the benefit of a powerful back. 

Where the hell is this really going? Am I putting down Pull-ups and such? Fuck no. Pull-ups are awesome in their own right and have variations that work the back like a charm along with bad ass Isometric Holds that help with the weak areas of the exercise, but they're not the king, no matter how much of a hard on some dude has for Pull-ups. I want to give people the opportunity to see how they can develop themselves without always looking to the conventional ways. 

Athlete 20XX takes you to different level of understanding the ancient form of the mind/muscle connection and learning the aspects of stabilizing by mastering the mechanics. 

Have fun, learn new and exciting ways to train your body and keep being amazingly awesome.

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Developing A Thick Back Without Barbells, Dumbbells Or Even PullUps

Building muscle can be easy or at times very difficult for some people, it just depends on the circumstances but also it bares some merit in how you develop muscle from a certain point of view. Some actually build more muscle in certain places around the body where other areas tend to be more difficult to develop. Red Delta Project Owner Matt Schifferle didn't understand how he developed his calf muscles that even Bodybuilders much bigger than him were curious how thick that area was. When he finally understood it, things started falling into place.

For years, I never quite understood how I developed my back because regardless of what I did, my back always seemed to be the most muscular out of all the areas around my body. It was weird. When I finally read Overcoming Isometrics and the explanation of Neuro-Muscular Proficiency, meaning the engagement of the muscles used, things started to make sense. My back was being engaged more than I realized in just about every exercise I did. 

Even guys like Matt & Mike The Machine Bruce even made comments to the thickness of my back. It's not a brag or anything like that, I just think it's cool I was able to do it. The idea of having a thick back shows what you're willing to work with and the type of training you would do to get there. The back muscles themselves next to the legs are the largest group of muscles in the entire body. Some of the greatest bodybuilders in the world had thick backs but do the muscles and surrounding tissue have the strength to make you near injury-proof?

When I was weight training in my teens up until about 20-21, all I cared about was just being strong and seeing how much I can lift. I didn't care about the consequences of what some of the weight I was using when it came back and bit me in the ass. I had no coach, no firm understanding of stretching and progressions and I paid a price even at the age of 19. After my accident, the gears switched and it became more of becoming strong both inside and out, learning the aspects of flexibility, developing strength from another perspective and forming more of a health format not just for muscle building but to keep myself from being injured as much as possible while training everyday. 

I do credit the Bridging I learned that helped me build a strong spine and neck but didn't have a real clue on how it made my back look, I had some idea and liked what it developed into but I never quite got the memo about muscularity. Pull-ups weren't always my strong suit and although I could do them (not many), something always drove me to do different things. Bridging, Gymnastic Work, Animal Movements, Isometrics and heavy resistance cables ended up being the factors on the development for the most part now that I think about it. Bending Steel, Ripping Phonebooks, Sledgehammer Training and Sandbells had a hand in it as well but nowhere near the level of the others. 

In reality, I don't know which form of exercise really targeted my back to its fullest engagement but all in all, I feel like I have developed a strong, muscular and thick back that I rarely ever got hurt with. I did have lower back issues a few years back due to picking up something while moving a family member and walking it up a ramp. It hurt like hell after that and it comes and goes now but for the most part, it's practically healed up and I don't feel pain, just irritation every now and then. Will that injury be a factor as I get older, probably but I'll do my damndest to make sure it's at bay as long as possible.

Barbell deadlifts were never my thing and never did any sort of consistent training yet managed a 1rm of 405. I did it in a friend's garage and I thought it was less cause the guy tricked me and put on weight while telling me not to look at it and just do it. When he told me what it was, at first I wanted to kill him but then the shock struck in and I never thought in my life I would be able to do that. 405 in most circles with that lift was nothing, barely a beginner in powerlifting but when you hit it and you hadn't done any consistent training, it meant something.

Isometrics & Heavy Cables were favorites for back training because unlike Barbells and Dumbbells, they felt in my eyes a greater sense of engagement because you focus so much and hitting the amount of contraction really made a difference. When it came to the cables, I always would do the 10-20 rep range cause that's where I felt comfortable at. With lighter weight, I'd do up to about 50 reps and would do supersets of Cables & Step Ups as a form of Upper Body Strength Training & Lower Body Conditioning. The majority of those superset workouts would come out to a total of 500 reps each. I would do a certain amount with the upper body and do the same reps with the lower. My exercises for cables would be 5 exercises for 5 sets of 20 each for a total of 100 per exercise. I would do the same with step ups and the workout would come out to 500 total by the end. I would have barely any rest at all and the set up for the cables would be my rest otherwise I would go back and forth without stopping. Here's a video where I do three of them as a demo.

