Back in the Golden Era of bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger regularly trained chest and back in the same training session. While most bodybuilders separate the two muscle groups, Arnold preferred to do a chest exercise followed directly by a back exercise to get a full upper body pump. This approach worked well for Arnold, so it will likely give you some great results as well!
Not to mention, the chest and back are antagonist muscle groups, which means they perform the opposite action. In other words, the chest is responsible for pushing, whereas the back is responsible for pulling.
Since these muscle groups are targeted with different exercises, you can perform one after another without being too fatigued. This is just one of the reasons why training chest and back together gained popularity.
If you want a solid chest and back workout to follow, then check out the video below!
Old School Chest & Back Workout
Exercises, Sets, & Reps
- Chest Flys: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Lat Pullovers: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Chest Press: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
- Close-Grip Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Flat Dumbbell Press: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
- Chest-Supported Upper Back Row: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Pronated-Grip Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
- Wide-Grip Pull-Ups: 3 sets x Failure
Supplements
Fuel this training session with the following supplements: