Rich Piana’s Strategies For A Thick And Wide Back

Learn the training methods to building a mutant body! 

Rich Piana’s size and demonstration of strength has earned him a loyal following in the bodybuilding world. Take a look at any of his videos and it’s clear that the man’s level of determination is far above normal. Piana has graced the online fitness world with a number of video reviews of exercises, supplements, and exercise methodology. If you are looking for a quick way to expand those back muscles, Piana has what you need.

As you are reading, keep in mind that I’ve arranged these exercises in a way that focuses first on compound movements and then into more isolation exercises. Remember that it is just not possible to isolate the back as you would your biceps or triceps. However, you have the ability to perform certain exercises to reduce secondary muscle involvement.

Let’s take a look at Rich Piana’s favourite exercises to blow up the back muscles.

1. Partial Reps Lat Pulldown

This is a terrific beginning exercise on Back Day. It allows you to properly engage the latissimus dorsi without fully utilising the secondary muscles. In other words, you are warming-up the primary muscle that you will be focusing on.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• Focus on those elbows. As you will see in the video, Piana’s elbows do not go past parallel.
• Allow for an isometric pause.
• Although Piana suggests in the video to go heavier than normal, if you are utilising this exercise for your warm-up (which I would recommend) then you want to start out with 50% to 60% of your one-repetition maximum. Take it slow. After one to three warm-up sets, then increase the weight to match your workout goals. (For instance: Working on strength: Increase the weight to 75% to 85% 1RM)

2. Bent Over Rows

Piana starts off the video saying that this is an exercise that is often performed incorrectly and this couldn’t be more true. There is an important distinction in the angle of your body in relation to where the weight is lifted. To perform this exercise correctly, you need to hinge from the hips and push your butt back while keeping a bend in the knees. Watch Piana’s elbows as they drive back and up, engaging his lats. Remember that this is a back exercise that targets the latissimus dorsi. You should be feeling this in your lats, middle of your back, and, to a slight degree, your biceps.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• If you aren’t convinced about your own form, I’d recommend using light weight for the first few sets. Set up in front of a long length mirror so that you can break down every step of the exercise and watch yourself doing it. Although your neck and head should be in a neutral position, as long as you’re using light weight during these warm-up sets, you will be fine.
• Don’t forget about the core. Engage the core throughout the entire movement to help keep a flat back.
• Speaking of flat back, did you notice a curve in Piana’s lower back? No, you did not. Keep a flat back in mind throughout.

3. Modified (Cable) Lat Pulls

While this exercise is not superior to the traditional Lat Pulldown, it is important to keep the body guessing and to mix up your workout routine. Piana says that he trades in his Lat Pulldowns for this exercise once every five or six back workouts. Depending on how many times a week you train your back muscles, you should be incorporating this exercise once or twice a month.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• Shoulders become much more involved with this exercise. With that said, it’s going to be important to strictly control the direction your elbows take. As Piana points out when you are in the concentric portion of the lift, make sure your elbows are heading down and behind your back. Not side to side with your body. Certainly not in front of your body.
• Squeeze! Once your elbows reach the point where they cannot go any further, pause and hold this isometric portion of the lift. Focus on squeezing the lats together then slowly release.
• Control the shoulder. During the eccentric portion of the lift, you’ll see that Piana’s entire arm and shoulder engage in a forward rotational movement. This is where you’ll need to focus on complete control. The cable machine should not be pulling your entire body forward and out of alignment.

4. Seated Rows

Back to the rows! Seated Rows are a great way of reducing the involvement of other muscle groups. For instance, when you’re performing the Standing Barbell Row (as displayed above), you are actively engaging the calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, abdominals, lower back, lats, traps, and biceps. While your legs will be helping you keep distance between the machine and yourself, the lighter weight being used will place more emphasis on utilising those back muscles. As Piana says, save the heavier weight for the barbell and dumbbell rows.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• Using a wide grip is important for targeting and stretching your lats. You’ll see Piana using a standard size straight bar in this video. If you really want to challenge yourself, grab a Lat Pulldown bar and go wide.
• You will want to use lighter weight for this exercise. This allows you to be in control of the entire movement, with an emphasis on the isometric pause and squeeze to engage the lats even more.

5. Behind the Back Shrugs

Before you jump ahead: Yes, shrugs are on here twice. Why? This behind the back variation is more effective at targeting your lower traps than standard shrugs. Just like Piana reminds you, traps are not shoulder-dominant. Traps begin at the lower-middle back and expand up and out; hence why you will find many workouts separating lower and upper traps. We are going to focus on the lower traps first as this is the larger part of the muscle.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• The isometric pause and squeeze is a MUST for this exercise. Watch as Piana spends just as much time (if not more so) pausing and squeezing as he does lifting and lowering.
• The focus is NOT in the shoulders. Start out with light weight and practice a few warm-up sets to properly engage the muscle. Remember, you are aiming to attack the middle of your back.

6. Wide Grip Pullovers

As I mentioned above, it is not possible to completely isolate the back, but performing a Wide Grip Pullover is as close as you can get. Piana is a big promoter of the Pullover or achieving that wide back look that many guys are trying to achieve. Piana recommends starting and finishing the workout with this exercise. You can certainly do so, incorporating this as another warm-up exercise with light weight. Wait until you hit the Pullover the second time during your workout to really amp the weight up.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• Keep a slight bend in the knees at all times. This will help to keep you stable while protecting your lower back.
• Remember to actively engage the core. This will help you maintain that flat back and stable posture you need to complete the exercise.
• Although you don’t see Piana doing it in this video (that happens when you are using the whole stack), I would recommend pausing during the isometric portion of the lift. Make your lats work before lowering the bar.

7. Shrugs

This and the Wide Grip Pull Over are interchangeable for the finishing exercise. I would recommend finishing with shrugs as I would much rather conserve my energy and power to get more from the Pull Over. The traditional Shrug is designed to hit the upper traps. As Piana points out, the biggest mistake that people will make is loading up the bar. Lighten the load and focus on form. The burn will be there.

The Tips & Tricks for Growth

• Use a narrow grip. Piana promotes a narrow grip as it helps to target his upper traps while removing the involvement of the shoulders.
• Just like with the behind the back variation, you have to remember to pause and squeeze. As you’ll see, Piana spends more time in the isometric portion of the lift than the concentric and eccentric.
• Do not load up the bar to help your ego. Go lighter with this exercise so that you can spend more time in the isometric phase. Piana demonstrates the wrong way of performing the shrugs where guys will throw multiple plates on the bar and speed through shrugs.

All in All

If you are looking to achieve that V-taper that is famous with bodybuilders, you have to dedicate yourself to Back Day. Striving for muscle failure and maximum hypertrophy is going to help you build up your back. The favorite exercises of Rich Piana are extremely effective in achieving the muscle growth you want. Try incorporating some or all of these exercises into your own routine and you’ll see the difference in a few weeks.