The Isometrics for the back would be Deadlift Holds (using a dowel with the strap), Upright Rows and Bow & Arrow. Along with Core Training, that's the majority for the back, not a ton of exercises but they're very intense. 

So it is possible to develop a strong and thick back without machines, weights or pull-ups. Pull-Ups are awesome for the development and are an ideal exercise (just ask Mike Bruce). They can be tough but if you're passionate about them and you have solid mastery, they're one of the best around period. Stay strong guys and if you're wanting to build a thick body that has meaning, I got your back on some of the best resources around (pun intended). Be safe but also kick ass in what you do. 

A couple recent pics of my back development. 

Bridging Between Worlds

The world between mainstream fitness today as opposed to yesteryear can seem like night and day but in a sense, they blend together but in a different context. Back in the day, fitness had it's share of quacks and posers but the real deal focused mainly on conditioning, flexibility and control. Plenty of muscle to go around but in the true sense of what muscle could achieve (this was before the days of Steve Reeves & Reg Park) with the other attributes. Guys like Arco and Maxick were the true muscle gods of their time but they were also very flexible and had greater control over their movements than practically any bodybuilder today.

When you can control your body and become flexible in several positions, there's a sense of well-being there that have a lot to do with how you can go through life. I'm not even talking about Yoga type flexibility but the type where it can be a continuous process of utilizing movements to make things in life better. It's one of the reasons I've always been fond of the Bridge or a blend of Bridging Exercises to establish a solid level of flexibility and condition. The Bridge has become a various blend of training that is used in different systems like Yoga, Gymnastics & Wrestling. It's not even about just training the neck but to control the whole body and developing the awareness of using the body as a single unit.

The two favorites are the Wrestler's Bridge & The Gymnastic Bridge where you practically bend the body to looking like something to cross over. I'm no yogi but over the years those bridges have been a life saver and have given me flexibility, strength and agility that I never thought I'd be able to accomplish in my teenage years. These two have several progressions and each one can be very beneficial but they're not for everyone and I can understand that. For those who do wish to learn them, blend into them little to by little, they're not some exercises you can just jump into, it takes quite a bit of strength to do some of them and takes a certain level of awareness in order to be comfortable being upside down or bending backwards.

When it comes to the Gymnastic Bridge, to me is one of the greatest stretches ever but the strength to get into it can be quite a feat when you're not in the 120-160 lb range lol. To build the strength takes progression but it also takes some coordination and working the body in unison. 

The progressions do need to be proceed with caution but at the same time, can be fun and teaches you how to control your fear of going backwards or getting into the realm of "Bridging Gymnastics" where you learn to fall into a bridge and do kickovers. For the most part, just learning to do the Wrestler's Bridges and Gymnastic Bridges are actually awesome in and of themselves because you don't need to be an Olympic Wrestler or Gymnast to do them. Hell many big guys can't do these so even a 50-100 lb lighter person would have a better speed of progression. They're incredible for conditioning the body in a different light than purely regular stretching or strength training. They can be lifesavers as I've mentioned before.

It is best to learn from a coach who knows how to do them but money can be tight for many so learning from someone who's been there and done that can be learned in a cheaper setting such as this awesome Gem!!! I started out with Matt Furey's Gama Fitness when it came to more of the Bridging progressions but Logan Christopher helped me fill in the blanks and has witnessed me up close and personal do my first kickover in the wrestler's bridge. He truly is one of the gifted ones and I can't thank him enough for that and that day will live with me forever. I've done plenty of stuff since then doing kickovers in workouts, holding a 3 min bridge whenever I feel like it and making the Gymnastic Bridge a go-to for getting that perfect stretch. 

These days, bridging workouts come and go and have done demos on YouTube and Tik Tok to give people ideas on what the progressions look like and how I've performed them. It has become a bridge between worlds as these exercises showcase what the ancients knew all along and what they've evolved into. They do however, have benefits that we still have yet to explain and you can do research on them but for the most part, they develop our bodies in ways that are beautiful and old school. Be careful but also make them a part of your training and see the benefits for yourself.

  

Taking Clubbing To The Next Level

    

     No I'm not talking about going out to a place of loud ass music or a high prestige gentlemen's club; I'm talking about real world-class strength and power. This type of clubbing comes from an Irish legend known as the Dagda (or Daghdha in Irish Folklore). Legend has it that a man of great warrior strength had two prized possessions; one was a cauldron that he used to cook meats and such to help feed the armies; the second was an extremely heavy club but this wasn't any ordinary club. This bad boy had two parts to and each side had a life and death entity. The top of the club was death because if it hit someone they instantly die but on the other end, below the handle it gave life. It's power within its handle gave strength and life like the legendary Thor's Hammer or Arthur's sword Excalibur.

 
    As the man conquered mighty tasks with the club it taught him valuable lessons in building strength not just in a physical macho type but within deep in his soul as he would need his wits (although he was a massive fellow) and he was a man of great heart and love but also a protector. Teaching is offspring the values of real strength, not by pure masculinity but by being a good nurtured soul and protecting the love ones you have and others. When you conquer a goal, you protect it and it has a special place in your heart, don't use it to boost ego or believe that because you made it happen you're better than the next guy, not true. When Dagda swung his club, he did with intensity and power that no man can match. In the story it took nine of the strongest men in Ireland to lift the man's club. Holding onto a club that heavy and powerful takes a special man (or woman) to harness that kind of strength.

 
    Milestones come and go in every person's life, sometimes we don't always realize what we achieve that changes the very course of your history and being. My two biggest milestones that hold a special place deep within me is surviving Meningitis and finding the strength to not only walk again but become far stronger than before. When you conquer something it doesn't matter if it's a PR in exercise or getting through a tough workout or even not in fitness, you made new headway in a sport, you got a major promotion in a company you love to work in; it applies to making yourself a better individual when you have the power to tower over what is blocking you. Hold onto those moments when something incredible happens because we don't get those moments everyday, they happen in certain points in your life that have a significance and everything happens for a reason.

 
    Get yourself a Club and swing yourself to power in the Dagda Program, learn to conquer not just lifting a heavy object but to learn to challenge your mind, create a strategy that will have you blasting sets/reps or whatever. Power and strength is within your grasp and don't ever let go of that power because not only is it yours but it is your duty to help others learn of its power so they can conquer their own goals and also you must protect it because only you have the power to conquer goals that are suited to you. Be a mighty warrior from within and bask in the glory of your own strength.

 
Be awesome everyone and keep kicking ass.

To Bridge Or Not To Bridge??? That Is The Question

            Is it not wise to build a mighty neck & back? For he that is weak in the electric embodiment of one’s core shall deteriorate with fierce consequence. A neck that holds the head up high with great confidence and soaring charisma must be strong that he must practice to save his body from a hunch and painful muscle.

            Fear is a piercing for those that not practice. It is this fear that thee doesn't take one step closer to his true potential with the ability to become not just strong but agile and fearlessness that brings forth his soul’s purpose to achieve inner strength. To practice is to be within the deepest reaches of one’s heart and purpose to leap with both feet and making thyself more wanted to be strong.

            The power of one’s spine is to a soul’s strength. The strength of man’s back is a source of great admiration, the might of his bones and muscle is a leap to perhaps a superhuman entity for which very few men can accomplish. It is within man’s birthright to be strong in many facets of life and only that crossing is from being weak to being powerful.

            Is it in the interest of thee that can fall with grace? Most fear because of their lonesome, they will be hurt and not tackle that darkness. Are there not angels that are there for guidance? There are angels but there’s also a blessing of a friend that can guide you and help you fall back with confidence and inner power. To fall back, one must reach down into his very soul to build the power to take another leap into becoming a being of no fear and not dwelling on putting his body at risk, with great practice, greater energy becomes.

            One must tell thyself to make way of crossing past the darkness and kicking over to the other side with will and the ability to fight. The more practice, the less you need to fight. An agile body doesn't happen overnight just like the cities of the Roman, Greek and Persian empires of the remote past. Your body is a temple of Great Power. Not everyone can enjoy this power but for most it is within your grasp to take whole of which is yours to keep. To Bridge takes patience, with great patience comes confidence, confidence becomes power.  

