Blast Your Back And Biceps! James Grage And Whitney Reid Video Workout

New Exercise and Fitness Review

Vital Stats

Name: James Grage
BodySpace: JamesGrage
Height: 5’10″
Weight: 175 lbs
Occupation: Co-Founder and Vice President of BPI Sports

Vital Stats

Name: Whitney Reid
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 215 lbs
Occupation: BPI East coast sales manager, fitness model
Website: bpisports.net

A big back and great biceps are hard to come by. According to James Grage and Whitney Reid of BPI, that’s because most people don’t realize how much work it takes or how much quality reps matter over heavy weight.

“To build a big back, you have to do a lot of different exercises and a lot of volume,” says Grage. “Your back is a huge muscle group, so a good workout should be exhausting. If you’re not walking out of your gym completely exhausted after a back workout, then you’re not going hard enough. I think a lot of it just comes down to effort.”

Grage also suggests that to increase the size and develop the shape of your back, you need to hit everything with good form. “It took me a long time to grow my back because I was just using assisting muscles to sling heavy weight, not my back,” he says.

“It was more about the weight of the rep rather than the quality. You have to focus on the contraction and the quality of the contraction, not on the amount of weight you’re pulling.”

“I’ll say the same thing for biceps. It’s all about the quality, the squeeze. It doesn’t matter how much weight you can curl.”

Although Grage and Reid are full of great information, they like to show rather than tell. So, the two are going to smash an intense back and biceps workout. Watch them to learn technique tips and workout strategies, and then hit the workout yourself!

“Blast Your Back and Biceps” Workout

“Blast Your Back and Biceps” Workout

When you’re doing rows, lat pulldowns and the like, remember to use your back, and not your biceps or rear delts, to do the movements. “I like to pretend that my arm between my hand and my elbow is a hook—I pull from my elbow and not my hand,” explains James. “Your biceps are small, so you’ll smoke them before you do your lats.”

Keep that tip in mind as you go through this workout. Do it right and you’ll feel your back working like never before.

• 
  

  Warm-up/Pre-exhaustion

  
  


• Pull-ups
  2 sets to failure


• 
  

   

  
  


• Lat Pulldown
  3 sets of 12 reps (each set should get progressively heavier, finish w/ 1 set of partials)


• 
  

  Superset

  
  


• Low Cable Row (One-arm)
  3 sets of 12-15 reps


• Bent-Over One-Arm Dumbbell Row
  3 sets of 12-15 reps


• 
  

  Superset

  
  


• Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown
  3 sets of 12-15 reps


• Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown (Low Pull)
  3 sets of 12-15 reps


• 
  

   

  
  


• Barbell Curl 21s
  3 sets of 21 reps (7 full, 7 partial top to halfway, 7 partial bottom to halfway)


• Dumbbell Spider Curl
  3 sets of 12-15 reps


• Reverse Curl
  3 sets of 12-15 reps


• Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl
  1 “run the rack” set

Exercise 1

“The thing I like about pull-ups is that it’s a nice way to warm up without overdoing it,” says Grage. “You can’t load it up too heavy on pull-ups. It’s a good way to pre-work the lats before you really get into training them.”

Exercise 2

“I see a lot of people cheating this by swinging backwards and using momentum. Keep your back upright and pull your elbows as low as you can. I like to add a nice little squeeze at the bottom. It’s all about that quality contraction. Make every one count,” says Grage.

“Keep your back upright and pull your elbows as low as you can. I like to add a nice little squeeze at the bottom. It’s all about that quality contraction. Make every one count.”

“For the final set you’ll do partials. To do them, drop the weight down. For one rep, you’ll pull all the way to the bottom, squeeze, and then move the bar part way back up—your lats will have to act as a break—then squeeze, and bring it back down. Then, you can move the bar all the way back up.”

“This technique puts a lot of stress on the muscle,” he adds. “There’s no cheating this one.”

