Day 2 - Pull Power

Lifters with six months or more of training who can get to the gym 3 days a week and want a wider, thicker back and bigger arms on a push/pull/legs split. Pull day is 14 working sets in about an hour: two heavy back movements, then two curls. It is Day 2 of Hypertrophy Focus Intermediate, between the push day and the leg day.

• Beginner? Beginner Full Body Routine trains the back with one row per session, 3 days a week, at 3×12.
• Can train 4 days? Upper/Lower Split Intermediate trains the back twice a week.
• Advanced, 2+ years? Day 2 - Back & Biceps in Bodybuilding Split Advanced adds a heavy deadlift in front of the same four movements.

The plan adds weight weekly. The 8/10/12/12 ladder runs heaviest set first: load the bar or the stack for 8 reps, then take off enough to reach 10, then 12, and repeat the 12 at the same weight. The rule for moving up:

• Bent-over row and lat pulldown → when set 1 hits 8 reps with one left in the tank and the last set hits 12 with no torso swing, add 5 lb (2.5 kg) to the bar, or one plate on the stack, next week.
• Barbell curl and hammer curl → move up 5 lb (2.5 kg) on the bar or one dumbbell when the 15-rep last set is clean, elbows pinned at your sides.

If your grip fails before your back on the rows or the pulldown, use straps rather than lowering the weight. Stall two weeks running and drop the weight 5–10%, then climb again. Take a light week in weeks 4 and 8 of the 10: about 60% of your working weights and 6–8 reps a set.

Swap like for like and keep the sets and reps:

• Bent-over row → seated cable row, chest-supported dumbbell row, or single-arm dumbbell row
• Lat pulldown → pull-ups (band-assisted if needed) or a machine pulldown
• Barbell curl → EZ-bar curl, dumbbell curl, or cable curl
• Hammer curl → rope hammer curl on the cable, or cross-body hammer curl

Keep one horizontal pull and one vertical pull: that pairing is what trains the whole back. With dumbbells and a pull-up bar only, the session works as single-arm dumbbell row, pull-ups, dumbbell curl and hammer curl.

They look similar but train different angles of the back:

• Bent-over row — horizontal pull, hits the mid-back, rhomboids, rear delts strongest
• Lat pull-down — vertical pull, hits the lats (especially the lower lat fibers) more directly

Doing both gives you horizontal-plane and vertical-plane back stimulus in the same session. Skipping one creates an imbalance that shows up as either a narrow-looking back (skip pull-down) or weak posture (skip rows).

Barbell curl uses an underhand (supinated) grip and hits the biceps brachii — the muscle most people think of as "the bicep."

Hammer curl uses a neutral grip (palms facing each other) and emphasizes the brachialis and brachioradialis — the deeper arm muscles that push the biceps up and add forearm thickness.

Doing both is what gives the fullness look most lifters want. Skipping hammers tends to leave the upper arm flat from the side; skipping barbell curls under-develops the visible bicep peak.