The inaugural Women’s Physique Olympia champ (2013), Dana Linn Bailey, dipped into what it’s like to train like social media sensation bodybuilder Sam Sulek. While Sulek has never competed in a pro show, his physique rivaling elite athletes has garnered a ton of the industry’s attention.

On Jan. 23, 2024, Bailey published her Sam Sulek-style back workout on her YouTube channel that featured the following workout:

Dana Linn Bailey’s Sam Sulek-Style Back Workout

Circuit — Cable Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown + Cable Rope High Row + Lying Cable Rope Face Pull

Superset — Dual Handle Lat Pulldown + Dual Handle Close-Grip Lat Pulldown 

Machine Single-Arm Row

Seated Cable Row Superset — Overhand Grip + Close Underhand Grip

Superset — Chest-Supported Machine Row + Seated Rear Delt Dumbbell Flye

Watch it below:

[Related: Eat Like a Champion — Samson Dauda’s 2024 Arnold Classic Prep Diet]

Cable Rope Circuit

Bailey began with a mini-strength circuit using the cable machine with the dual rope attachment. She performed various pulling movements without rest in between. She trained in eight-to-10 rep range, fatiguing with each exercise before moving to the next. 

Straight-arm pulldowns trained Bailey’s lats, high rows incorporated the biceps via an underhand grip, and face pulls worked the rear delts.

Pulldown Superset

Bailey opened with a wide-grip pulldown using two single-grip handles. By the final set of her superset, she used a close, neutral grip (palms facing each other) to bias her biceps in the eight-to-10 rep range. Bailey lowered the weight between the exercises to avoid fatiguing prematurely.

Machine Single Arm Row

Bailey returned to the weight plate machine to perform unilateral rows, which can help fix strength imbalances. Rowing with one arm at a time allowed Bailey to achieve a deep stretch in each lat’s lengthened position.

[Related: How Breon Ansley Uses Unilateral Training to Balance His Legs]

Seated Cable Row Superset

Bailey described the two-part cable row superset as “High and wide, low and close.” Switching from a wide grip with her elbows flared out to a narrow grip with her elbows tight to the body; she biased her mid and lower back instead of her upper back.

Bailey recognized a need to lower the weight from the first grip (wide overhand) to the second (close underhand) to maintain the same weight until the next exercise.

Superset: Chest-Supported Machine Row & Seated Rear Delt Dumbbell Flye

Bailey performed more rows with an incline lying variation to end her intense back training, letting gravity provide stimulus. She paired low rows with rear delt flyes, flaring dumbbells out to engage her posterior deltoids. 

Benefits of Supersets

Bailey alluded to how much fatigue resulted from training like Sulek. Incorporating supersets increased the perceived exertion of lifting heavier loads, and the science reflects that.

The European Journal of Applied Physiology found that using supersets “enhances training efficiency and reduces training time…but may require additional recovery post-training to minimize effects of fatigue.” Superset training is likely to lead to approximately 20-plus fewer minutes spent in the gym and four percent lower total volume while “tending to be more pleasurable and was preferred by most individuals.” (1)(2)

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Reference

Weakley JJS, Till K, Read DB, Roe GAB, Darrall-Jones J, Phibbs PJ, Jones B. The effects of traditional, superset, and tri-set resistance training structures on perceived intensity and physiological responses. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2017 Sep;117(9):1877-1889. doi: 10.1007/s00421-017-3680-3. Epub 2017 Jul 11. PMID: 28698987; PMCID: PMC5556132.

Andersen V, Fimland MS, Iversen VM, Pedersen H, Balberg K, Gåsvær M, Rise K, Solstad TEJ, Stien N, Saeterbakken AH. A Comparison of Affective Responses Between Time Efficient and Traditional Resistance Training. Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 16;13:912368. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.912368. PMID: 35783742; PMCID: PMC9243264.

Featured image: @danalinnbailey on Instagram

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