WGBJ 1 - Workout 38

Workout 38: Back & Triceps

Grasp the pull bar with a grip wider than your shoulder width.
Take a deep breath and depress the shoulder blades. Drive your elbows straight down to the floor to pull yourself up. Simultaneously try to activate your lats.
Pull your chin towards the bar until your lats are fully contracted. Slowly lower yourself back to the starting position and repeat. Try to do this motion slowly.

Load an appropriate weight onto the end of the T-bar.
Stand over the bar so that it’s in between your legs and your chest is resting on the pad. Keep your back flat, and make sure you have a firm grip on each side of the V-grip handle.
Remove the bar from the rest. Keep your chest up, your hips back, and your feet wider than shoulder width apart. Lead the movement with your back, your arms should follow. The focus should not be on the angle of your arms, but on the contraction of your back.
After your back reaches its maximum contraction and your shoulder blades are retracted, slowly let the weight of the bar pull your shoulder blades down to stretch your back.
Let your arms follow naturally until the T-bar is returned to its starting position.

Attach a wide grip handle to the lat pulldown machine. Adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height to prevent your lower body from moving while performing this movement.
For a regular lat pulldown, grasp the bar with an overhand grip with your arms at the end of the flat bar.  For a reverse-grip lat pulldown, use an underhand grip and your palms facing your body.   For a close grip, your hands should be positioned shoulder width apart.
Extend both arms up above you while holding the bar. Keep your back upright, create a slight curvature in your lower back, and stick out your chest.
Keep your torso stationary and pull the bar down towards your body by drawing your shoulder blades and upper arms down and back. Squeeze your back muscles during this movement.
Slowly raise the bar in a controlled motion back to the starting position. Your arms should be fully extended and your lats fully stretched.

Caution: Avoid swinging your torso back and forth. This can result in a lower back injury.

Attach a V-bar to the low pulley on a seated row machine. When gripping the V-bar, your palms should be facing each other.
Sit down on the machine and place your feet on the front platform with your knees slightly bent.
Grab the V-bar handles, lean over, and keep your back upright with your shoulders back. Your back should be slightly arched with your chest sticking out. As you hold the bar in front of you, you should notice a stretch in your lats.
Keep your torso stationary and your elbows tucked in as you pull the handles back towards your torso. You should be squeezing your back muscles and holding that contraction for a second.
Slowly return the weight to starting position by releasing your shoulder blades back down.

Caution: In order to protect yourself, it is advised to have a spotter help you.

Start by lying on a flat bench. Retract your shoulder blades as far back as possible so they are touching the back of the pad and make sure to keep them there during the movement.
Using a close overhand grip, more narrow than shoulder width apart, lift the bar from the rack. Hold the bar directly above your sternum with your arms locked.
As you inhale, slowly lower the bar until you feel it on or close to your chest. Your forearm should create a 45° angle to your body. To optimize the workout for your tricep, keep your elbows tucked in close to your torso at all times.
Bring the bar back to the starting position as you exhale. If you can, try to take at least twice as long to go down than you did when coming up.

Stand upright with a single dumbbell held by both hands. Your feet should be positioned about shoulder width apart. Use both hands to lift the dumbbell over your head until both arms are fully extended.
To start, your palms are supporting the weight of the dumbbell with your thumbs wrapping around it. Your palms should be facing upward, maintaining an overlapped grip.
Keep your upper arms close to your head and perpendicular to the ground with your elbows by your ears. Lower the dumbbell in a semicircular motion behind your head so that your forearms touch or almost touch your biceps. Your forearms should be the only part moving.
Use your triceps to lower the dumbbell back to the starting position.

Attach a rope attachment to the high pulley at its highest position. Stand in front of the pulley, hinge at your hips, and grab the rope with your palms facing each other.
Keep your elbows close to your torso, while using your triceps to pull the rope downwards toward the outside of your thighs. At the most contracted point of the motion, your arms should be fully extended and perpendicular to the ground. Your forearms should be the only part moving.
After reaching the contracted position, slowly bring the rope up to the starting point.

Hold your body above the bars with your arms fully extended and nearly locked into the starting position.
Inhale and slowly lower yourself downward. Your torso should remain upright and your elbows should stay close to your body to help to better work your triceps. Lower yourself until a 90° angle is created between your upper arms and forearms.
Exhale and push your torso back up using your triceps (feeling a slight stretch in your shoulders) to bring your body back to the starting position.