Last blog post we showed one of our techniques for teaching back muscle control and learning to not over use your arms. For that technique a row machine is best. In this tip you can use dumbbells and a basic bench quite effectively.
The key here is two fold:
- Let the bench fully support you so no coordination is lost trying to support your posture.
- The arm held at the top (see video) is the one you concentrate on which allows you to avoid losing muscle ‘feel’ once you have it.
This technique lets you avoid constantly trying to transfer the load off your arms on to your back by prolonging the back muscle contraction with the hold. Furthermore, because you are working back and forth between arms your focus isn’t spilt between both sides of your back at the same time. This allows you a bit less complicated learning and also helps you balance out your strong side with your weak side.
The trick here is to keep concentrating on the side of your back which is holding the weight at the top of the row while the other side eases out to stretch. You don’t need your heaviest weight here this should be practiced with dumbbells which you can fully control for at least 20 reps total.
Be well, be strong,
Andrew and Tierney
wefit.ca 