Da Bullpen | Keys to Building a Big Back

Written by George “Da Bull” Peterson III

11 June 2021

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Da Bullpen

By George “Da Bull” Peterson III

Keys to Building a Big Back

Q: Your back is just incredible and I know you have answered this question before but please – what are your secrets?

A:I don’t have any secrets, but there are a couple of things I do in every back workout that I honestly feel are key to maximizing development. The first is to not just contract your back on every rep, but also to consciously expand your chest at the same time. This goes for lat pulldowns, cable rows, you name it. Try it now right where you are, without any equipment or resistance. You will note that expanding your chest helps you feel the lat contraction much more powerfully. Master this technique and apply it to everything you do on back day. What prevents most people from ever realizing their full potential in terms of their backs is never being able to master that mind-muscle connection and achieving full contractions.

Another aspect of back training I strongly believe in is hitting it from many different angles. A lot of people will do a vertical pulling movement or two, like a lat pulldown, along with a horizontal pulling movement like a row, and that’s it. There are many other angles in between there, and you can also work the back with different hand grips (overhand/pronated, underhand/supinated, or neutral/palms facing) and spacing. A row with your hands closer together will hit a different part of your back versus hands at shoulder width or beyond, for example. Because of this I will typically do six or seven different exercises for back at any given workout. You don’t and shouldn’t try to do every exercise and angle at every workout, but switch things up. For example, I will do standard overhand barbell rows one week, then “Dorian” style underhand grip the next time. You could use a regular lat pulldown bar at one workout with a shoulder-width overhand grip one time, then the double D-ring attachment (as often used in seated cable rows) the next. Personally, I like to finish my back workout knowing I hit every area properly.

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What Makes a Gym Excellent?

Q: You are fortunate enough to train at Bev and Steve’s Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, New York, the East Coast Mecca. You must have pretty high standards for gyms, so what would you look for if you had to train somewhere else?

A:I’m a simple guy by nature. I like it to have a lot of sufficient equipment and a good atmosphere. I don’t mind a dirty “dungeon” type of atmosphere, because I can adapt to whatever I need to. Ample equipment is a plus. There should be at least a couple of leg presses, squat racks, and benches so you don’t have to wait around for anything when you’re training. It should also be spaced out so you have room to move and don’t feel cramped. Every good gym has its own personal vibe. I also like extra motivation. The Redcon1 gym in Boca Raton, Florida has monitors that are always playing bodybuilding contests and training DVDs. The walls of Bev’s are covered with pictures of the many greats who have trained there like Dorian, Ronnie, Jay and so on. Seeing those legends looking down on me makes me want to kill my set. And yes, there are a few pictures of me up on the wall. The one I’m most proud of is my MD cover that had me hitting a rear double biceps pose, which is posted among all the back training equipment. It’s funny, because I don’t look up at my own photos in admiration, like “Wow, I look so great!” It’s more like, I want to beat that dude right there!

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Typical Day of Contest Prep

Q: What does a typical day of contest prep look like for you?

A:I wake up at 8:00 a.m. and eat. I like to eat my first two meals, three hours apart, before I go train around 1:00 p.m. I use this time to work with my online coaching clients, responding to emails and making adjustments to their programs. If I have something promotional I need to do for my sponsor Redcon1, I will also do that in this time period. I go train, and then get my third meal right after that, before I even go home. I drive home and start my “real job” for the cable company. That shift is from 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. I get a lunch and two breaks in that shift, so that’s when I eat meals four, five and six. Thanks to Covid, I now work at home which is actually so much easier for me. I save time and energy by not having to commute to work anymore. As soon as I’m done working, I go right to bed!

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Fasted Cardio: Not a Fan

Q: Do you do fasted cardio in prep?

A:Generally no, I don’t. I do it right after my weight-training workout. Even if I’m at a point where my coach Justin might have me doing a full hour of cardio, I would rather just do it after training. The only time I had to do fasted cardio was when I was in Classic and the weight was just not coming off. Now that I’ve moved to 212, that’s no longer a big issue. You will hear that you need to do cardio fasted, first thing in the morning to see the best results, but I haven’t found that to be true. After my workouts, all the muscle glycogen has been depleted just as if I had been fasting, so I still burn plenty of fat in those sessions.

Instagram @georgep_dabull

Online coaching info at http://www.dabullcoaching.com

YouTube: George Peterson

Redcon1 Stack

Upon Waking

Double Tap powder, 1 scoop

With Breakfast

GI Juice, 1 scoop

Pre-workout

Total War, Big Noise and MOAB all together, 1 scoop each

Post-workout

Breach