Classic Physique Bodybuilder Ramon Rocha Queiroz recently tackled a massive back workout with his training partners in the gym. The team pushed each other to bring the best out of themselves. This will definitely help the Brazilian in his third crack at the Olympia title this year.
The Classic Physique division of the IFBB Pro League has emerged as a fan favorite division in recent times. It is home to some of the most elite active bodybuilders and Ramon Dino’s name stands out among them. The 27-year-old Brazilian has become a top contender in a very short time frame, securing a runner-up finish at last year’s Olympia.
Although Queiroz earned the IFBB Pro card all the way back in 2018, his professional bodybuilding debut did not materialize until 2021.
The reasons for his absence are not known but what matters is the fact that Ramon Dino made up for the lost time with impressive performances starting with his debut at the 2021 Europa Pro. He secured a runner-up finish there and surged into the top five at the 2021 Olympia along with fellow debutant Urs Kalecinski. The duo would go on to become fierce competitive rivals in due time.
Following a runner-up finish at the 2022 Olympia, Ramon Rocha Queiroz made a quick turnaround and won the 2023 Arnold Classic Physique contest. Having won the first major pro show of the year, the surging Brazilian has all the momentum on his side as he now prepares to challenge the reigning divisional king Chris Bumstead at the 2023 Olympia.
Ramon Rocha Queiroz goes through a back workout
Ramon Rocha Queiroz went through an intense back workout in the gym to get an Olympia worthy physique and posted the video on his YouTube channel. Interestingly, the title of the video read ‘wings of victory’, possibly implying that the Brazilian intends to make his back a differentiating factor on the 2023 Olympia stage.
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The workout included several variations of rowing movements and Ramon Dino tackled it with the determination of a future champion. So let’s follow along the 27-year-old as he cruised through the training session.
Bent Over Barbell Rows
As the old saying goes – ‘If you want the back to grow, you gotta row’. The 2023 Arnold Classic Physique winner kicked things off with a few solid sets of bent over barbell rows. This compound movement is considered as the king of strength and muscle building exercises.
It works the majority of back muscles that include latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, erector spinae as well as trapezius. This makes it a perfect movement to start the workout for warming up all the upper posterior chain muscles. Queiroz used incrementally heavier loads for each consecutive set of this exercise and took to the next compound exercise.
Hammer Strength Rows
This upper back focused movement followed next. Ramon Rocha Queiroz used a Hammer Strength Iso-lateral plate loaded machine to get a good workout for the upper posterior chain muscles. The chest pad on the machine helps maintain a straight-back posture that emphasizes an upright, neutral spine, minimizing the risk of injury. It also directs the effort to the back muscles more effectively.
Additionally, each handle is attached to an independent weight stack which helps eliminate strength imbalance. As a result, Hammer Strength row is a great movement for building back muscles and strength. The Brazilian bodybuilder executed the exercise with flawless technique, advancing over to a vertical pulling movement next.
Lat Pulldown
Queiroz stimulated the latissimus dorsi muscles with this compound exercise next. Latissimus dorsi is the large fan shaped muscle that stretches across the back. It is responsible for the wide back look that tapers down towards the waist.
Vertical pulling movements like variations of lat pulldown are the best option for its development. To do this exercise, Ramon Dino used a medium neutral grip handle and approached it with slow and controlled movements.
One Arm Machine Bent Over Rows
Bent over row is one of the most efficacious movements to build a thick and 3D looking back as it targets most of the upper body pulling muscles. While one arm bent-over dumbbell row is the most basic version of this movement, plate-loaded machines can also be used to induce hypertrophy more effectively.
Ramon Rocha Queiroz used an Iron Tech row machine to get a few sets of this exercise in the kitty. Following this, he headed over to do the final exercise of the day.
Weighted Hyperextensions
The rhomboids, lats, traps and all the prominent muscles in the back received a good workout. However, the lower back remained unattended until this point. Therefore, Ramon Rocha Queiroz dealt with some sets of weighted hyperextensions in the concluding part of his training session to target posterior chain muscles like erector spinae, glutes and hamstrings and checked all the boxes in the list.
Overall, the workout consisted of following exercises:
- Bent Over Barbell Rows
- Hammer Strength Rows
- Lat Pulldown
- Machine One Arm Bent Over Rows
- Weighted Hyperextensions
As of now, it appears that Chris Bumstead, Ramon Rocha Queiroz and Urs Kalecinski will once again be the top three finishers at the 2023 Olympia. While CBum has looked phenomenal year after year, Ramon Dino has made quick progress. If he keeps improving at the same pace, we might be in for an upset on Nov. 5.
You can watch the full workout video here, courtesy of Ramon Rocha Queiroz’s personal YouTube channel:
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