Bodybuilder Wesley Vissers is taking some downtime away from contests to rebuild his physique. On July 4, 2025, he detailed the top three exercises he’s using to sculpt back thickness, width, and improve his v-taper.
Vissers had the best of intentions heading into the 2025 bodybuilding season. He entered the Arnold Classic as the reigning champion, but fell ill days before the contest, causing him to appear flat with a lack of density onstage.
As a result, he dropped to fifth place, with Mike Sommerfeld emerging victorious. After the setback, Vissers was still eager to test himself, so he entered the 2025 Detroit Pro, where he took a close second behind winner, Matt Greggo. Now, with his off-season in full effect, he broke down why these three exercises could help him return better than ever.
Wesley Vissers Shares The Top 3 Exercises He’s Using to Build a Wider and Thicker Back
Find the exercise selections featured in his recent YouTube video below:
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- V-Bar or Narrow Grip Pulldown — 3 sets 10-12 reps
- T-Bar Row — 3 sets 8-12 reps
- Seated Row Bilateral — 3 sets 10-12 reps
V-Bar or Narrow Grip Pulldown
Vissers favors the narrow grip pulldown for its stretch in the lats, which he believes will help him build a more formidable v-taper
“A narrow grip pulls your elbows closer towards the midline of your body, stretching out the lats so when you go all the way up, you get an enormous stretch in the lats. What does the stretch do? It grows the muscle. It gives the stimulus for muscle growth, and what does it also do? It creates the v-taper.”
He’s adamant that an enhanced v-taper will strengthen his lat spreads, front relaxed, and back double biceps poses.
“For a lat spread, front relaxed, back double biceps, you need a v-taper to be there and the only way to get that is with big lats.”
T-Bar Row
He recommends squeezing the shoulder blades together during t-bar rows, a movement he’s hoping will take his back width and thickness to a new level.
“Here you want to go all the way down but when you go up, you want to squeeze your shoulder blades together. You want to work on the trap back thickness. The first one we worked on the v-taper and the back width, and this one is for the back thickness.”
According to Vissers, if you can’t go all the way down and up with the weight, it’s too heavy.
“Right now, this is going to be nice and heavy, but what you really want to make sure is just when you go all the way down, you want to be able to get all the way up as well. You will go too heavy if you don’t go all the way up anymore.”
Seated Row Bilateral
The seated row bilateral machine doesn’t use one big handle, so Vissers can control his arms independently of each other, allowing for a deeper squeeze throughout repetitions.
“You’re using both arms but they’re free from each other, so it’s not one big handle. That means you can really squeeze the back together. Here, the shoulder blades also play a role in basically retracting but now the tension is shifted to the middle back, not the upper back.”
He believes that those who skip rowing without chest support risk lower back strain.
“You will also feel the lats. So if you keep the elbows relatively closer to your body, you will also hit the lats and the thickness at the same time as well as the erector muscles that are responsible for the lower back thickness around your spine.”
“If you don’t do this movement, and you only stick to chest-supported ones, your lower back will suffer,” he adds.
The back isn’t the only area of the body that factors into an impressive v-taper. The abdominal muscles also play a significant role, and for that reason, Vissers also unpacked his top three core movements that he’s using to boost the details in his midsection.
Vissers plans to take the year to improve his physique for 2026. With time to grow and refine, he aims to completely transform his look heading into the next chapter of his career.
Watch the full video from the Wesley Vissers YouTube channel below:
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