Episode 260: The Top 37 Back Exercises Ranked S to F Tier

0:00:11.7 Mike Vacanti: Hello, Jordan.

0:00:12.3 Jordan Syatt: What’s up, Michael?

0:00:13.2 Mike Vacanti: How we doing?

0:00:13.8 Jordan Syatt: I gotta give the listeners a little story.

0:00:17.5 Mike Vacanti: Okay.

0:00:18.7 Jordan Syatt: Last Friday, Friday morning, I’m at my usual spot, undisclosed location, but I’m there every Friday, and some other days of the week as well. And I get a call from the great Michael Vacanti. And you had just gotten back to Minnesota very recently from your trip. And I’m like, “What’s up, dude?” And you’re like, “Oh, nothing. Just in the car.” And I was like, “What are you doing? You on your way to workout?” You’re like, “Yeah, yeah. On my way to workout, maybe pick up a bagel or something.” And I’m in my favorite coffee shop that also sells bagels. And I was like, “Oh, nice. I’ve never heard Mike say he’s just gonna go get a bagel.” And then I was like, “Oh, nice. Where are you?” And I hear you get out of your car and you’re walking. And I was like, “What are you doing?” And then I look through the window, and there walks in Mike Vacanti into my favorite coffee shop that I’m at, is in Dallas, Texas, surprised me out of nowhere. Had a great surprise. That was awesome, dude.

0:01:29.4 Mike Vacanti: Pulled off a real surprise.

0:01:31.1 Jordan Syatt: Huge surprise. Got to hang out with the family for a little bit. That was great, man.

0:01:35.0 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, that was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun. Gary was down in Dallas for a few days. I said, “Hey, this is a perfect opportunity.” And yeah, man, it was fun hanging with the girls. It was fun having you at Gary’s workout on Saturday.

0:01:50.7 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Yeah, that was good.

0:01:52.2 Mike Vacanti: Yeah.

0:01:53.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. You shocked me, brother. You shocked me. It was a great, great trip, great surprise. It was super fun to see you. As you were saying, it’s odd because we talk so frequently that it doesn’t feel different.

0:02:05.4 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. I was like, “When was the last time I saw you in person?” Because it feels like I saw you three days ago.

0:02:10.7 Jordan Syatt: It was like a year ago almost.

0:02:12.2 Mike Vacanti: Yeah.

0:02:13.4 Jordan Syatt: It was March. Yeah.

0:02:15.3 Mike Vacanti: But I’ll be seeing you in person in almost exactly one month.

0:02:20.0 Jordan Syatt: Big mentorship trip. Yeah.

0:02:21.5 Mike Vacanti: In the great state of Minnesota, for…

0:02:23.6 Jordan Syatt: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

0:02:26.8 Mike Vacanti: Recording a new course, recording some other good stuff. It’s gonna be good.

0:02:30.6 Jordan Syatt: Should I expect some craziness while I’m there?

0:02:34.3 Mike Vacanti: I don’t know where exactly you’re staying.

0:02:36.3 Jordan Syatt: That’s not the answer I’m looking for.

[laughter]

0:02:45.6 Jordan Syatt: The fact that that’s your response. Oh, my gosh. I deliberately booked a hotel 15 or 20 minutes outside Minneapolis.

0:02:54.1 Mike Vacanti: Which, by the way, you should be staying with me. But I know you got a podcast to do and you got a… Mitch is coming too as well.

0:03:00.5 Jordan Syatt: I have my videographer coming as well. Yeah, Mitch. I’m not gonna be like, “Hey, can my videographer stay with you as well?” That’d be a real imposition.

0:03:07.1 Mike Vacanti: He could. Mitch is great.

0:03:08.7 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, Mitch is great. But I’m not gonna be like, “Hey…”

0:03:10.7 Mike Vacanti: That’s not an imposition. I’m offended you didn’t impose.

0:03:14.5 Jordan Syatt: I’m an introvert, Michael. I need my own space.

0:03:17.5 Mike Vacanti: Hey, I can relate to that. I understand. Trust me, if anyone understands, I understand. Yeah, that was a fun Texas trip.

0:03:28.2 Jordan Syatt: No, it’ll be good. We’re filming some new mentorship courses. Got some mentorship stuff planned in a month, which is great.

0:03:35.8 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yeah, I’m excited.

0:03:37.4 Jordan Syatt: The hot seats are going well in the mentorship. It’s nice to… We’ve done it intermittently over the last couple years, but this year, 2026, we’re stepping it up so more frequently where people in the mentorship, members, they have the opportunity to essentially submit whether it’s their sales page on their website, or their social media, or whatever it is, and we can do a hot seat on that one individual. We used to do things where we would have these challenges, which we still have, but we would pick a winner from the challenge, and that winner would then get a one-on-one call with us. But we realized that more people in the mentorship benefit if we essentially do that live for everybody. And so that’s what we’ve been doing. And it’s really cool to see everyone’s responses and reactions to get the live one-on-one feedback in the live calls.

0:04:31.3 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. I can’t remember if we talked about this specifically on the podcast or not, but people were pumped about the mock sales call.

0:04:38.8 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Yeah, that was great.

0:04:40.1 Mike Vacanti: That was awesome.

0:04:41.0 Jordan Syatt: And just so everyone knows, whether you’re in the mentorship or not, all of the calls are recorded. So if you can’t make it live, you can… And once you join the mentorship, you can go through all of them. We just did a mock sales call where everyone was like, “Holy shit.” That was an unexpected, in my eyes, it’s one of those things where for you, numbers make sense. For me, that just makes sense. So to see everyone’s response, “Wow, that was super helpful,” was great.

0:05:10.4 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Jordan crushed it on the feedback on the mock sales call. It was very like you reading Dale Carnegie and being like, “How is this not common knowledge?”

0:05:20.8 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

0:05:22.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, man, I’m pumped. We’re gonna have a good Q&A today. I think another hot seat next week. We have one question for the podcast today…

0:05:32.2 Jordan Syatt: Oh nice.

0:05:33.5 Mike Vacanti: Before we dive into S tier to F tier back exercises, which is gonna be fun.

0:05:37.9 Jordan Syatt: Oh, man. Yeah, that’s gonna be a good one.

0:05:40.8 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, we got a nice list here. Question from Georgie. Georgie wanted to ask.

0:05:45.1 Jordan Syatt: Georgie in the mentorship. Let’s go.

0:05:49.0 Mike Vacanti: She said that this might be a good podcast question she was curious about. “Hey, guys, thanks for all your podcasts. I learn so much. Question for the pod, hoping I’m not the only one in these shoes. So my personal Facebook page was started many years ago and I have 1.3k followers on it. I started my business Facebook a year ago and I just haven’t gotten the followers there regardless of what I do, only like 300. Should I continue to maintain both? Should I put my biz name on my private page? It’s there as a subtitle, but as the main title and delete the biz page? My Instagram is new also without many followers. Just wondering how to deal with this and if it’s important to have both and figure out a way to grow the business page. Would really appreciate it and your thoughts on this, Georgie.”

0:06:44.2 Jordan Syatt: Great question, Georgie. You’re not alone. This is a super common question and many people struggle with this. I see many people doing what I think or making the wrong decisions on this front. I will say it’s very normal, especially in 2024, for business pages to be much more difficult to grow. If you had started your business page in 2010, 2011, 2012, that would have been prime time. That’s when the ability for a business page to grow was at its peak. You were getting not only your audience seeing your posts, but a lot of new audience seeing your posts. And then when they became your audience, they were very likely to see what you were saying. Now it’s very difficult to get anybody, including the people who follow you, to see your stuff. Typically, your personal page will have far more engagement than your business page, especially because the people who already follow you, who you’re connected with, are more likely to see it. With that being said, I don’t think it makes sense to delete your business page. I think it makes sense to have it. And what I would do is I would just cross-post.