Exercises 3 & 4

“Cables keep constant tension on your back, so it’s great to use as a pre-exhaust exercise before you hit the dumbbell rows,” says Reid. Be sure to pull from your elbow, not your hands. Keep your biceps out of the movement.

“Dumbbell rows are great because you can get a stretch,” says Reid. “Pull the weight right into your pocket. That way you’ll use less biceps and more lats.”

“If you pull your elbow straight up like I see most people do,” says Grage, “you’re using more biceps and rear delt than lat.”

Exercises 5 & 6

“The pulldowns are great because they’re similar to doing dumbbell pullovers, but I think you get a better range of motion,” says Reid.

“This variation uses a rope instead of a straight bar. The advantage is that your range of motion is not limited to your thighs. You can pull back a little further.”

“For the low pulls,” says Grage, “pull the rope low toward your hips. Keep your chest high and your chin up. If you start to bend forward, you end up using your chest and triceps to push rather than pull.”

Exercise 7

To do 21s, start off with 7 full reps. Then, do 7 reps from the top to the midway point, and finish with 7 reps that go from the bottom to the midway point.

To do 21s, start off with 7 full reps. Then, do 7 reps from the top to the midway point, and finish with 7 reps that go from the bottom to the midway point.

“Little things, like the pause on the second set of 7 when you actually have to stop the rep half way through, will put a lot of stress on the muscle. That’s the kind of stuff that’s really going to break down the muscles and make them grow.”

Exercise 8

By now you’re probably starting to get really fatigued. Keep going. Make every rep count.

Exercise 9

“Keep your thumb over top of the bar,” says Grage. “You can’t go heavy on these. There’s no need to. We’ve done so many different pulls for back, your forearms are already going to feel exhausted.”

Exercise 10

“Run the rack” means you’ll start with a heavy pair of dumbbells, do as many reps as you can with them, then grab the next lightest pair and do as many reps with that weight as you can. Keep going lighter. Essentially, it’s a dropset, but you’re doing multiple drops. Take each set to failure.”

“Run the rack” means you’ll start with a heavy pair of dumbbells, do as many reps as you can with them, then grab the next lightest pair and do as many reps with that weight as you can.

Remember to Recover!

After you’re done training, make sure you make time for recovery. “You come into the gym and break your muscles down, but then you have to go home and recover with sleep, nutrition, and supplementation,” says Grage. “Get your BCAAs, protein, and carbs. It’s in the recovery process that you grow, not in the gym. If you don’t make time to rest, then you’ll eventually break down muscle.”

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About The Author

James Grage is the Co-Founder and Vice President of BPI Sports. He started training at age 15 and built an impressive body for sports.

Bodybuilding.com Articles

Blast Your Back And Biceps! James Grage And Whitney Reid Video Workout

Throwback Shoulders Workout With James Grage And Whitney Reid

New Exercise and Fitness Review

Vital Stats

Name: James Grage
BodySpace: JamesGrage
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 175 lbs
Occupation: Co-Founder and Vice President of BPI Sports

Vital Stats

Name: Whitney Reid
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 215 lbs
Occupation: BPI East coast sales manager, fitness model
Website: bpisports.net

If you grew up in a gym like the ones James Grage and Whitney Reid did, you didn’t see many people, machines, or cell phones. You definitely did not spend any time composing a selfie. The equipment was minimal and the space was limited, but the blue-collar work ethic was there in abundance.

“In my opinion, it’s work ethic that makes you successful in the gym,” says James. “Everybody wants fast and easy. They want the fast and easy nutrition plan and the fast and easy workout. Well, there is no fast and easy. Building a great physique takes time and patience.”

James and Whitney work out together because they share that common belief. “You know, it’s real simple,” says James. “You come in here and you work hard. You work your ass off.”

That’s just what James and Whitney do when they train. They push each other to be better and stronger than they were the day before.

In this workout, James and Whitney get back to their old-school roots and hit their shoulders with an intense high-volume session. Step into the gym to watch them train in the video below, and then hit this hardcore shoulder smasher yourself.