Going Back To The Bridge

              Lately I've switched my training around to Bridging and Sprinting to gain some agility, speed and awareness along with burning off bodyfat which has helped a great deal in a short amount of time but the Bridging however is the toughest of them all. A bridge routine can either make you or break depending what your level is at. To understand bridging, it really goes back to Karl Gotch’s DVD Conditioning For Combat Sports where I first learned about Bridging Gymnastics from a visual stand point. The amount of Agility you gain from it is insane and being able to handle your bodyweight in a manner most are afraid of.

            The key component of Bridging whether it’s on the head or hands alone is that it stretches the body in ways not many other programs can give you. The ability to stretch the spine to give that curvature in the spine is essential to lifelong health and functional fitness. Granted it’s not for everyone especially if you've had bone spurs in the neck or have had a mess of injuries to the spine but with the right training, most people can learn how to do the bridge, if you’re brave enough you can take it to the next step and that’s falling into a bridge and progressing kicking over and back while in the position.

            One of the all-time greats in the realm of Physical Culture George F. Jowett once said “In both man and the other male beasts, the neck has always been the true indication of the quality and quantity of his concentrated nerve power. A strong healthy man always has a powerful neck, and he always will have one.” He was right because if you look at how strong a man’s neck is that is congruent with the spine, it gives a whole new meaning to the term superhuman. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you have a flexible and strong spine, the rest of your body feeds off that power and energy.

            Our spines are like the electric cord of the human body, it sends nerves into the brain that feeds us our way of thinking and how our body is able to move. If your spine isn't strong enough it has a bigger chance of making you paralyzed everywhere. Give your spine the fuel it needs and your neck should be right along with it.

            Karl Gotch always figured Bridging is a major key to getting in serious shape and I’m not making that argument because I've done a lot of different training methods and Bridging Gymnastics always cooks me in the shortest amount of time because you’re working every single muscle in the body and you’re working your spine and neck to a degree where the stronger you get at it the stronger you’ll be overall. I always admired the way how Bridging works and it takes quite a bit of guts and some serious awareness to do some of the things Bridging Gymnastics offers.

            I've had the great opportunity to learn it from a couple guys and taught it to a few people myself plus being one of the heaviest guys to fall back into a bridge, kick over and kick back at a bodyweight of 238+ pounds. It’s exhilarating and exciting to do something most people can’t. Even if you’re a lighter person and you’re able to do it is still amazing in itself. It’s also fun as hell once you get it down and doing some crazy stunts. If you got the guts to take your training to another level, learn the kick ass ways to bridge, it is one hell of a way to get in shape and it gives you benefits you wouldn't believe.  

Pull-ups: Can Women Do Them Or Not?

October 25, 2012, 12:01 am
Why Women Can’t Do Pull-Ups
By TARA PARKER-POPE
This column appears in the Oct. 28 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

While the pull-up has been used by everyone from middle-school gym teachers to Marine drill instructors to measure fitness, the fact is that many fit people, particularly women, can't do even one. To perform a pull-up, you place your hands on a raised bar using an overhand grip, arms fully extended and feet off the floor. (The same exercise, performed with an underhand grip, is often called a chin-up.) Using the muscles in your arms and back, you pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar. Then the body is lowered until the arms are straight, and the exercise is repeated. The Marines say a male recruit should be able to do at least 3 pull-ups or chin-ups, but women are not required to do them. In school, 14-year-old boys can earn the highest award on the government's physical fitness test by doing 10 pull-ups or chin-ups: for 14-year-old girls, it's 2.

To find out just how meaningful a fitness measure the pull-up really is, exercise researchers from the University of Dayton found 17 normal-weight women who could not do a single overhand pull-up. Three days a week for three months, the women focused on exercises that would strengthen the biceps and the latissimus dorsi - the large back muscle that is activated during the exercise. They lifted weights and used an incline to practice a modified pull-up, raising themselves up to a bar, over and over, in hopes of strengthening the muscles they would use to perform the real thing. They also focused on aerobic training to lower body fat.

By the end of the training program, the women had increased their upper-body strength by 36 percent and lowered their body fat by 2 percent. But on test day, the researchers were stunned when only 4 of the 17 women succeeded in performing a single pull-up.