0:07:55.0 Jordan Syatt: So if you post something on your personal page, I would also put it on your business page. I wouldn’t collab post. I wouldn’t collab with your personal page or business page, I would post them separately, two organic posts separately, one on your personal, one on your business. With the business one, it’s mainly because you never know what’s gonna pop. You have no idea… The number of times I’ve seen this is pretty wild. You just have no clue. Oftentimes the posts that you think are gonna absolutely dominate just bomb. They just do terribly. And the posts that you’re like, “This is so obvious. This is so stupid. Why am I saying this?” Sometimes those will be the ones that get you thousands and thousands of followers and new clients. Everything you post, I would post it on both pages. And I don’t think there’s a need for you to encourage people to go follow your business page. You don’t have to be like, “Hey, follow me here,” because you’re gonna be posting the same thing anyway. The business page, I would say, is mainly for people who might potentially find your business page who likely wouldn’t find your personal page.

0:08:58.4 Jordan Syatt: And yeah, I would just cross-post. Don’t delete it. This is the long game. It’s sort of, I’m trying to think of a good analogy off the top of my head, but it would be like, “Should I focus on protein or calories?” Both. Just do both. Just sit down, get ready for the long haul and hit your protein, hit your calories almost every single day for years and years and years. Post on your personal page, post on your business page every day or almost every day for years and years and years.

0:09:30.3 Mike Vacanti: Are you staggering the content when you’re cross-posting? Meaning are you posting them both on the same day?

0:09:35.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, just whatever’s easiest. If I’m already on my personal page posting, I’ll just switch accounts and go to my business and post it and done.

0:09:41.4 Mike Vacanti: Perfect. Back exercises.

0:09:43.8 Jordan Syatt: I’m ready, bro.

0:09:44.8 Mike Vacanti: Number one, Conventional Deadlift.

0:09:49.5 Jordan Syatt: As a back exercise? Okay, so this is… All right, this is so controversial. I remember… Even nowadays, I still get people being like, “Should I put Deadlifts on my back day or my leg day?” It’s a leg exercise, it’s not… Yes, it works your back, but it is a leg exercise. So Conventional Deadlifts as a back exercise, I’m giving it a C.

0:10:15.1 Mike Vacanti: I’m going B for nostalgia and ability to load and non-back benefits to the move, which probably shouldn’t weigh in on my ranking. C just feels low for a Conventional Deadlift.

0:10:31.3 Jordan Syatt: It is. It’s just like… It’s low, yeah. If you asked me for a leg exercise, I’d be like, “Yeah, this is a…” Or an athletic performance exercise, I’d give it an A, if not potentially an S. But for back specific, I’m giving it a C.

0:10:47.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, I mean, you’re loading the back heavy, but you’re not taking anything through a range. It’s almost all isometric and it’s not a great way to grow your back. Although when you go anecdotal and you look at some of these famous bodybuilders who built crazy physiques and swear by Deadlifts for their back…

0:11:08.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, but they’re also rowing super heavy, T-Bar Rows, Lat Pulldowns.

0:11:11.4 Mike Vacanti: Of course. Of course.

0:11:12.3 Jordan Syatt: You know?

0:11:13.2 Mike Vacanti: Absolutely. But if you ask them, they would say it was Deadlifts that did it.

0:11:17.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Sort of like the professional football player who’s like, “This is…” Like they’re really good at football, but they’re not a great coach type thing.

0:11:25.2 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:11:26.4 Jordan Syatt: If you had said Snatch Grip RDL or Snatch Grip Deadlift, I would definitely… It would probably be closer to B, about an A.

0:11:32.6 Mike Vacanti: Bump it up slightly? Yeah, yeah. Even still, probably.

0:11:36.1 Jordan Syatt: Probably B.

0:11:37.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Caps it at B.

0:11:37.9 Mike Vacanti: Barbell Bent Over Row.

0:11:40.9 Jordan Syatt: Oh, man, that’s a great one. Now I’m fluctuating between A and S. I’m gonna go A, only just because the lack of stabilization can make it a little bit more difficult for people, more likely to use momentum. But classic, nostalgic, effective, Barbell Bent Over Row, A, for sure.

0:12:03.1 Mike Vacanti: You don’t like the lack of stabilization for a nice little ISO on your erectors?

0:12:09.0 Jordan Syatt: Well, I love it, but I… Oh, for the erectors specifically.

0:12:13.4 Mike Vacanti: I get what you’re saying. We’re gonna put a Chest-Supported above this because you have more stability.

0:12:21.6 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:12:22.8 Mike Vacanti: I think A is a good spot for it.

0:12:25.7 Jordan Syatt: Agreed.

0:12:28.7 Mike Vacanti: It’s classic. It’s nostalgic. Nothing wrong with a little momentum.

0:12:31.4 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, it’s great.

0:12:32.8 Mike Vacanti: Rack Pull.

0:12:33.8 Jordan Syatt: Oof. This is lower than a Conventional Deadlift.

0:12:37.6 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, it is. These are categorized by compound/heavy hitter, vertical pull, horizontal pull, trap/upper back and rear delt, low back/posterior chain accessories, other popular variations, and finishers.

0:12:55.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, if a Conventional Deadlift is a C, then a Rack Pull has to go maybe E. No, I’ll go D. I’ll go D.

0:13:05.1 Mike Vacanti: D’s fair.

0:13:06.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:13:06.9 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. We’re working with smaller range of motion. What’s the upside compared to a Deadlift? Heavier weight, slightly, I guess.

0:13:15.4 Jordan Syatt: You have heavier weight, but then it’s like…

0:13:17.4 Mike Vacanti: Ego.

0:13:18.2 Jordan Syatt: It’s ego. And then it takes a fuck ton of… It’s like Barbell Hip Thrust. It takes a ton of time to load it because you can load it so heavy. And it’s like, what could you be doing in this time that you’d be getting so much more benefit from? Full range of motion, you could load something else very heavy relatively based on the movement that you’re doing, like it’s just… And yeah, it’s just annoying, often you’re gonna ruin the bar ’cause you’re doing the pull. It’s just, yeah, not a fan.

0:13:44.7 Mike Vacanti: Would a Rack Pull machine change your rating?

0:13:48.7 Jordan Syatt: That’s a really interesting and unique question there.

0:13:52.1 Mike Vacanti: I’m curious what percentage of the negative rating is coming from having to load the plates.

0:13:56.6 Jordan Syatt: A huge percentage.

0:13:58.7 Mike Vacanti: Really?

0:14:02.1 Jordan Syatt: I mean, just, also, it’s just not that great at building a back. So, yeah, I would. That would bump it up to a C.

0:14:12.1 Mike Vacanti: Cool.

0:14:13.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:14:13.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. But I haven’t seen that machine, so we’re gonna leave it in D tier.

0:14:17.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:14:17.8 Mike Vacanti: Trap Bar Deadlift.

0:14:19.0 Jordan Syatt: Oof. I think that’s even worse than a Conventional Deadlift. Just based on where you’re holding the bar, it’s actually less back and more just passive structures hanging in your arm. It’s based on… Because with the Deadlift, you’re holding it in front of you, so your back really has to flex to make sure you don’t bend over. With the trap bar, it’s more right in your center of gravity. You’re holding on the sides. I mean, that, for a legitimate back exercise, I’m going E.

0:14:48.6 Mike Vacanti: I think that’s right.

0:14:50.4 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:14:50.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, I guess we could say it… I’m guessing there’s probably slightly more upper trap activation on a trap bar compared to a Conventional Deadlift. And then I would say the entire rest of the back is getting more on the Conventional Deadlift.

0:15:03.9 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:15:07.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. E. I like Trap Bar Deadlifts.

0:15:10.4 Jordan Syatt: I like it. Dude, I’ve just programmed it.

0:15:13.0 Mike Vacanti: Not for back, but.

0:15:13.5 Jordan Syatt: Not for back, yeah. As a great lower body exercise, great. It’s an A.

