Day 38: Back Strength Training

Whether it’s raising the weight in the Hercules Hoist, propelling yourself up the Rope Climb, or traversing your way through the Rig, the Spartan Race requires a ton of back strength. Similar to my approach to building leg strength that I discussed in my day 36 post where my leg workouts used to revolve around sets of low-repetition, heavy-weight squats, my approach to back strength building used to revolve around low repetitions of heavy deadlifts, where everything else was considered accessory. Although I do believe a heavy deadlift will help with obstacles such as the Atlas Carry & the Bucket Brigade, I think to make heavy deadlifts the main priority in back training would be a mistake due to the amount of hanging & monkey bar obstacles that are included in the Spartan Race. Although I have left barbell deadlifts in my routine, I have opted instead for lower-weight, higher-repetition sets, & shifted the focus of my back workouts to maximizing my pull-up & chin-up output.  

               Today I look at how my first 5 back strength-training days went, & look at how I’m looking to switch up the plan moving forward.

Back Exercises

           First, I will look at the progress that I made on the 4 back strength building exercises that I have completed over the past 5 weeks, then I will look at how I'm looking to switch up my back strength building day moving forward. If you would like to read more on the rational behind why I chose each exercise, I discussed it at length in my day 8 post on strength training.

1. Pull-Ups (back, shoulders, biceps): the pull-up has become king in my back workouts, with the major focus being to ensure that I improve my total output week-in, week-out. I believe that the back, bicep, & grip strength developed from the pull-up will pay dividends on all of the hanging & monkey bar obstacles come race day. Although my improvement has been nowhere near the gains that I’ve made in new exercises such as the burpee, the pull-up has always been part of my back workouts, so I am quite pleased that I’ve been able to increase my total output nearly 50% over the past 6 weeks. Originally my plan was to add weights as soon as I reached 20 repetitions, however I am long past 20 on my first set, & I have yet to incorporate weights. The major reason I haven’t added weights to my pull-ups is because I want to increase my muscular endurance. Since there are so many obstacles that require back & upper body strength, I want to ensure my muscles are quickly able to recover & be ready for the next obstacle on race day. Thus I do not want to completely exhaust my muscles on the first set doing an activity (weighted pull-ups) that won’t be replicated on race day. Instead I am going to focus on being able to complete 3 sets of 25 repetitions with slow, strict form, at which point I will begin to add extra resistance.
    
   Progress: 40 repetitions to 58 repetitions
   
    
2. Deadlifts (glutes, quads, hamstrings, back): my all-time favourite exercise, the deadlift is a compound movement that is king when it comes to strength gains whether it’s in your legs, core, back, or arms. Used to completing sets of 3 to 5 repetitions at near-maximum weight, it has been an adjustment for me to lower the weight, up the repetitions, & focus on strict form. Over the past 6 weeks, I have been a little disappointed at how slow the progress on my deadlifts has been, especially since I have deadlifted well over twice the weight that I started with, albeit only for a few repetitions. Since I am completing a circuit with my 4 back exercises on a squat rack, I elected to start with the same weight for my deadlifts & rows, expecting my output on rows to quickly lag behind my output on deadlifts, but to my surprise this has not been the case. One major sticking point for my deadlifts has been my grip & forearms. Although my back & legs feel fine at my failure points, it has been my grip & forearms that have impeded my progress. In the bodybuilding community, many would suggest using lifting straps to get around this problem, however I believe forearm & grip strength are two major keys to success on the Spartan Race, so I am happy to be developing the strength, even if it is at the detriment of my total deadlift output. My hope is that by adding dead hangs to my core strength day, the strength in my forearms will begin to catch up to the strength in my back & legs, allowing me to quickly move up in my deadlift weight. That said, I am going to continue to focus on perfect form at higher repetitions with my deadlifts, regardless of what weight I am lifting.
    
   Progress: 145 lbs for 36 repetitions to 165 lbs for 44 repetitions
    
    
3. Rows (back, biceps): an exercise I've always treated as an accessory lift on back days to be completed only if my back wasn’t too exhausted from heavy deadlifts, the row i vastly underrated compound movement that is great for developing back strength. My opinion of the importance of the row was increased when I was researching Spartan Race obstacles for my day 34 post on the races’ obstacles, & I came across the Hercules Hoist that mimicks the movement involved in rows. Unlike the deadlift, I have been quite happy with my progress on rows to date, & have been pleasantly surprised that my improvement has stayed in line with that of my deadlift. On my barbell rows, I have been focusing on performing slower repetitions with good form, really focusing on the ‘squeeze’ between my shoulder blades at the top of the lift. I really enjoy the way I can feel my lat muscles working during the lift, & will continue to focus on slow, strict form on my rows, even if it means sacrificing the amount of weight that I’m lifting.
   
   Progress: 145 lbs for 36 repetitions to 165 lbs for 42 repetitions
    
    
4. Chin-Ups (biceps, back, shoulders): an exercise that I’ve often viewed as an inferior version of the pull-up, the chin-up is another great exercise for building back strength that places increased stress on the biceps when compared with the pull-up. I originally debated whether I needed both pull-ups & chin-ups in my routine, however with the amount of obstacles in the Spartan Race that demand back strength & endurance, I believe including both will pay dividends come race day. Similar to pull-ups, I have been quite happy with my improvement on the chin-up, moving from 33 repetitions across 3 sets up to 53 repetitions. I am especially proud of this progress considering I am improving even despite doing pull-ups in the same circuit which tells me that my muscular endurance has increased substantially. As with my pull-ups, I am going to focus on being able to complete 3 sets of 20 repetitions prior to adding any additional weight, focusing instead on good form & being able to manipulate my own bodyweight.
   
   Progress: 33 repetitions to 53 repetitions
    

                 Overall, I have been happy with the way my back strength has increased over the past 6 weeks. Like my chest strength building routine that I discussed in my day 37 post, my back day utilizes some familiar exercises, so my baseline strength level was much higher than in newer exercises such as the burpee. One continuous challenge for me in this exercise routing is my forearm strength. By the time I have completed two sets of each of the exercises, my forearms are screaming in pain & feel as hard as rocks, even appearing red at times due to the influx of blood flow. I feel that it is this lack of forearm strength & muscular endurance that has been limiting my progress in my deadlifts, however I am going to continue to complete the same exercises as I am confident that I am building significant amounts of forearm & grip strength, two areas often cited by Spartan Race veterans as major sticking points. To further develop my forearms, I have added dead hangs to my core strength building days. If my forearms strength continues to hinder my progress on my back training day, I will look to incorporate more exercises to help build the strength & muscular endurance in my forearms. 

            In terms of new exercises, I am going to add monkey bar training on the TRX machine at the end of my workouts. Although I believe the routine outlined above is adequate for building the back strength necessary for the Spartan Race, I do want to make sure I am developing my coordination at the same time. By including monkey bar simulations at the end of my workout, I will be able to work on my coordination & monkey bar abilities while my muscles are exhausted, something that I believe will replicate race day conditions. 

                In conclusion, I am happy with the improvements that I have made in terms of pull-ups, chin-ups, & barbell rows, & am confident that as I continue to develop my forearm & grip strength, I will see significant growth in my deadlifts as well. After researching the types of obstacles that the Spartan Race includes, I am more motivated than ever to leave it all in the gym on my back days. Aroo!

100-Day Spartan