"We honestly thought we could get everyone to do one," said Paul Vanderburgh, a professor of exercise physiology and associate provost and dean at the University of Dayton, and an author of the study. But Vanderburgh said the study and other research has shown that performing a pull-up requires more than simple upper-body strength. Men and women who can do them tend to have a combination of strength, low body fat and shorter stature. During training, because women have lower levels of testosterone, they typically develop less muscle than men, Vanderburgh explained. In addition, they can't lose as much fat. Men can conceivably get to 4 percent body fat; women typically bottom out at more than 10 percent.

So no matter how fit they are, women typically fare worse on pull-up tests. But Vanderburgh notes that some men struggle, too, particularly those who are taller or bigger generally or have long arms. This is related to an interesting phenomenon: if you compare a smaller athlete to an athlete who has the same exact build but is 30 percent bigger, the bigger athlete will be only about 20 percent stronger, even though he has to carry about 30 percent more weight.

"We're a combination of levers; that's how we move," Vanderburgh said. "Generally speaking, the longer the limb, the more of a disadvantage in being able to do a pull-up. I look at a volleyball player and wouldn't expect her to be able to do a pull-up, but I know she's fit."

Ok, what’s wrong with this picture (or words)? This article suggests that women are pretty much incapable of doing pull-ups. As I do agree to a certain peak about the levels of strength compared to men and women, it still pisses me off that this article doesn't really know a damn thing about Pull-up training. First things first, if you're going to do pull-ups what do you do, you do pull-ups dumbass. Can't expect someone to lift weights using arm and back exercises and have them do pull-ups for a test. I’m sorry but that’s just flat out dumb.






Yes it’s proven that women aren't as strong as men and our testosterone levels are much higher but that doesn't mean a woman can’t be strong at something. To overcome this notion that a woman is incapable of doing pull-ups, you don't listen to bullshit like this and if you really want to do pull-ups, do them and make it happen for you, the mental game is just as important as the physical. Its people who wrote this article don’t know the real capabilities of both men and women. Don't ever feel that as a woman you are weak and not worthy to become strong. You are more than just a beautiful person, you’ve got heart, will and brains to become something that nobody can use against you. You have 2 eyes, 2 arms, a torso, a neck, 2 legs, 2 ears, hair, 5 fingers, 5 toes and 2 feet, what makes you think can’t do some of the same things as a man can? I've seen women overpower men much bigger than them and are stronger in some cases than they are.






My personal take on it is that out of all the scientific crap thrown in this article they messed up on more than 5 different things one of which is about doing what you need to do to do pull-ups. He talks about how they used weights and Isolated the arms and back, hate to burst your bubble pal but crap like that doesn't carry over to pull-ups, if you want to get strong in pull-ups you do exactly that, common sense don't you think? Another is how he talks about men struggling as well, you can't do pull-ups very well if you're this big or have long arms and this and that. I'm more than 240 lbs. This article suggests that because I'm too big I’m not capable of doing many pull-ups but yet I've surpassed 10, where is your logic now? Structure has some factors but if you trained in pull-ups with the right amount for your level of fitness you have the capabilities of doing plenty of pull-ups and it may take you a long time or a short period but in the end, if you are willing to pull yourself (pun intended) you will do one or more pull-ups.






Don't ever fall for crap like this. I realize this was a test for schools and such but if you can't train someone to actually do pull-ups how are they suppose to be able to do them in a test? Women aren’t very capable to do pull-ups, please, look at Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, whether it was her or a stunt woman, a woman was doing pull-ups or the other chin-ups. One other thing this moron talks about is that pull-ups are a back and arms exercise…Wrong it’s Back, Shoulders, Abdominals, Arms, Grip and Chest in other words the entire upper body, an exercise of that caliber needs multiple muscle groups to even stabilize the muscles let alone pulling yourself up.






Women are more than just beautiful people; they are more than capable to pulling off strength feats. I firmly believe that pound for pound, ounce for ounce women in some cases are stronger than men. I once saw a woman press up more than half her bodyweight with a kettlebell with one arm. Even if a woman can do more than one pull-up or chin-up that still proves that crap wrong that women are more than capable of doing pull-ups with the right training instead of isolating them. This is an article that is incapable of showing any real logic or common sense and still tries to put women down. Women are strong in more ways than people like this give them credit for. Testing on something while training a completely different thing isn't going to help your cause, that’s like asking a baseball player to train for football in baseball season; he’s not going to get any better at baseball and might even diminish his levels, so why test a woman on pull-ups if you're training them in weights? To do well in pull-ups, you train in pull-ups plain and simple.