Take note: this workout isn’t meant to be done every week. Do it just once per month and reap the mega-pump benefits.

Throwback Shoulder Workout with James Grage
and Whitney Reid
Watch The Video – 19:29

Throwback Shoulders Workout

“Shoulders and traps are one of those body parts that no one wants to train because there’s nothing exciting about [them],” says James. “It’s the coast day. But shoulder day is the day that you should go in and just kill it because nothing will make you look bigger than having big shoulders and traps. You can wear a sweatshirt and still look big if you have big shoulders and traps.”

There’s no better motivation than that! If you want to look big, then you need some boulder shoulders. Here’s the workout:

• Side Lateral Raise
  3 sets of 15 reps


• Dumbbell One-Arm Shoulder Press
  3 sets of 10 reps per arm


• Hang Clean And Press
  3 sets of 10 reps


• Incline Side Lateral Raise
  2 sets of 12, 10, 9 reps


• 
  

  Superset

  
  


• Rear Delt Fly
  3 sets of 10 reps


• Face Pull
  3 sets of 12 reps


• 
  

  Superset

  
  


• Dumbbell Shrug
  3 sets of 12 reps


• Standing Dumbbell Upright Row
  3 sets of 10 reps


• 
  

   

  
  


• Dumbbell Overhead Scott Press
  3 sets of 12 reps

Exercise 1

Use these lateral raises as a shoulder warm-up. You don’t have to go super heavy to do them right. Prepare your shoulders for the work ahead by concentrating on controlling the weight throughout the entire lift and getting an extra squeeze at the top.

Exercise 2

“The neat thing about these overhead presses is that you can’t cheat. [With] seated dumbbell presses, you can press down into the chair to help yourself move the weight. But with these, there is no hiding,” explains Whitney.

As you’ll learn throughout this workout, it’s not the weight that matters. Hitting every rep and concentrating on using just your shoulders to do the work will absolutely blow them up.

Exercise 3

“This is an old football movement,” says Whitney. “You don’t see this much anymore. It’s a total-body workout. The key is having explosive hips and the strength in your shoulders to power the bar upward. It’s better than regular cardio.”

Hang Clean and Press

If you can get a few extra presses in after the last rep on the last set, do it.

Exercise 4

“The little baby weight you use on this exercise will start to feel really heavy,” says James. “But, like I said before, it’s not about how much weight you lift. Your goal for every set is to use just your shoulder to move the weight. “

Don’t bring the dumbbell up too high. Let it come just high enough to put the maximum stress on your delts, pause for a beat, and then bring it back down.

Exercises 5 and 6

For the rear delt flyes, James has some good advice: “Don’t put any weight on your forehead. Your head is against the bench only to maintain your body position. If you start putting weight on your forehead, you’ll tweak your neck or back. If you feel like you have to lean on the bench to get the dumbbells up, drop the weight.”

Face Pull

To do face pulls, keep your body tight and try to maximize the use of your rear delts. Exercise that mind-muscle connection.

Exercises 7 and 8

On your shrugs, do your best to keep your elbows out of the movement. Keep your arms straight. Squeeze your traps up and back. “Don’t do that weird [shoulder] roll, though,” says Whitney. “Just squeeze back.”

When it comes to upright rows, James says, “You see a lot of guys doing upright rows with a really narrow grip, bringing their hands all the way to their chin and their elbows up to their ears. You don’t need to bring your arms so high. Bring your hands to your chest, your elbows parallel with your shoulders. That’s plenty.”

Exercise 9

“The best way to think of these is to compare them to a chest fly,” explains James. “You’re not pressing the weight up; you’re squeezing the delts to move the weight.”

Dumbbell Overhead Scott Press

“Keep your elbows at 90 degrees. The only thing that moves is your shoulders. At the top, turn your thumb down and keep your pinky up. These are nasty. Don’t go too heavy.”

Rest pause if you need to finish the set, but do all of the reps.

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Throwback Shoulders Workout With James Grage And Whitney Reid