May 28 - Back

Goal: wider lats + fuller rear-delt/mid-trap shelf behind the shoulders.

Main win: keep the main pulls clean, then add one lat-isolation move and one rear-delt/trap-shelf move. This is the change that better matches your goal than just repeating curls/back raises.

What we’re improving today

• Add Straight-Arm Cable Pulldown for lat width without biceps taking over.
• Add Cable Rear Delt Fly / Reverse Pec Deck for the behind-shoulder shelf.
• Keep Face Pulls, but treat them as rear-delt/lower-trap work, not an ego cable pull.
• Make curls optional and keep Back Raises skipped unless you specifically want lower back work.

Rules for today

• Lats: think elbows to hips, shoulders down, no biceps-dominant pulling.
• Rows: 1-sec squeeze, chest tall, no momentum reps.
• Rear delts/traps: lighter, cleaner, 12–20 reps. If you shrug everything, it misses the target.
• Back first, curls last/optional.

Warm-up

• 5 min easy bike/walk
• 2 light ramp sets on lat pulldown before working sets
• 1 light set of face pulls before heavy pulls

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Lat Pulldown

Visual: MuscleWiki cached closest match — pull-up / vertical pull pattern.

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How: Chest slightly up, shoulders down, elbows drive toward ribs/hips. Do not lean way back or curl the bar down.

Target: last best was 90 × 10. Try for 90 × 11 on set 4 if the first 3 sets are clean.

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Close Grip Lat Pulldown

Visual: MuscleWiki cached closest match — pull-up / vertical pull pattern.

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How: Pull elbows down and in. Keep neck long; don’t shrug into the rep.

Target: controlled lats/biceps, no shrugging. Keep this secondary; 2–3 sets is enough.

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Straight-Arm Cable Pulldown — Lat Width Add

Visual: MuscleWiki lat exercises — no exact cached GIF available, use this as the lat-isolation add-on.

How: Slight hip hinge, arms mostly straight, shoulders down. Pull the bar/rope from eye level to thighs by driving lats, not triceps.

Target: 2–3 sets × 12–15. Start light enough to actually feel lats.

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Long Pull

Visual: MuscleWiki cached closest match — dumbbell unilateral row.

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How: Chest up, pull elbow back, pause at the body. Don’t round forward and yank.

Target: last best was 90 × 10. Beat it with 90 × 11 if you can keep the chest up and pause the pull.

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Bent Over Landmine Row

Visual: MuscleWiki cached closest match — barbell bent-over row.

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How: Brace, stay hinged, pull through elbows. No jerking off the floor.

Target: this was the May back PR: 65 × 10. Try 65 × 11 on one clean set before increasing weight.

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Face Pull

Visual: MuscleWiki rear/shoulder cable exercises. No exact cached GIF; use strict form.

How: Pull toward face/forehead, elbows high-ish, rotate thumbs back. Think rear delts + lower traps, not upper-trap shrug.

Target: rear delts + shoulder health. Last back day best was 90 × 10; go for 90 × 11, but only with a clean pull to face height.

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Precor Shoulder Press — Swap-In

Swapped for: Cable Rear Delt Fly / Reverse Pec Deck because the cable/machine area was busy.

How: Adjust seat so handles start at shoulder height. Press up in a slow, controlled movement, ribs down, no lower-back arch. Slowly return to start.

Target: 3 sets × 8–12. This is more front/side delt + triceps than rear-delt shelf, but it is the cleanest available swap right now.

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Single Arm Cable Curls — Optional

Target: only do this if the back/rear-delt work is complete. Strict reps; don’t let it steal energy from lat work.

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Rope Curl ❌

Skip by default today. Your goal is lats + rear-delt/trap shelf, not extra biceps volume.

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Back Raises ❌

Skipped by default today — keep back fatigue for rows/pulldowns unless lower back feels fresh and you want a light optional finisher.

May 15 - Back