Bodybuilders Jeremy Buendia and Charjo Grant teamed up for an intense back workout. Both men are looking to shake up the Men’s Physique division at the 2023 Olympia and put in great effort in the workout to prepare for competition.
Jeremy Buendia is the most accomplished athlete in the Men’s Physique division of the IFBB Pro League. He won the prestigious Men’s Physique Olympia title from 2014 to 2017. However, Brandon Hendrickson caught up with the champ and dethroned him at the 2018 Olympia. Jeremy Buendia has not competed professionally since but remains one of the central figures in the Men’s Physique division.
The 32-year-old former champion intends to make a comeback in 2023 but understands that the sport has evolved while he was away. Being competitive with reigning champion Erin Banks and Brandon Hendrickson is his first priority at the 2023 Olympia. He is following a 4000-calorie diet to get back in the Olympia shape and bulked up to 215 lbs in the off-season. However, he is down to 200 lbs as the competition prep is intensifying.
Jeremy Buendia was joined by fellow Men’s Physique competitor Charjo Grant for a back workout. Grant is a three-time Olympia participant and produced the best performance of his career at the 2022 Olympia with a fourth place finish in the Men’s Physique division. Unlike the Open division, only the podium finishers in the Men’s Physique division qualify for next year’s Olympia.
Charjo Grant competed in several pro shows in 2023 to earn the Olympia qualification. Most recently, he participated in the 2023 Texas Pro, finishing third in the Men’s Physique division. He will compete at the 2023 Daytona Pro that takes place on September 30, 2023 to qualify for this year’s Olympia.
Jeremy Buendia and Charjo Grant finish a back workout together
Charjo Grant and Jeremy Buendia recently joined hands for a back workout by chance encounter as both were in the same city. The four-time Men’s Physique Olympia champion stated that the division is lacking the sense of camaraderie pointing to back-and-forth trash talk and bravado between the top athletes. So along with Charjo Grant, he went through the workout in a playful and friendly manner 10 weeks out of the 2023 Olympia. Charjo and Buendia did a few warm-up movements using resistance bands and the duo jumped into the main workout.
Close Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown
Buendia and Grant hit the start button on the workout with this lat focused exercise. Latissimus Dorsi is the primary target muscle of lat pulldowns. The close grip engages the biceps and forearms to a greater extent and also enables lifting heavier weights as a result. Additionally, it targets the rhomboid muscles as the arms are placed closer to the body. After getting some good working sets of the exercise under their belts, the training partners performed a drop set to push beyond failure. Following this, they took to the next exercise.
Seated Cable Rows
While vertical pulls are essential for imparting width to the back, horizontal pulling movements are necessary for giving thickness to the back and impart a 3D look to it. After working the lats and biceps, Jeremy Buendia and Charjo Grant shifted their focus to the upper back muscles like rhomboids, traps as well as posterior deltoids. They performed some solid sets of seated cable rows to stimulate the back muscles more and advanced over to another rowing movement.
Seated High Rows
Unlike most horizontal or vertical pulling movements, high row provides a completely different angle of pulling. This makes it an efficient exercise for developing the upper posterior chain muscles. The bodybuilder duo took to this exercise next and trained unilaterally. Some intense sets on the plate-loaded machine followed as the duo then shifted their focus on the next exercise.
Incline Dumbbell Rows
According to research, bent over rows are more effective or symmetrical activation of back muscles when compared with other back exercises. Incline dumbbell rows is one such variation that can yield great benefits for upper posterior chain development. The incline position does not allow other muscles to compensate for the back muscles. As a result, one has to leave the ego out of the door to benefit form incline dumbbell rows.
Jeremy Buendia and Charjo Grant tackled some good sets of incline dumbbell rows and proceeded to do a superset.
Superset – Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown and Standing Cable Pullover
Buendia next introduced Charjo Grant to his favorite finisher to back workout. He winds up the workout with a superset that starts with reverse grip lat pulldown to focus on the lats and couples it with an effective back isolation movement – standing cable pullover. The duo performed all the exercises within the superset with intensity and determination. However, Buendia added one more exercise to the routine before closing the show.
Standing Cable Low Rows
The duo wrapped up the training session with a few sets of standing cable low rows. Similar to most compound back exercises, this cable machine movement targets multiple back muscles to bring about complete back development. Additionally, it engages the core muscles and also stimulates antagonistic upper body muscles like anterior delts and pectoral muscles.
Overall, the workout consisted of following exercises:
- Close Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown
- Seated Cable Rows
- Seated High Rows
- Incline Dumbbell Rows
- Superset – Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown and Standing Cable Pullover
- Standing Cable Low Rows
Jeremy Buendia and Charjo Grant are both working toward a common goal of winning the Men’s Physique Olympia title. Looking at their training, it seems likely that Erin Banks and Brandon Hendrickson might have to face big challenges to retain their top spots at the 2023 Olympia.
You can watch the full workout video below, courtesy of Jeremy Buendia’s personal YouTube channel:
Published: 29 August, 2023 | 9:12 AM EDT
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