0:15:19.6 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Sumo Deadlift.

0:15:20.6 Jordan Syatt: I think it’s got to go below Conventional. Smaller range of motion. I’m giving that a D.

0:15:29.0 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. And then a Deficit Deadlift.

0:15:30.7 Jordan Syatt: Conventional?

0:15:31.8 Mike Vacanti: Yes.

0:15:34.8 Jordan Syatt: B. I’ll just give it a B.

0:15:38.0 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Slightly above Conventional.

0:15:40.4 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:15:41.0 Mike Vacanti: All right. Overhand Grip Pull-Up.

0:15:44.9 Jordan Syatt: Man.

0:15:45.9 Mike Vacanti: Now we’re cooking with gas.

0:15:46.3 Jordan Syatt: I’m gonna give it an A. It’s a great exercise. People are often limited because of their shoulder mobility. It is a little bit more difficult for people, whether it’s shoulder mobility, just the leverages make it a little bit more difficult. It is very lat-focused. I love it. And it’s classic and it’s nostalgic. I’m just gonna go A.

0:16:11.3 Mike Vacanti: I’m putting the Overhand Grip Pull-Up in S tier.

0:16:14.1 Jordan Syatt: Oh, wow. Well, you have the benefit of seeing what else is on the list.

0:16:18.2 Mike Vacanti: I do. I do have that benefit. Ability to load it, ability to use a machine and assist it, which is actually awesome. I think those are underrated. Higher rep, especially, not just for beginners, but even for people who can do bodyweight reps, for really practicing that squeeze and feeling your lats. Nostalgia. It’s impressive, right? Being able to do more Pull-Ups. I’m going S tier.

0:16:54.5 Jordan Syatt: I like it.

0:16:55.5 Mike Vacanti: I think I’m gonna be giving out S tiers pretty generously in this rating.

0:16:59.1 Jordan Syatt: Oh, you usually don’t do that.

0:17:00.5 Mike Vacanti: No, I don’t. Something about back just, I’m feeling generous today. Chin-Up, Underhand Grip Chin-Up.

0:17:06.6 Jordan Syatt: This is S tier for me. Underhand Grip is typically a little bit easier on the shoulders. More, I think it’s even more feasible for loading. The range of motion is typically bigger. I love. And I would also do this, I don’t know if Neutral Grip is on there as well, but Underhand Grip, Neutral Grip, both get S tiers for me.

0:17:31.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, Parallel Grip’s on here too. I’m with you. For all the reasons I like the Overhand Grip Pull-Up, I like Chin-Ups as well. S tier. Weighted Pull-Up/Chin-Up.

0:17:42.8 Jordan Syatt: That shouldn’t even be separate. It’s the… Yeah, if you can do eight Chin-Ups, or five Chin-Ups. If you can do five, just body weight, start loading it. And, yeah, those are S tier.

0:17:57.6 Mike Vacanti: What are your favorite ways to load a Pull-Up or a Chin-Up?

0:18:00.1 Jordan Syatt: Just one of those old school weight belts with a chain that you loop through a plate. That’s, I think, the most comfortable.

0:18:08.5 Mike Vacanti: I agree. I’m a fan of that. If you don’t have access to one, going dumbbell either between your feet at the ankles or bending your knees and going kind of the top of your calves behind your knees and crossing.

0:18:23.5 Jordan Syatt: Or bring a backpack and put plates in the backpack and then wear that.

0:18:27.5 Mike Vacanti: I’ve always found that really uncomfortable.

0:18:29.4 Jordan Syatt: It is. It’s very uncomfortable.

0:18:31.5 Mike Vacanti: I thought that was just me being soft.

0:18:32.6 Jordan Syatt: But I found that the weight in my feet or knees or whatever is more uncomfortable.

0:18:38.2 Mike Vacanti: I’m assuming that, when you just said if you can do five Pull-Ups, you can start weighting it, so I’m picturing the advice we’re giving to someone with a five-pound dumbbell.

0:18:47.7 Jordan Syatt: Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:18:48.6 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, once you start getting heavy, it becomes awkward and annoying and like, you got a 45-pound dumbbell between your ankles. You’re expending too much effort trying to keep it there. At that point, definitely buy a belt off of Amazon for 20 bucks and bring it to your gym.

0:19:06.1 Jordan Syatt: Exactly. Yeah.

0:19:08.4 Mike Vacanti: Neutral Grip Pull-Up.

0:19:09.4 Jordan Syatt: S tier.

0:19:10.3 Mike Vacanti: S tier. That might be my favorite of the three.

0:19:13.8 Jordan Syatt: Same. It is.

0:19:15.0 Mike Vacanti: Overhand Grip Lat Pulldown.

0:19:17.9 Jordan Syatt: I’m gonna adjust this to a slightly leaning back. If you’re just completely vertical.

0:19:27.5 Mike Vacanti: Should we do both?

0:19:28.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, you wanna do both? Yeah, sure. We’ll start off with. I’m gonna give S tier to Leaning, you’re at a 35 degree angle backwards. I’m giving that an S tier. I love that. You get the lats, you get the rhomboids, you get rear delts, you get full back. I love that.

0:19:46.0 Mike Vacanti: Are you at 35 degrees throughout the entire set or?

0:19:50.1 Jordan Syatt: No. As you come up, you come fully upright and then as you come back down, you go towards that 35 degree angle.

0:19:57.7 Mike Vacanti: I like it.

0:19:58.5 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. And also nice because you get good shoulder mobility as well as you come back up. Also nice some spinal decompression at the very top. You just sort of hang out there for a minute, decompress the spine.

0:20:07.9 Mike Vacanti: It’s the best.

0:20:08.9 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, it feels amazing.

0:20:09.6 Mike Vacanti: I’ll do 30 to 45-second hold during my first two warmup sets before I actually do the set. It just feels great.

0:20:18.2 Jordan Syatt: Oh my gosh, feels so good. So, yeah, I’ll give S tier to that one and then I’ll give A tier to the just fully upright one.

0:20:25.5 Mike Vacanti: And it almost. You almost can’t do a Lat Pulldown. Intuitively you’re going to lean back slightly as you pull the bar down.

0:20:37.8 Jordan Syatt: I don’t know, man. I see a lot of beginners. Almost you know how people with Chin-Ups and Pull-Ups they reach with their chin towards the bar? They’ll often do that with a Lat Pulldown where they think they have to be perfectly upright because the pictures on the machine are the images straight up and down. I think that the more you do it, the more intuitive it becomes, but early on I see people really jamming their shoulders in awkward positions to try and stay upright.

0:21:03.9 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. See, that’s interesting. Their line of pull, it’s almost like your face is in the way.

0:21:12.2 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:21:12.6 Mike Vacanti: So then you’re pulling an inch or two or three inches further in front of you than you should be.

0:21:17.4 Jordan Syatt: Yes, exactly.

0:21:18.0 Mike Vacanti: And then it ends up being this half Lat Pulldown, half Cable Pullover where the traps come up and the shoulders get real crunchy and…

0:21:28.6 Jordan Syatt: Exactly. That’s exactly, yeah.

0:21:31.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, and you’re not training your lats at all.

0:21:32.1 Jordan Syatt: Correct.

0:21:33.2 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. I’m with you. I would just say that almost everyone should be leaning back some on a Lat Pulldown.

0:21:41.8 Jordan Syatt: Agreed.

0:21:42.6 Mike Vacanti: Close Grip/V-Bar Lat Pulldown.

0:21:46.0 Jordan Syatt: Man, this is a big debate in the science-based world.

0:21:50.5 Mike Vacanti: Oh man, I missed this one. Tell me about this debate.

0:21:52.1 Jordan Syatt: I love this. The debate is that the V-Grip isn’t… It’s like, it’s too close.

0:21:59.5 Mike Vacanti: Okay.

