THE OG: Back Training

"Attaining a victorious v-shape"

Don Howarth about to perform a Gironda-style “sternum chin”

Welcome back to THE OG, my series on all things Vince Gironda. After last week’s look at Vince’s specialisation course on abdominal training, we’re considering his approach to back training.

All quotations, unless otherwise stated, are taken from Vince’s 1984 book The Wild Physique.

---

When I close my eyes and think of the best backs I've ever seen, my mind adds a picture of Robby Robinson. He hasn't quite got the widest back (that distinction belongs to Tony Pearson), but there is a density and muscularity that is seldom seen even among the ranks of professional bodybuilders.

Actor/producer Brad Harris, who has spent years working out at my gym, has an amazing back. Only once in all my years did I see him with his shirt off, but what a sight! I would guess that much of Brad's back impressiveness resulted from his habit of warming up with high cleans at the beginning of his workouts. He used about 135 pounds and did 20-30 repetitions. (WP, p.111)

If you want to attain that “victorious v-shape” which, in Vince Gironda’s words, is the hallmark of a classic Golden Age physique, it’s essential for you to build a wide back. And building a wide back, for Vince Gironda, meant focusing on the lats (the latissumus dorsi).

The lats are the second-largest muscle in the body (the thighs being number one), and they show under the armpits even when the body is viewed from the front. It is the lats… which give you that wide-back appearance. Well-developed lats mean a super taper. (WP, p.111)

As with the abdominals, in The Wild Physique Vince is out to dispel some myths about the back as well. Contrary to what some people say, you don’t have to start building your back in your teens if you want to have wide lats. As Vince says, “I did not start training with weights until I was 22 years old and I ultimately built the widest lats of my day.”

In the Gironda system, there are two aspects to back development: width, which is the V-shape; and density, which is the thickness of the muscles of the back. Both are necessary to have a truly well-developed, aesthetic back.

Vince notes that many people claim not to be able to “feel” the lats working when they do back exercises. The remedy, says Vince, is to hold the contracted position of the exercise for a count of six on each rep. This will build the much-vaunted “mind-muscle connection” and also stimulate what Vince calls “nerve force.”

Robby Robinson’s back, which Vince said was probably the best he’d ever seen

It is my theory that having a strong nerve force as impulse to a muscle means a larger, stronger muscle with a better blood supply. Several exercises should be employed for best results. (WP, p.112)

Vince advises that, until you have developed full control of and feeling for the lats, you should not use the 8x8 or 10x10 rep schemes for this muscle.