Is my pull day too much volume?

[bobwhite]

@jonathanef Yeah probably. But if you’re still in the early beginner phase you’re probably not lifting anywhere near your limit so the sets are easy enough to recover from. Just be mindful of your recovery as you get back into the groove and start lifting actually challenging weights. If your workouts start bleeding into each other dial back on the volume.

 

[suupertrump]

@jonathanef Don't really know how hard you push your sets, but assuming RPE 8-9 i'd cap the sets at 3 per exercise. I would include one shrug variation instead of the cable curl (or maybe even a pullover if you lack more width vs thickness)

Change the exercise selection the other back day of the week, this way you're gonna progress more and recover better between sessions.

Hope it helps.

 

[wefybqefb]

@jonathanef Massively

 

[lookingforhope47]

@jonathanef I’m willing to bet that it’s too much volume. Try cutting the total amount of sets in half but up the intensity (go within 2 reps of failure) and see what that does for you. Personally, I’d be completely fried from this amount of sets at a high intensity

 

[lovinghusbandforever]

@jonathanef I would say this is pretty high volume for someone who has been training for a year - you are getting almost 40 sets a week on back muscles...

By comparison i have been training for probably over 5 years at this point in total but continually for 5 years, yet i do 4 sets per week for back lol

I am not saying you should do as little volume as me, but no way you should be doing as much as you are.

Start with less sets and see if you grow. If you don't then you can up the volume and you have an actual reason to do so other then just deciding to do a certain amount...

 

[onlym112]

@jonathanef This shouldn’t all be done on the same day. Also, if you’re able to do this workout twice a week then you’re not lifting hard enough because ideally you should be too sore to do it twice.

On back day you could do 9 sets which would be comprised of 3 sets of 10 reps per exercise with maximum effort on each set (the 10th rep being a struggle) and a 3-minute rest between sets.

Examples of each set:
Cable row 3x10
Lat pull-down 3x10
Single are Dumbbell row 3x10

With heavy enough weight the above should be plenty. Make sure you’re dedicating a day to deadlifts and squats as well.

 

[dlcfsm]

@jonathanef too much for me. i have 15 sets per week of back work, which is the most i hit any of my body parts. and i split those 15 sets up into 2 different sessions, tuesday is 10 sets of back and 7 sets of biceps (and some ab work), and saturday is 5 sets of back and 3 sets of biceps (and a bunch of hamstring work). you have like 40 sets of back alone per week. im gona go ahead and say yeah its an unnecessary amount and you would benefit more from trying harder on less movements.

 

[arctangent]

@jonathanef Yeah that is way too much volume, if youre hitting ppl so hitting pull twice, you just need to main three exercises for back, thats probably why your back is your weakpoint because youre overloading it and not giving it enough time for recovery. Just do 4 sets of bent over, 4 sets pulldown, and 3 sets of cable rows. Thats literally all you need and even more than enough if you hitting it twice a week. I would highly suggest also removing one of the bicep exercises and just keeping it to 2. 2 curl variations 7-8 sets total per back day which is 14-16 sets per week.

 

[jdegreef]

@jonathanef Reduce overall volume by 1/2 to 2/3, push each set to failure, rest 3min between sets, do a pull day once every 4-7 days depending on recovery. In terms of exercise selection and rep range, remove 1-2 back exercises and 1-2 elbow flexor movements for 5-6 total movements and adjust higher rep ranges like 15-20 to 6-10(as an example) for which switching to more stable exercises and ensuring proper technique is important, along with improving motor unit recruitment in the target muscle.

 

[namers]

@jonathanef People are gonna heavily disagree with me, but I don’t think it’s too much at all.

When I hit back, I do 26 total sets, same with chest too. Sets vary between sets of 2 - 4 reps, 6 - 8 reps, and even 10 - 15 reps. And my back and chest are easily my best muscle groups. Super high volume has always worked for me, just depends on each person and how their body responds. I do need to adjust though because my sleep has been pretty bad the last few years and I won’t be able to train this way forever, but going to enjoy the rest of the super high volume as much as I still can.

 

[overcoming1]

@jonathanef decrease curls total 6 set per day. u already used them at all compounds.

and well maybe cut 1-2 sets from rows and u will be mostly fine. however wouldn't recomend start with bent over row if there any chest supported variton possible

 

[gxh]

@jonathanef Yes you can literally cut the volume in more than half. Per workout you don’t need more than 6 sets for back imo. And 5 at most for biceps. Intensity with longer rest periods is more beneficial than volume.

 

[dburks]

@jonathanef twice a week of that is to much volume. cut it in half and your back will grow

 

[ianvincent]

@jonathanef My typical pull day is,
3x10-15 weighted pull ups +
1 set BW to failure
3x12 lat pull down
3x10-12 seated row machine
3 x 12 shrugs just to hit my traps.
Perhaps it’s a lot of lat volume but I use to see pull ups as I warm up, (might be a mistake)

4 x 12 bicep curls RPE 9.
Sometimes I add 2 sets of another curl exercise.

I do rear delts on my push day)

 

[whereheis]

@jonathanef In my personal opinion yes but that’s only because I’ve tried high volume and found that it doesn’t work for me. End of the day if you’re always progressing carry on.

If you’re struggling with consistency maybe try higher intensity and just going 3 days? Up to you

 

[johnnymaaaac]

@jonathanef I'd say give it a trial one day. One thing i check on my trial workouts is whether i still have the juice to finish all workouts without performing them poorly. and how well you recover after the workout . If it checks everything then you good to go.

 

[assieme]

@jonathanef If I were you, I would pick either the lat pulldown or pull-ups, not both, because it is a bit redundant and maybe take 1 or 2 sets off of the bent over rows since you also have horizontal cable rows. Maybe instead of the isolation curls you could add forearm isolation or trap isolation instead since more curls is a redundant as well. But at the end of the day, if you can recover from it and it works for you then you should keep it

 

[jeanetteh]

@jonathanef exercise selection and form is probably what's causing your back to be lacking. Not the lack of volume or intensity. pick the 2 movements you feel the least in your back and get rid of them for now, find other movements that improve your mind muscle connection.

 

[spreading_the_gospel]

@jonathanef Switch this into two days my man.

DAY1 ---- -- DAY 2

BB rows -- - LAT PULL DOWN

PULLUP--- NEUTRAL GRIP seated cable row 0------------0

lat row --- ---- lat row (adduct arm) can be done on seated cable bench or rowing machine

------------------------------------------

rear delt -- rear delt (3 sets)

--------------------------------------------

PREACHer --- -------------- Seated 45degree incline curl

DB HAMMER -------- ---- CABLE hammer curl

CURL

No more than 3 sets for the major or any other exercise unless you know why you're doing it.

Like you connect superbly well with that exercise. You're recovering from an injury and that exercise works for you. You're a powerlifter and it's part of pyramiding up for your program.

Opening your workout with 5 sets of BB rows is outright insanity unless something like 2-3 sets of one more back exercise follow and you're done after.

 

[stickywicket]

@jonathanef I’d separate the lat pulldowns and pull-ups to different days, as well as the bent over rows and cable rows. I’d do face pulls once a week, and find something similar for the other day, but that’s me personally. As for biceps, 6 sets per session is plenty, so I’d mix that up as well. Question- when you say back is your weakest body part, are you saying aesthetically, or on strength? Because I’d personally switch the programming up, depending on the goal. If you need more size/definition on your back, I’d forego trying to do the strength/hypertrophy blend, and go pure hypertrophy. If your back is literally weak, then I’d focus solely on strength. In either case, pick one until you get it caught up to the rest of your body.