0:22:00.0 Jordan Syatt: So that’s why they prefer having certain handles that are a little bit longer so that you can get a better line of pull. I love the V-Grip.

0:22:13.7 Mike Vacanti: Because if your shoulder width compared to V-Grip, shoulder width is gonna more effectively target the lats? Is that their…

0:22:19.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:22:19.8 Mike Vacanti: Okay.

0:22:20.2 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:22:21.2 Mike Vacanti: All right.

0:22:24.8 Jordan Syatt: I love… I don’t care if it’s the handles that are elongated or the V-Grip. I love all of them. I’m giving that an S tier. I think they’re all great. It’s an incredible exercise.

0:22:35.6 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, let’s go.

0:22:36.3 Jordan Syatt: That’s an S tier.

0:22:36.8 Mike Vacanti: I’m going S tier too. Nostalgia. Get a little bit more of a biceps pump. You wanna be doing all of these variations or most of these variations over the course of time. We’re not only doing this close Parallel Grip Lat Pulldown and that’s our only vertical pulling motion for the rest of our lives. If we work it in for a phase, even though it’s quote, “suboptimal”, what are we really losing? Especially if you enjoy it, if it feels good, if it’s fun.

0:23:07.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:23:07.6 Mike Vacanti: Give your joints a break from eight weeks of the same pattern over and over again.

0:23:13.2 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:23:14.1 Mike Vacanti: Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown. Okay, so this is, I assume…

0:23:19.5 Jordan Syatt: Maybe with a wider bar?

0:23:19.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, I assume that’s what this is.

0:23:22.2 Jordan Syatt: You know that wider bar with the circular handle on the outside. I actually really love that one.

0:23:28.0 Mike Vacanti: Do you?

0:23:28.7 Jordan Syatt: I love that Wide Neutral Grip. I really like it. That one wrecks my lats. I prefer that over just the Straight Bar Overhand.

0:23:41.4 Mike Vacanti: Okay.

0:23:42.9 Jordan Syatt: That one I just feel my lats way better. Dude, I’m giving that one an S tier. The nostalgia of that bar, specifically, you’ve got that Wide Neutral Grip with that circular end cap. That for me is an S tier Lat Pulldown.

0:23:56.5 Mike Vacanti: Are there multiple variations of that bar where some are just outside of shoulder width and some are even wider?

0:24:04.1 Jordan Syatt: Yes. I like the wider one.

0:24:06.3 Mike Vacanti: Cool.

0:24:06.5 Jordan Syatt: I like the really wide one.

0:24:08.0 Mike Vacanti: What percentage of the weight you would use on the V-bar Lat Pulldown… Like How does your weight on the V-bar Lat Pulldown compared to the wide Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown?

0:24:21.4 Jordan Syatt: The Close Neutral Grip I’m way stronger. Way stronger. I don’t have a percentage, but Close Neutral Grip, just…

0:24:32.0 Mike Vacanti: Quite a bit stronger.

0:24:32.4 Jordan Syatt: Substantially. Yes, substantially. Which makes sense. The leverages are way better. I would say you’re using more, you have more bicep involvement with the Close Neutral Grip, whereas far less… It’s the same difference between a Wide Grip Chin-Up versus a Close Neutral Grip Chin-Up. It’s, you’re gonna have a stronger Close Grip Chin-Up than you are Wide Grip typically, so, yeah.

0:24:55.8 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. But even my Overhand Wide Grip Lat Pulldown compared to a shoulder width, those are closer for me than these two Wide Parallel Grip versus Narrow Parallel Grip. Wide Parallel Grip I’ve always found extremely difficult and probably done less of them for that reason. I’ll go A tier on these, but not my favorite overhead pulling move.

0:25:21.9 Jordan Syatt: Sort of wanna get that bar.

0:25:23.2 Mike Vacanti: You should get that bar.

0:25:24.3 Jordan Syatt: I should order that. I love that bar.

0:25:26.4 Mike Vacanti: Single-Arm Lat Pulldown.

0:25:28.0 Jordan Syatt: Oh, man. This… You know the reason I was like, maybe I’m not gonna give it S tier was purely nostalgia. Like it’s not…

0:25:35.7 Mike Vacanti: Like it lacks nostalgia?

0:25:36.7 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, it lacks nostalgia. The other exercises really have this emotional connection to them from when I was younger, whereas the Single-Arm Lat Pulldown and all of its different variations, phenomenal exercise. I incorporate it almost every single month in some capacity. At least every other month I’m doing some type of a Single-Arm Lat Pulldown. But it’s almost just one of the nerdy things that I’m like, “Yeah, this is really good, but I don’t have that nostalgia tied to it.” I’m gonna give it an A, even though I program it more than the other ones.

0:26:11.0 Mike Vacanti: I think that’s logical. I think that makes a lot of sense. I have created my own nostalgia with this move since probably 2022. I think this might be my favorite. Partly out of laziness too, honestly. It’s a little bit, anytime you’re hitting single arm or single leg, you’re doing twice the work. It’s slightly annoying on that front, but it’s way less taxing on my CNS than a Weighted Chin-Up or a Weighted Pull-Up.

0:26:43.4 Jordan Syatt: Oh, yeah, for sure.

0:26:47.5 Mike Vacanti: I’m gonna go S tier just because it feels so good and I like it.

0:26:50.3 Jordan Syatt: Oh, yeah. Great exercise.

0:26:51.6 Mike Vacanti: It’s probably the move that feels best. It’s probably the overhead pulling move that feels best on my shoulders.

0:26:57.8 Jordan Syatt: That makes total sense. Makes total sense.

0:27:00.7 Mike Vacanti: And then a Straight Arm Pulldown.

0:27:03.3 Jordan Syatt: A Straight Arm Pulldown. I’m assuming standing?

0:27:06.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. I call these a Standing Pullover, but.

0:27:09.5 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Okay. That’s exactly what I was thinking. I really like it. I prefer it when you’re standing but bent over so you have a bigger range of motion. I know a lot of people do it standing straight up, but when you bend over at that almost parallel to the ground with your torso, you get a much bigger range, shoulder mobility, just overall more lats. So I’m gonna assume we’re doing my favorite variation of it where…

0:27:36.5 Mike Vacanti: Yes.

0:27:37.2 Jordan Syatt: Okay. For that, A.

0:27:39.1 Mike Vacanti: I like it.

0:27:39.8 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. It’s also easier for people to learn that one than a Dumbbell Pullover or a Barbell Pullover. The Dumbbell and Barbell Pullover, I’ve learned this through… It was funny, when I was doing one-on-one coaching online, I never had this, but with the Inner Circle, with a wider variety of people, some people are relatively new, and the neck discomfort from the Dumbbell Pullover and just trying to figure out what… It’s just more difficult for people to learn that, whereas the Cable or Standing Pullover is much easier, much smaller learning curve.

0:28:24.4 Mike Vacanti: That makes sense. You really have to have your body in a certain position with a Barbell or a Dumbbell Pullover and how low your hips are sitting, the point of your back that’s hitting the bench.

0:28:42.2 Jordan Syatt: Yes. Yes.

0:28:44.1 Mike Vacanti: Are you flush against the bench or are you just coming in contact with the edge of the bench? There’s some individual variation. It takes a while to get comfortable on a free weight pullover, so I agree. I really like the Cable Pullover as well. I think A makes sense. Gary has really liked these over the last year, 2025 basically. We’ve done a lot more of these, the bent variation where you’re getting a nice big stretch at the top of each rep.

0:29:11.8 Jordan Syatt: Oh, nice.

0:29:12.6 Mike Vacanti: And, yeah, yeah, he’s been feeling good.

0:29:18.2 Jordan Syatt: I bet his range is really good. I bet he has very good mobility.

0:29:21.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yes, it is impressive.

0:29:24.2 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:29:24.8 Mike Vacanti: All right. Horizontal Rows.

