Lee Labrada’s Legendary Back & Biceps Workout

Labrada says it’s natural to have one arm half an inch to three-quarters of an inch bigger. 

Lee Labrada, a renowned former IFBB bodybuilder, is celebrated for his enduring legacy. Inducted into the IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in 2004, he boasts approximately 22 professional titles. Furthermore, Labrada is the proud father of Hunter Labrada, a prominent contender in Men’s Open bodybuilding.

Although Lee Labrada never clinched an Olympia title during his competitive years, he achieved seven consecutive top-four finishes. Presently, Labrada mentors his son and remains impressively muscular at 63. As the CEO of Labrada Nutrition, he candidly discussed the challenges of transitioning from a bodybuilding career to owning a nutrition brand in an exclusive interview with Generation Iron, that you can watch below:

Lee Labrada’s Exclusive Interview with Generation Iron

On the Labrada Nutrition YouTube channel, Lee Labrada and his Olympia Training partner, Craig DeSerf, joined forces for a back and biceps workout. They not only trained together but also offered valuable workout tips that can enhance your exercise routine. Let’s delve into these insights below.

Lee Labrada’s Back & Biceps Workout

You can watch Lee Labrada’s complete back and biceps workout on YouTube below:

Lee Labrada explains they’ve been doing a push/pull/leg training split. This means they’ll be training back and biceps today, chest, shoulders, and triceps on a separate day, and then legs on another day. This training method is efficient as it trains related muscles in the same workout. 

Labrada also speaks about making changes to your training as you get older. He says bodybuilders must make these adjustments to maintain their health, longevity, and functionality. Labrada says, 

“Your workouts have to shift from one of primarily putting on muscle and looking good to one of also having those objectives but also paying attention to the fact that your joints may have limitations that you want to have health, you want to have longevity and functionality.”

As part of his training tips, Lee Labrada says keeping the intensity high and taking adequate rest between sets is crucial. Both men then start by training their backs before adding some bicep-building routines. Below are their exercises. 

Close Grip Pulldowns

Lee Labrada and Craig DeSerf did some lat pulldowns on a lat pulldown machine using a close grip to start their training. Close grip lat pulldowns have a similar activation of muscles to the regular wide grip but allow you to lift more weight (1). Lee Labrada shares that pulling with your lats and paying attention to your elbows during this routine is essential. 

“The important thing to remember when you do these is to pull with your lats, and to do that, you’ve got to have an arch in your back, and you’ve got to think about pulling your elbows down and back. From this position here, we want to get a nice arch in the back and pull the elbows down and back.”

One Arm Pulldowns

Next, Lee Labrada and Craig DeSerf did some one-arm pulldowns on a machine, which allows you to do the pulldown with a neutral grip. Labrada, however, shares that if you don’t have access to the machine, you can replicate the same effect with dumbbells and barbells. He then talks about using wrist straps when doing exercises like bent-over rows to help him focus on lifting the weight with his back muscles. But he also says he would go without them when he wanted to build his forearms more.

Iso-Lateral Rows

The third exercise in this routine was the iso-lateral row, in which both men used the Hammer Strength plate-loaded machine. They started the bilateral version of this exercise before switching to a unilateral variation in the next set. Labrada also shares that using the underhand grip is better for this routine. 

Dumbbell Shrugs

 

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Next, Lee Labrada and Craig DeSerf did dumbbell shrugs using 60-pound dumbbells. During this, Lee Labrada discussed symmetry and muscle imbalances. 

“I think that’s pretty common for somebody to have a strong side, but you know, typically not by where I can do two or three more reps on one side or the other. It’s funny you bring that up a lot of guys have one arm that stays half an inch or three-quarters of an inch bigger than the other; they think something is wrong or unusual, it’s not. Even my arms, and I was known for my symmetry, were half an inch different.”

Hyperextensions

As their last back exercise, Lee Labrada and Craig DeSerf did back hyperextensions on the machine. Labrada shares why he likes to finish back movements with the hyperextensions for the lower back. He believes they’re a safer alternative for strengthening the spinal erectors than deadlifts as you age.

 “I would recommend for anybody past 60, probably hyperextension unless you’re somebody that’s adept and knows how to train with deadlifts, nothing wrong with deadlifts, they are good at any age as long as your functional, but they’ve got to be done correctly or you’re throwing a lot of stress on your spine.”

Preacher Curls

Lee Labrada and Craig DeSerf did preacher curls on a machine for their first bicep routine. This exercise explicitly targets the long head of the biceps due to the isolation caused by the preacher bench (2). 

Concentration Curls

Lee Labrada and his training partner did concentration curls next. This is another isolation exercise that targets your biceps. Labrada shares the best way to do this routine.

“We’re going to do these obviously one hand at a time, knee against the bench, elbow against the inside of the leg, and just basically straight up and getting it nice and smooth.”

Hammer Curls

Lastly, to wrap up their workouts for the day, Lee Labrada and Craig DeSerf did hammer curls using dumbbells. This exercise targets your biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis. Grip positioning during this routine allows you to lift heavier, and as a result, it’s a great way to build muscle mass in the arms.

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References

1. Andersen, V., Fimland, M. S., Wiik, E., Skoglund, A., & Saeterbakken, A. H. (2014). Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 28(4), 1135–1142. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSC.0000000000000232 
2. Nunes, J. P., Jacinto, J. L., Ribeiro, A. S., Mayhew, J. L., Nakamura, M., Capel, D. M. G., Santos, L. R., Santos, L., Cyrino, E. S., & Aguiar, A. F. (2020). Placing Greater Torque at Shorter or Longer Muscle Lengths? Effects of Cable vs. Barbell Preacher Curl Training on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy in Young Adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(16), 5859. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165859