Tip The Back Exercise Form Fixer Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness TrainingVideos Tip The Back Exercise Form Fixer Are you using bad form on back exercises without even realizing it This little trick will fix that and help you build a bigger back by Kurt Weber June 5, 2017April 5, 2021 Tags Back, Exercise Coaching, Tips Stop Cheating Build a Bigger Back If you want a bigger back, it's not about moving a weight from point A to point B – it's what happens between those points that counts. Tension is everything. You must know how a rep should feel in order to maximize muscle activation. But it's really hard to feel each rep when you're using excess momentum, especially in the barbell row. This is called cheating. You throw your back or shoulder toward the bar, creating momentum, then letting the weight "float," bringing your chest toward the weight. So within the entirety of the rep, your muscles feel the tension for about two inches of it. This not only puts massive amounts of unnecessary stress on the muscle tendons, it's not benefiting you much, either. Solution Isotonic Muscle Action Use bands to help you create something called "isotonic muscle action." What does that mean? Constant tension. And for our purposes, constant control. For this you're going to use bands that'll help you pull with the same speed, tension, and control through both phases of the lift (concentric and eccentric). Start by placing some medium tension bands on the bar that'll give a slight flex (use a bigger band for more weight). Not only will it promote good tempo, but at no point during the rep can you cheat to get past your weak point. Pull it too fast, and the band stretches instead of the weight moving. Once you experience how isotonic reps feel, apply the same control to the traditional lifts. Using bands like this will work great for bodyweight pulls such as inverted rows and assisted chin-ups. It also works well with pulldowns, seated cable rows, and similar movements. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip The Chin-up Push-Up Countdown Challenge Alternate between chin-ups and push-ups, doing twice as many push-ups. Example: Start with 10 chins and 20 push-ups. Goal: 30 chins, 60 push-ups total. Challenge Training, Exercise Coaching, Pull-Up, Push-Up, Tips Ben Bruno August 15 Training Tip Loaded Carries Crowded Gyms Torch your whole body with this space-saving farmer's walk. Training Gareth Sapstead January 23 Training Tip Hit Your Abs and Chest With One Exercise All you need is big balls. Actually, just one big ball. Check it out. Abs, Tips, Training Kelvin King, Jr March 13 Training Tip Reps & Techniques for Size Gains Get back to the basics of hypertrophy training with these proven methods. Bodybuilding, Tips, Training Eric Bach July 12