0:29:26.4 Jordan Syatt: These are my favorite.

0:29:27.6 Mike Vacanti: Seated Cable Row.

0:29:29.0 Jordan Syatt: Oh, S tier.

0:29:30.3 Mike Vacanti: I’ll go low S tier.

0:29:31.7 Jordan Syatt: Low S tier? I’ll go high S tier. That’s crazy to me. You go low S tier.

0:29:43.5 Mike Vacanti: Where would you have these? Would you have these above or below a Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row?

0:29:48.7 Jordan Syatt: Specifically Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row, I would have these higher. But if you ask me…

0:29:53.5 Mike Vacanti: How about a Plate-Loaded Chest-Supported Row?

0:29:57.2 Jordan Syatt: Plate-Loaded Chest-Supported Row, I would put that above. I would say Plate-Loaded Chest-Supported Row is higher than the Seated Cable Row.

0:30:04.7 Mike Vacanti: Cool.

0:30:05.5 Jordan Syatt: One of those T-bar machine type things.

0:30:08.3 Mike Vacanti: Mm-hmm.

0:30:08.8 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. That’s arguably the greatest of all time.

0:30:12.4 Mike Vacanti: You also, if we’re looking at someone who’s trying to isolate more of the upper back compared to someone who’s taking their lower back through a little bit of a range on this exercise, you can do a lot with a Seated Cable Row that you can’t do with the horizontal rowing variations that have more stability.

0:30:33.4 Jordan Syatt: Agreed.

0:30:34.2 Mike Vacanti: You were doing these on Friday.

0:30:37.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, I do them all the time.

0:30:39.7 Mike Vacanti: It’s a great move. I put it in S tier.

0:30:41.9 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Low S tier.

0:30:42.9 Mike Vacanti: I don’t know what more you want from me, Jordan. Single-Arm Dumbbell Row.

0:30:48.9 Jordan Syatt: Man, this is a tough one because I program these almost every single month in some capacity. It’s such a phenomenal… Excuse me. I feel like if I don’t put it in S tier, it’s a little bit ridiculous. But also… I’m gonna give you the whole context. Number one is I’ve programmed them basically every single week in some capacity for about 20 years at this point. There’s a little bit of like…

0:31:16.5 Mike Vacanti: Fatigue.

0:31:17.5 Jordan Syatt: Fatigue of them. But that alone should be enough to say, okay, then it’s S tier if you program them literally every week in some capacity. There’s a little bit of fatigue. Then the other side of it is, maybe this is just being a dad and just not having much time on my hands right now, but anything that elongates the workout, if I can do something bilaterally, I’m almost always gonna do it. Whereas with the Dumbbell Row, if I gotta do a set and then I gotta take 10, 15, 20 seconds rest, then do the other side, it just elongates the workout. But it’s such a good exercise. It objectively is S tier. Objectively. I’m just a little bit fatigued, but I still do it every week.

0:32:02.0 Mike Vacanti: The downsides for you are that it takes a little bit longer because it’s single arm and that you have a little bit of fatigue.

0:32:12.9 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, and I think people in mentorship…

0:32:14.6 Mike Vacanti: Programming fatigue.

0:32:15.4 Jordan Syatt: Programming. Yeah. People in the mentorship, the coaches talk about this all the time, like, “I feel like my clients are getting bored.” It’s like, no, they’re not getting bored of it. You’re bored because you’re programming so many programs and you’re putting that same exercise in so many programs, but for them, they only get one new one a month. They’re not tired of it. That’s literally it.

0:32:30.2 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yeah. There’s also benefits to this move outside of just targeting the back. You’re training the core a little bit. You’re learning the move of bracing with one arm and creating that stability for yourself while you’re training your back on the other side, which probably has some carryover into day-to-day life, like potentially moving objects. I think there’s a little bit of skill involved in learning it that is… I’m thinking more of a Three-Point Stance Single-Arm Row than a traditional knee on the bench, hand on the bench, foot out as your base of support. Both work great. I’m with you. I program it a lot. Also because for people who don’t have access to an entire gym…

0:33:27.6 Jordan Syatt: Oh, yeah.

0:33:28.6 Mike Vacanti: Let’s say you only have adjustable dumbbells up to 50s and a bench. There are only so many back exercises that you can program.

0:33:39.2 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Especially if they can’t do Chin-Ups or something.

0:33:43.0 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yeah.

0:33:44.2 Jordan Syatt: Then you’re doing Pullovers and Rows. Have fun.

0:33:48.5 Mike Vacanti: Right.

0:33:49.5 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:33:50.9 Mike Vacanti: It’s an S tier move, though.

0:33:52.4 Jordan Syatt: It is.

0:33:53.8 Mike Vacanti: This one might actually be lower S tier, but it’s S tier. Chest-Supported Row. It says dumbbell/machine.

0:34:02.8 Jordan Syatt: I prefer the machine. The machine, just the ergonomics of it are typically easier to use. When you get into bigger dumbbells, they’ll start hitting the bench. Sometimes the bench’ll be a little bit too close to the ground, the dumbbells start hitting the ground. And then depending on the bench, sometimes the way the bench angles, it’s either too low or it’s too high, and it’s just, it’s a little bit wonky. The machine typically has much better ergonomics, bigger range of motion. You don’t have to worry about that. So I love both of them. I just prefer the Machine Chest-Supported Row.

0:34:40.9 Mike Vacanti: When you say machine, are you talking Plate-Loaded or Cable?

0:34:42.3 Jordan Syatt: I was talking Plate-Loaded.

0:34:45.1 Mike Vacanti: Cool. The cable machine’s nice, too.

0:34:48.2 Jordan Syatt: Agreed.

0:34:49.3 Mike Vacanti: The downside of that one is the pad on most of them is a little bit narrower.

0:34:54.5 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:34:55.0 Mike Vacanti: And so when you go heavy, you feel like you’re gonna have a heart attack ’cause it’s just…

0:34:59.6 Jordan Syatt: I’m so glad you said that. I feel that… I’m literally, I think there are times when I got palpitations from it.

0:35:05.6 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, I’m like, “Am I dying? What’s going on here?” It’s funny, what you mentioned about the bench and the angle and the dumbbells knocking into it. I realized I chose the gym that I’m currently working out at based solely on the type of adjustable bench they have. That was the selling point.

0:35:29.5 Jordan Syatt: Really? Do you know which one it is? What brand? Or no?

0:35:32.6 Mike Vacanti: Life Fitness, but it’s a specific one that’s a little bit thicker pad. Some of them have the adjustable, whatever, mechanism in a place where if you angle it up to a 35-degree angle and you’re trying to do a row, that thing you grab to adjust it that sticks out is actually in the way. And then some of them don’t have it in the way. They have it in a slightly different position. But if you have the right bench setup, I really like a Dumbbell Chest-Supported Row. I would go S tier with that. I would also go S tier with the Plate-Loaded, and then probably A tier with the Cable for the reasons we mentioned.

0:36:18.6 Jordan Syatt: The only caveat I’ll give is I don’t have Chest-Supported Row as S tier for women just because often it can be very uncomfortable with their breasts. And so with the number of women who I’ve coached who say I’d rather not do them, then it would actually change to like a… I would rather have them do a Bent-Over Barbell Row or a Bent-Over Dumbbell Row without the chest support because sometimes that can be super uncomfortable.

0:36:45.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Or your Seated Cable Row.

0:36:48.8 Jordan Syatt: Or my Seated… Yeah, that would be my ideal.

0:36:51.6 Mike Vacanti: T-Bar Row.

0:36:53.1 Jordan Syatt: Oh, S tier, dude.

0:36:56.2 Mike Vacanti: Let’s go. Let’s go.

0:36:58.5 Jordan Syatt: But this one for me, I’m gonna be super obnoxious and just go full nostalgia. Not in a landmine. You put it up in the corner of the dirty gym, maybe put a 45-pound plate on the back of it so that it’s not flying up.

