You can't have everything. This phrase is also apt for bodybuilders. Although Phil Heath had many genetic advantages, he did not have a broad collarbone, which also affected the width of his latissimus dorsi muscle. Nevertheless, on every occasion of winning the Olympiad five times, Heath's back shape was able to withstand the attacks of the strongest opponents, especially his posterior bifurcate biceps style, which had the most obvious advantage.
Heath drew the referee's attention from the larger players with his solid, well-lined, detailed back muscles. With the 2015 Olympiad still three weeks away, the reporter came to Denver, Colorado, USA, to explore Heath's back training before winning the Olympiad championship for the fifth time.
Under the guidance of renowned coach Hani Raymond Bod, Heath bombarded the back muscles with up to 30 sets of "artillery fire." Its training movements are very comprehensive, and it can fully stimulate the entire back muscle group from all angles. It was this steady progression of the group that eventually led heath to a fifth consecutive Olympiad title.
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In this back training session we filmed, you did 8 training moves, and the total number of groups was as high as 30 groups. Why would you want to significantly increase your training volume?
Heath: I wish someone had videotaped my grueling back training because it was crazy (laughs). It's pre-race back training, and in the off-season, I probably only do 5 to 6 training moves, and the weight of the training is larger, the number of repetitions per group is lower, usually 5 to 8, and the breaks between groups are longer. But despite this, the total number of groups I trained in each back training session during the non-season will exceed 20 groups. If I follow the traditional training method and only do 12 to 16 sets of back training per session, it will feel very monotonous. I was able to do 12 to 16 sets of training in about 45 minutes, so I practiced at my own pace and increased the amount of training.
During the preparation for the 2015 Olympiad, I didn't practice harder than before, but just maintained my usual training mode. I didn't need to do as much cardio training as I used to, perhaps because I had a bigger amount of strength training than last year and the pace of training was faster. Honestly, the pace of training was forced out, because my 2015 schedule was very tight, both commercial and private, and it was busy. So, a lot of times, when training, I have to speed up the pace, I just make sure to fully stimulate the target muscle group from all angles and guarantee enough training to make sure that I can continue to defend the Orsay crown.
You added a new training maneuver at the beginning of your back training – the straight arm pull-up of the instrument, why?
Heath: I've seen a lot of pictures of 6-time Olympian Yates doing an instrument straight-arm pull-up, and his back muscles are so good, so I think it should be done. I've found that this action does a good job of increasing the excitability of the latissimus dorsal muscles, as well as stretching the latissimus dorsal muscles, as well as stimulating the serrated muscles and the entire thoracic area. I've tried doing this at the end of a back training session, but I've found that it works better at the beginning of the back training session. Instrument straight arm pull-up is a rare back training maneuver that has the advantage of avoiding arm muscle involvement in force, allowing for good isolated stimulation of back muscles. Also, you don't need to use a very large negative weight when doing this action, so it is a good warm-up action before doing other heavy weight back training moves.
When doing barbell rowing, why do you prefer to hold the lever in a palm-up approach?
Heath: Although the palm-up grip relies more on the strength of the biceps than with the palm-down grip on barbell rowing, doing so can better increase the thickness of the dorsal muscles. I feel that when I hold the lever with my palm facing up, I can pull the elbow back farther away and I can pull the handle down to a lower position, which helps to better stimulate the middle and lower back muscles. I tried to do this since the second half of 2007, and as a result, my back muscles have improved a lot in the 2008 Ironman Pro and Arnold Tradition, so I've always preferred to do barbell rowing with the palm facing up, which worked well for me.
When doing barbell rowing, how much weight do you bear?
Heath: I can add up to 3 45-pound barbell pieces (315 pounds) on each side of the barbell barpost. I've never used a larger load than this to do barbell rowing. If you use too much weight when doing barbell rowing, it is not only difficult to fully feel the stretching and contraction of the back muscles, but also increases the risk of injury.
When you do a low-level cable rowing action with a V-shaped handle, which area do you want to focus on stimulating?
Heath: My goal is to fully stretch the dorsal muscles at the beginning of the training movement, and then, pull the handle back very close to the waist, and peak contract the dorsal muscles. This training maneuver is a great way to increase the thickness of the lower back muscles.
After rowing with a sitting zip line, why do you continue to do do dorsion extension?
