Optimum Back: Daniel Banks' Lat
This high-volume back workout will leave you so pumped you'll have to walk sideways through the door!
I'm Police Chief Daniel Banks. When you have a job like mine, you
need a sanctuary, a place to wind down. For me, that place is the gym.
But I don't go in there to play on my phone or chat with friends. I go
in there to work.
I'll tell you right now, my workouts are rough. I train a lot of
volume, and I go heavy. If you want to jump in and train like me, try my
back workout! I start with 3-4 heavy sets to build muscle, then do
dropsets of 30 and 50 reps to get a massive pump.
Daniel Banks' Lat Workout Optimum Back
Watch the video - 9:01
This workout takes me about two hours. If you really hustle and cut
your rest time, you can make it through in about 1.5 hours. It's a haul,
I know, but the work you do will be well worth the effort. If it's your
first time doing a workout like this, I suggest you save it for the
weekend, when you have a little more time to spend in the gym!
Ready to get to work? Let's go lift!
Optimum Back: Daniel Banks' Lat Workout
1
Wide-Grip Pull-Up
4-5 sets of 20 reps
2
Seated Cable Row
4-5 sets of 12 reps, last set is a double dropset of 30 and 50 reps
3
Lat Pull-down
4-5 sets of 15 reps, last set is a double dropset of 30 and 50 reps
4
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
4-5 sets of 12 reps
Superset
5
Reverse-grip lat Pull-down
4 sets of 11 reps
Behind-the-neck lat pull-down
4 sets of 22 reps
6
Barbell Row
4-5 reps of 15 reps, last set is a double dropset of 30-50 reps
Superset
7
Single-arm Pull-down
4-5 sets of 12-15 reps
Straight-bar Pull-down
4-5 sets of 12-15 reps
8
Isometric Pull-up
3-4 sets of 1 rep, hold to failure
Note: Rest 60-90 seconds between sets.
Banks' Back-Training Rules
Before you begin the workout, read through these rules to get the most out of your hard work.Rule 1 Use Straps
When you do high-volume back workouts like I do, your grip can fatigue long before your back does. I like to use straps on back day because they alleviate any issues I might have with my forearms or grip and allow me to concentrate on using only my back.
Lat pull-down
If you have a pair of straps in your bag, pull them out for this workout!
Rule 2 Maintain Tension
To keep tension on my back throughout each movement, I never go to full extension on any of the movements. When you come to the bottom of each rep, stop just before your joint reaches full extension.
Single-arm dumbbell row
Stopping just before the end of each rep will keep your back completely engaged through the entire range of motion.
Rule 3 Do Double Dropsets
After your working sets on the seated cable row, lat pull-down, and barbell row, you'll do two dropsets. After the last rep, drop the weight, and then bang out 30 reps.
Barbell row
Once you complete those 30 reps, drop the weight again, and hit 50 more reps. Make sure the weight is light enough so you can complete all the prescribed reps.