0:37:13.2 Mike Vacanti: Yep.

0:37:14.0 Jordan Syatt: And you maybe grab that V-bar and you put it underneath. That is a classic old school. I think there’s videos of Arnold doing it from years and years and years ago. That’s just such a great exercise.

0:37:25.2 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. It’s slightly the antithesis of the science-based movement.

0:37:31.5 Jordan Syatt: Yes. Yeah.

0:37:33.7 Mike Vacanti: And everything has its place. Get your cuff, hold your tennis ball, and do your Lateral Cable Raise.

[laughter]

0:37:41.4 Mike Vacanti: No, really, do it, because the evidence says this is super effective at building your side delts, but at the same time, do something that’s a little bit risky and a little bit heavy and a little bit shortened range of motion, doesn’t target the exact muscle. Who cares?

0:37:57.5 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:37:57.9 Mike Vacanti: Oh, your grip is too narrow. Who cares?

0:38:00.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:38:00.4 Mike Vacanti: Like Jordan just said, get in the corner of the dirty gym and bang out a bunch of reps. And that combination of ’80s, ’90s, 2000s plus science, I think is, you’re getting the best of both worlds.

0:38:16.8 Jordan Syatt: Agreed.

0:38:17.8 Mike Vacanti: Pendlay Row.

0:38:21.0 Jordan Syatt: This really had a moment.

0:38:23.6 Mike Vacanti: In 2014?

0:38:24.8 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, probably 2011 to 2015. Maybe 2012 to 2015 might have been the big Pendlay Row moment. Very good exercise. I think…

0:38:38.4 Mike Vacanti: Do you want to describe it for people who might be unfamiliar?

0:38:41.1 Jordan Syatt: You’re in the bottom of a Straight-Leg Deadlift essentially. Your torso is parallel to the floor and you row. That’s it.

0:38:53.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yep.

0:38:53.6 Jordan Syatt: I don’t think I’ve ever programmed it once for the Inner Circle. I may have had some lifters do it back in the day because that was a big exercise in the moment. But there are just so many other… I’m gonna give it a B.

0:39:16.9 Mike Vacanti: I think that’s fair. I would say B or C, and we’ll be generous and go with B. It had its moment.

0:39:23.6 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:39:27.6 Mike Vacanti: As much as I like the isometric low back strengthening from this position and Bent Rows, sometimes it’s too much and slightly too risky for some people where, not only would I rather, A, give them stability on one of these other movements that we’ve talked about, or do a traditional Bent Row, which, I guess depending on how you do it and how vertical your upper body is going at the top of each rep, you’re going to have a little bit shorter range of motion on a Bent Row compared to a Pendlay Row. But that sacrifice is worth it for reduced injury risk, ability to go heavier. I had always done the Pendlay Row, or the way I remember learning it was with more of a flared elbow and almost more rear delt-ish than a Bent Row. So you can definitely go heavier on a Bent Row. We’ll go B tier.

0:40:35.6 Jordan Syatt: If you really think about it, if you really think about it, a Seated Cable Row is basically a Pendlay Row just with more stability and, you know what I mean?

0:40:51.6 Mike Vacanti: More stability. It’s way better in the sense you have nine different grips so withe the angles and…

0:41:00.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, and more control. Yeah.

0:41:01.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, yeah.

0:41:02.0 Jordan Syatt: Realistically, if you just flip the body, you’re essentially in a Pendlay Row position.

0:41:07.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah.

0:41:07.7 Jordan Syatt: Maybe your hips are a little bit further back in the Pendlay Row, but it’s basically that.

0:41:13.1 Mike Vacanti: And I put Seated Cable Row in low S tier, so now I want to go the other way and fight for Seated Cable Row because I think it’s a way better movement.

0:41:21.2 Jordan Syatt: Oh, good.

0:41:23.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, you’re… Well, you’re also at the bottom of every rep of a Pendlay Row, you’re starting from a dead stop.

0:41:31.7 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:41:32.7 Mike Vacanti: Whereas with a Seated Cable Row, you’re maintaining tension throughout the… Usually, depending on how you’re doing it, but you’re usually not clanking it, pausing, and then letting it rip. And that makes it better for a number of reasons. I think that makes it safer. Right? There’s a skill to being in the bottom of a Pendlay Row and then making sure you’re properly braced and going heavy and then exploding up.

0:42:02.7 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, I’m with you, dude.

0:42:04.6 Mike Vacanti: Yates Row.

0:42:05.5 Jordan Syatt: I love a Yates Row.

0:42:06.8 Mike Vacanti: Do you?

0:42:07.4 Jordan Syatt: I love a Yates Row. I actually program this for the Inner Circle relatively frequently, a couple times a year.

0:42:13.4 Mike Vacanti: Okay.

0:42:15.5 Jordan Syatt: And I like different… I like the Cable Yates Row on a cable machine. I really like it a lot. I love a Smith Machine Yates Row. The barbell I’m not the biggest fan of. I prefer either the cable or Smith, closer to a fixed path. A cable, I guess, isn’t necessarily fixed path, but it’s closer to fixed path than a barbell. The barbell I’ve always found a little bit awkward and I can’t get as good of a bar path. Whereas on the Smith machine and a cable, I love it. I’m gonna go sort of average all those out. I’m gonna give it a low A tier.

0:42:57.9 Mike Vacanti: I love Dorian. I’m a huge fan.

0:43:01.0 Jordan Syatt: But you don’t like his…

0:43:02.1 Mike Vacanti: Of him. No, I don’t like the Yates Row. I don’t like the Yates Row. And this could just be personal bias. Feels a shorter range, rowing with an underhand grip. I don’t know what muscles I’m supposed to be feeling it in. C.

0:43:24.8 Jordan Syatt: Really?

0:43:26.5 Mike Vacanti: Reverse nostalgia for me. C.

0:43:27.1 Jordan Syatt: I wonder if there’s any protective going on for your lower back, because it can put your lower back in a little bit of a compromised position. And I’m wondering if for you, you’re like, it’s just not worth either loading it or that leaning forward might be a little bit compromising. I’m wondering if there’s any protective stuff going on?

0:43:46.6 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, I wonder about your lower back a lot. I just know that my lower back would absolutely take a dump all over your lower back. And so you keep doing that flexion extension, buddy, okay?

[laughter]

0:44:04.2 Mike Vacanti: There are movements where, yeah, it’s smart to be cautious if you have a injury history with certain things. The Yates Row, I actually find, almost like the Conventional Deadlift compared to a Trap Bar Deadlift. A Yates Row, I’m more vertical than I am with a Bent Row. I do my Bent Rows at almost parallel to the ground because I want a bigger range of motion.

0:44:29.3 Jordan Syatt: Agreed, yeah.

0:44:29.8 Mike Vacanti: When I see people 45, 60 degree angles upright doing an Overhand Bent Row, you’re lifting heavy weight, but, yeah, exactly. Exactly. But with the Yates Row, I feel like I’m always at 45 degrees. It might have something to do with limb length relative to torso length. There’s probably something at play there, too.

0:44:55.5 Jordan Syatt: That makes sense. Yeah.

0:44:56.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. I just feel like… And like you said, I haven’t done them with the cable before, but with a barbell, it’s like, I don’t know where I’m pulling this thing towards.

0:45:02.2 Jordan Syatt: Try a cable or a Smith machine and let me know what you think.

0:45:04.5 Mike Vacanti: All right. Maybe. Meadows Row.

0:45:08.3 Jordan Syatt: Oh, man. What’s the difference with a Meadows Row?

0:45:10.5 Mike Vacanti: It’s a Single-Arm Row, but landmine.

0:45:14.7 Jordan Syatt: Oh, dude, I’ve never liked that, to be honest with you. And by the way, rest in peace to John Meadows.

0:45:21.3 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, we’re bumping it for that reason.