Heath: Because I don't do hard pulls, I feel like I need to do do dorsion extensions to better stimulate the lower back muscles. Over the years, although my lower back muscles have grown a lot, they are still slightly weaker compared to other areas. I knew I had to put more effort into lower back training, so I started doing backflexion and extension. In addition, I also hope to increase the detail of the vertical spinal muscle as much as possible by doing this action. I've noticed that many bodybuilders have good thickness of lower back muscles, but the details are poorly depicted, and it is difficult to see a clear Christmas tree shape in the middle of the lower back muscles on both sides. The top of the Christmas tree shape starts with the vertical spinal muscle, not the lower back muscle group, so I want to use the dorsal flexion and extension movement to improve the connection between the lower back muscle group and the vertical spinal muscle. When I do this, I carry weights in the first 15 times per group, which is about 45 pounds, and the last 10 times I don't do weights. After doing that, the lower back area feels like it's on fire.
Most bodybuilders put dorsal extension at the end of their back training, so why do you put the dorsal extension in the middle of your back training session?
Heath: Why do most bodybuilders put back flexion and extension at the end of a back training session? Because they feel that if the dorsal flexion and extension movement is done first to make the lower back muscles tired in advance, it will affect the strength level when doing the compound training action. However, I wanted to use a different sequence of training movements to see what would happen. In fact, this works very well.
Subsequently, you did two different types of high pull-down actions, what is the order of these two high pull-down actions?
Heath: Different ways of pulling down highs to stimulating the latissimus dorsal muscle are different, and I start by doing a high pulldown of the t-bar, which is very similar to the pull-up movement. When doing the high pull-down of the T-bar, you can use three different grip distances of wide, medium and narrow.
Subsequently, I would use a relatively short pair of handshake handles to do a high pull-down in front of the neck. I'm always trying different training angles, different grips. I recommend that everyone do this, because every stimulation angle, every instrument, every grip can stimulate the back muscle group from a slightly different angle, and the back muscle group is a very complex muscle group. The reason why I did the high pull down in front of the neck of the handshake handle is because this movement stimulates the middle back muscle group very well.
Why did you choose to do an instrumental rowing maneuver afterwards?
Heath: Because the instrument rowing action is very good, I chose the instrument that moves the seat plate forward during the rowing process, which ensures that the back muscles are contracted more intensely in each movement. This training action can focus on stimulating the outer edge of the latissimus dorsi muscles, and of course, it can also stimulate the entire back muscle group. In addition, I chose an instrument handle that is a bit thicker than the common V-shaped handle, which allows for better grip without the need for a grip strap.
You don't seem to be using a grip strap during your entire back training.
Heath: 2015 was different from previous years, I was trying a lot of different things, so in some back training I would not use a grip strap at all. However, in non-season back training, I will use the grip strap more often because it increases the intensity of the stimulation.
When you do all 8 back training moves, you wear a weightlifting belt, even when you do backflexion and extension. Are you doing this to protect your waist, or is it to avoid getting thicker?
Heath: When I train, I like to always wear a weightlifting belt to protect my waist and prevent my waist from getting thicker. The waist can easily hurt, and, I'm almost 36 years old, and I have to carefully protect my waist. I hope to have a long career like Dexter Jackson.
Do you want to play in the Olympiad for as long as Dexta?
Heath: Not likely. It's unlikely that I'll continue to compete in bodybuilding after reaching the age of Dexta (46). However, I will go forward as long as possible, as long as I can still win the Olympiad.
Why did you choose a high pull down of the palm-facing back grip bar for your last back-on exercise?
Heath: I found that this movement helped increase the thickness of my back muscles. I've seen Joe Carter do this before, using the palm backwards to hold the rod to do a high pulldown, which can better stimulate the muscles in the lower back, because it can increase the range of movements, so this is a good back training end action. I now do a lot of palm-up or backward grip exercises in back training, and the results are very good.
All of your back training moves are done with both arms at the same time, do you still do one-arm dumbbell rowing moves now?
Heath: I rarely do one-arm dumbbell rowing now because I find that this movement comes with collateral stimulation to the extra-abdominal oblique muscles, and I don't want to increase my waistline as a result. I now do this about every 3 weeks and do it with very strict rules of movement every time.
You also know that you will never be the most wide-bodied person on the Orsay stage, such as Big Remy and Dennis Wolff, who are wider than you. Is that why you've always focused on maximizing the firmness and detail of your back muscles?
Heath: That's true, and that's the real reason I keep winning. So, I'm not going to change the strategy as long as such a strategy still works. The key to my success is to focus on overall symmetry and rich detail.