0:45:24.0 Jordan Syatt: Absolute… What’s the right word? I’m struggling to find a word that is poignant enough for how much he contributed to the industry, for what a wonderful man he was.

0:45:40.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Character.

0:45:41.9 Jordan Syatt: Just like… He just… For some reason I want to say savant, but savant doesn’t even come close to describing what a great man and incredible coach and contributor he was. He is absolutely a huge role model in the industry. And so much of what we do is because of him, even if you don’t know it. So rest in peace. I hope his family, his kids, his wife are doing well. He passed within the last few years. With that said, just on this specific exercise, I’m not the biggest fan of it. It’s never felt that good for me. Granted, I haven’t spent many years working on it. I’ve tried it here and there and it’s just never clicked for me. So I’m gonna give it a C. Yeah.

0:46:28.5 Mike Vacanti: B tier for the legend. The setup with a landmine compared to just grabbing a dumbbell. I mean, if it feels really good for anyone, amazing, do it. But it takes a little bit extra time setting it up and isn’t that different than just a Standard One-Arm Row.

0:46:48.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:46:49.0 Mike Vacanti: Inverted Row, Bodyweight/TRX.

0:46:52.7 Jordan Syatt: I don’t even like… I don’t like… So specifically bodyweight, I prefer… Listen, I think any Inverted Row, whether it’s on a TRX or barbell, like a Smith machine or whatever, I think it’s S tier. I think it’s an S tier exercise. I think it’s a great progression to get people to doing Chin-Ups and Pull-Ups. I think you can load it heavy, you can wear a weighted vest, you can elevate your feet, there’s so many variations of it. I’m giving…

0:47:26.8 Mike Vacanti: Throw some plates across your stomach.

0:47:29.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, 100%. It’s a great exercise. So many variations, so many progressions and regressions. I think it’s an S tier. I love Inverted Rows. It’s also, by the way, a lot of people struggle to get power-based exercises, plyometric-based exercises for their upper pull. For upper push, they can do Plyo Push-Ups and Med Ball Throws, but upper pull people really struggle. Speed Plyo Inverted Rows are a great way, and you get some of that bone density and tendon ligament benefit in the wrist and elbows as well, which is very overlooked. So, yeah, it’s just, it’s a killer exercise.

0:48:09.6 Mike Vacanti: I’m with you. I’m going S tier on this one. Not only the progressions but also the regressions. For someone who really isn’t strong, really is new to strength training, you can do these with a very high bar, with your body angle quite upright, and you have a measurable form of progress as you’re lowering the Smith machine one notch every single week.

0:48:39.0 Jordan Syatt: Yep.

0:48:41.4 Mike Vacanti: The con of the Plate-Loaded on a barbell… And I never do them on a fixed barbell. I just find the rotation of a barbell compared to the Smith machine here, it just feels more stable and better on a Smith machine.

0:48:54.4 Jordan Syatt: Agreed. Agreed.

0:48:55.8 Mike Vacanti: But when I load these, I want to load them with the weight on my chest, like a plate on my chest. That’s where it feels best. But with the barbell, if you’re loading it with a plate on your chest, you’re reducing the range of motion. One of the benefits of the TRX is you don’t run into that problem.

0:49:16.4 Jordan Syatt: It’s a great point.

0:49:17.7 Mike Vacanti: Renegade Row.

0:49:19.3 Jordan Syatt: If I could give worse than F tier, I would. Renegade Row is among the worst of the worst of the worst exercises ever.

0:49:31.4 Mike Vacanti: What about as a finisher where you really want to get some good cardio in at the end of the workout, so you just do five straight minutes of Renegade Rows? Is that good for your cardio/back/shoulder health?

0:49:42.4 Jordan Syatt: That makes me even more angry. F, F, F, F, F. Horrible. Because if you want to get a stronger back, you can’t lift heavy enough in a Renegade Row to actually strengthen your back. If anything, if there’s any merit to that exercise, it’s for core, but even then, it’s like there are so many better options. So many better options. It’s just, if there’s anything that it might be good for, it’s core, not back. The whole Renegade Row is… I think that was early on in social media when people were like, “Hey, let’s try and come up with cool-looking exercises so we can get likes and clicks and views.” I doubt that exercise existed before some form of social media. And then people were like, “Oh, let’s do these combo exercises.” And then they’re like, “See, it works your back and your abs.” It’s like, shut up. I hate that exercise.

0:50:45.0 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, we’re on the same page. F tier. Kroc Row.

0:50:50.2 Jordan Syatt: Oh man, I love a Kroc Row.

0:50:52.2 Mike Vacanti: A Kroc Row is just a heavy Dumbbell Row and you’re using the rack instead of a bench as your support? It’s a higher support?

0:51:00.4 Jordan Syatt: I don’t think you need to use a rack or a higher support. Kroc Row is essentially as heavy as you can possibly go for high repetitions, and it’s okay to cheat. So a lot of momentum, rotation… This is on par with a T-Bar Row for me where it’s just, it’s such a sick movement. And it’s funny, it’s one of those things where, first you have to know the rules before you can break them, type of a thing. And once you know them, then you can safely break them. I would never give this to someone who doesn’t know how to properly Dumbbell Row. But once someone really understands, once they’ve built up the skill of a Dumbbell Row and the strength of a strong Dumbbell Row, then I can give them a Kroc Row and be like, “All right, let’s fucking break the rules a little bit. Let’s get some momentum in there, get some rotation.” You think you’ve only got one rep left, get seven more, type thing. Just go, go, go, go, go.

0:52:04.7 Mike Vacanti: I don’t know that I’ve programmed many Kroc Rows. If I have, it’s been a really long time.

0:52:09.2 Jordan Syatt: I’ve programmed them a handful of times.

0:52:11.7 Mike Vacanti: All right, we gotta fly. We gotta really motor. Face Pull.

0:52:15.4 Jordan Syatt: Face Pull, I’m gonna give a B.

0:52:19.5 Mike Vacanti: I think I gave this move an A for the rear delts. I’m gonna give it also a B for…

0:52:25.3 Jordan Syatt: Ah.

0:52:29.1 Mike Vacanti: I’m giving it an A.

0:52:30.4 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:52:30.8 Mike Vacanti: I like Face Pulls.

0:52:31.6 Jordan Syatt: You love a Face Pull.

0:52:33.3 Mike Vacanti: Shrug, barbell/dumbbell?

0:52:35.5 Jordan Syatt: Bro, I’m gonna give them an A. Because you know what? Shrugs don’t pretend to be something they’re not. You know what I mean? Like a Conventional Deadlift, people, “Oh, it’s a back exercise.” No, it’s a leg exercise. Shrugs are a Shrug exercise. It’s like if someone’s, “Hey, how are Standing Bicep Curls for biceps?” They are what they are. They’re for the biceps. Shrugs are for your traps. If you want bigger traps, which, frankly, I’ve always said I don’t really care how I look, I’ve always wanted bigger traps.

0:53:03.8 Mike Vacanti: Really?

0:53:04.4 Jordan Syatt: I’ve always wanted bigger traps. I just think it’s such a badass look.

0:53:07.6 Mike Vacanti: Like Bane?

0:53:08.9 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Yeah, I’ve always wanted bigger traps and I’ve just never spent enough time doing them because by the end of the workout I’m just like, “All right, I’m done.” But I should add in… Maybe I’ll start adding Shrugs at the beginning of my back workouts just to get it in there. But, for your traps, it’s a great exercise. But I would say, if I’m gonna use generalizations, most women don’t want bigger traps. Most women. And then most people in general for their back are just not spending as much time on their traps as they should, and they should spend more time on the lats and rhomboids, rear delts, etc. But if you want bigger traps, it’s an A tier trap exercise.

0:53:52.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. They’re A tier for the traps and the traps are part of the back so your logic makes sense. I think we can add these to the list of things that Jordan needs to accomplish before his eldest daughter starts dating. We got the…

0:54:08.9 Jordan Syatt: Yes, I agree with that so much.

0:54:10.8 Mike Vacanti: Build up the hands, right?

0:54:12.4 Jordan Syatt: Yep, yep.

0:54:13.7 Mike Vacanti: And then upper traps. I never had great upper traps either.

0:54:17.9 Jordan Syatt: I’ve always wanted them.

0:54:19.1 Mike Vacanti: I never really wanted them.

0:54:20.6 Jordan Syatt: Really?

0:54:21.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah.

0:54:21.8 Jordan Syatt: Interesting. Why?

0:54:23.4 Mike Vacanti: I think because I don’t like training them.

0:54:26.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, they’re uncomfortable to train. Sometimes neck strains.

0:54:29.6 Mike Vacanti: Well, you might get neck strains. My neck’s good.

0:54:35.8 Mike Vacanti: Farmer’s Carry/Walk.

0:54:37.9 Jordan Syatt: Man, this is one I really struggle with. Because… Listen, I put them in the same category specifically for back as a Trap Bar Deadlift. Specifically for back. As an overall exercise, I struggle with it too, because I think it can be a good conditioning exercise, is clearly a great grip strength exercise. I would say arguably one of the most quote-unquote “functional exercises” you could have. I love a good Single-Arm Farmer’s Walk. I think I prefer Single-Arm over bilateral, to be honest. Just get more core involvement. But specifically for back, I’m putting it in the same category as a Trap Bar Deadlift because it’s in the exact same position.

0:55:29.2 Mike Vacanti: Okay.

0:55:29.8 Jordan Syatt: But I do like a Single-Arm Farmer’s Walk. Just I’m not doing it for back specifically.

0:55:35.8 Mike Vacanti: And some people might be thinking, “Well, a Shrug, you’re holding heavy weight and shrugging. A Farmer’s Walk, you’re holding heavy weight and walking. What’s the difference?” On a Shrug, you’re taking your upper traps through a range of motion.

0:55:48.0 Jordan Syatt: Correct.

0:55:49.0 Mike Vacanti: They’re much more effective in building muscle. A Farmer’s Carry, it’s isometric for the upper traps. Less effective at building that muscle.

0:55:58.0 Jordan Syatt: Often it’s not even isometric. Often it’s just pulling to the bottom of the range and you’re not even actively creating tension against it. You’re just letting the weight pull you. It’s just you’re resting in that deep stretch.

0:56:10.3 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yeah, so your upper traps are absorbing less of the force.

0:56:15.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, it’s just passive.

0:56:16.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah.

0:56:17.1 Jordan Syatt: At least in a Trap Bar Deadlift, when you stand up, you’re usually pulling up a little bit against it, so it is isometric. Whereas this, you’re just… I don’t really know anyone who, as they’re doing a Farmer’s Walk, is pulling against the weight. They just let the weight fall.

0:56:31.4 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s an interesting point. We got a mentorship Q&A in seven minutes, so we gotta continue to motor. Upright Row.

0:56:41.2 Jordan Syatt: C.

0:56:44.7 Mike Vacanti: I’ll go… It’s between C and B. It’s one of those. Barbell Good Morning.

0:56:50.1 Jordan Syatt: S tier. S tier. Bro, I love a Good Morning.

0:56:54.9 Mike Vacanti: Jordan was waiting for the…

0:56:58.0 Jordan Syatt: Lower back.

0:56:58.9 Mike Vacanti: This one has nostalgia plus your current interest.

0:57:01.3 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, dude. Oh, man.

0:57:02.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, Good Mornings are… Good Mornings are primarily a hamstring exercise.

0:57:09.3 Jordan Syatt: Depending on how you do it. Low back could really…

0:57:13.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. But, hey, I’m an isometric lumbar guy. You’re a full-range lumbar guy. I think these are an A tier movement.

0:57:23.3 Jordan Syatt: You think B?

0:57:24.2 Mike Vacanti: I might think B, but I don’t have time to justify it, so I’m just conceding. That was very astute of you, though. Well done. You’re good at reading humans. Back Extension.

0:57:34.9 Jordan Syatt: S tier.

0:57:35.7 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. Huh?

0:57:39.0 Jordan Syatt: Yeah.

0:57:40.4 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. The low back is part of the back and, yeah, these are S tier. Bodyweight Superman.

0:57:45.1 Jordan Syatt: A.

0:57:46.3 Mike Vacanti: The inability to progress past a certain point… Not inability. It’s harder to progress past a certain point than some other exercises make me on the cusp of A and B, but I’ll also go A. Kettlebell Swing.

0:58:09.3 Jordan Syatt: For your back?

0:58:10.1 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. It’s literally in the low back category.

0:58:16.2 Jordan Syatt: Ugh. That’s a D.

0:58:19.4 Mike Vacanti: Yeah.

0:58:20.3 Jordan Syatt: That’s a D-tier back exercise. Amazing exercise. Love the swing. Love the swing. Not for your back.

0:58:26.5 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. We actually had a question about why kettlebell Swings weren’t listed on our glute exercises. And here’s our answer. Because AI thinks that they’re a low back exercise, so they didn’t make the glute list, but here they are on the low back list. But they’re certainly a better glute exercise than they are a low back exercise.

0:58:47.1 Jordan Syatt: I still wouldn’t even say that, from a muscle growth perspective, I’m not programming.

0:58:52.0 Mike Vacanti: No.

0:58:52.2 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, but they are more glute than lower back, that’s for sure. Glute and hamstring. It’s a dynamic Deadlift.

0:58:57.1 Mike Vacanti: All right, now we’re gonna speedrun. Dumbbell Pullover.

0:58:59.3 Jordan Syatt: Ooh, A.

0:59:00.3 Mike Vacanti: A. Gorilla Row. I don’t even know what that is.

0:59:02.7 Jordan Syatt: The fuck is that? I don’t know what that is.

0:59:05.6 Mike Vacanti: Single-Arm Cable Row.

0:59:05.8 Jordan Syatt: Ooh, A.

0:59:07.0 Mike Vacanti: A+. Band Pull-Apart.

0:59:13.5 Jordan Syatt: B.

0:59:14.4 Mike Vacanti: B. Scapular Pull-Up/Shrug.

0:59:17.9 Jordan Syatt: D.

0:59:18.6 Mike Vacanti: D?

0:59:19.1 Jordan Syatt: Yeah, I’m going D with that one. Just a Scap Pull-Up?

0:59:23.6 Mike Vacanti: Not for building any kind of muscle.

0:59:24.9 Jordan Syatt: That’s what we’re talking about.

[laughter]

0:59:29.9 Mike Vacanti: We’ve done 11 of these episodes. Where’s this guy been? I find… All right. We don’t have time. It’s 12:57. Yeah, not good for building muscle. Good for teaching certain shoulder blade movements that some people struggle with.

0:59:55.9 Jordan Syatt: Same with a Band Pull-Apart.

0:59:57.8 Mike Vacanti: Yeah, but you gave that a B.

0:59:59.9 Jordan Syatt: But I think Band Pull-Apart is better for rear delts and you get more muscle involvement.

1:00:04.9 Mike Vacanti: Yeah. I do think that lowering the scaps is something that a lot of people really struggle with, and this is one way to help teach that.

1:00:13.6 Jordan Syatt: Yeah. Agreed.

1:00:15.6 Mike Vacanti: All right. Thanks for listening. We got a fitness business mentorship Q&A we’re about to jump on. We’re hammering weekly episodes here. Please leave us a review.

1:00:25.0 Jordan Syatt: Five-star.

1:00:26.7 Mike Vacanti: Spotify, iTunes, wherever you’re listening. A five-star review would be much appreciated. Help others find the show. And who knows what body part/exercise we’re reviewing next week? We’ll find out. See you next Tuesday.

1:00:36.9 Jordan Syatt: See ya.