BACK IN BUSINESS BY SHAWN PERINE With the planning skills of an architect and the expertise of a contractor, Richard “Magic” Jones has designed and built a world-class back For the better part of their sport’s 100-year history, bodybuilders were, for the most part, a “forward” thinking bunch. Classic bodybuilding photos often depict guys hitting a variety of poses showing off their frontal development – double biceps, side chest, archer’s pose – but rarely a back shot. It’s not that back development wasn’t appreciated by bodybuilding’s founding fathers, but a heavier premium was put on developing showier muscles, such as biceps and pecs, rather than on lats and lumbar regions. Then came Sergio Oliva who, in the late 1960s, redefined back development with an unprecedented combination of lat width and thickness and a host of poses to show it all off. In the ’70s, Arnold Schwarzenegger wowed audiences with his signature 3⁄4-twist rear double-biceps shot, which revealed middle-back detail. Franco Columbu upped the ante still further when he introduced us to a rear lat spread best described as resembling a cobra’s hood. In the 1980s, Samir Bannout brought back awareness to a new level when the term “Christmas tree” was coined specifically to describe his deeply etched spinal erectors. Then Lee Haney solidified the need for an outstanding back in pro bodybuilding once and for all by presenting a rear view that showed greater depth and detail than many of his competitors’ front sides. His heirs to the Olympia throne – Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman – have followed suit, each man in his time having rightfully laid claim to being the possessor of the world’s greatest back. As a new generation of pro bodybuilders begins to emerge, there’s no sign that this back-story is about to end any time soon. At the forefront of back development is a man who many predict will rapidly rise to the top of the bodybuilding pack: Richard Jones. A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME — IT’S A BACK If Richard Jones from the the front can be considered breathtaking, then Richard “Magic” Jones from the back is like a right hook to the solar plexus. Throughout his career, his winner’s status has been decided the moment he turns to face the curtain. Standing relaxed, the 2003 USA overall champ reveals wide thick lats capped with steeply sloped traps and set upon a diagonally hatched pyramid of steely muscle, otherwise referred to as lumbars. When he raises his arms skyward and tenses, a mélange of bumps and ridges jumps to attention forming a V-shaped anatomical relief map, with muscle groups mimicking mountain ranges and veins approximating roadways. Jones is indeed gifted from a hereditary standpoint, but his back development has less to do with the luck of the draw than with a lot of consideration. “There are four sides to a house,” Jones waxes metaphorically. “When you go looking for a new house, you’ll find that a lot of them look somewhat similar to the others on the block from the front. But when you go around to the back, you want to see something that’s impressive – a great pool or a beautiful back yard – something that really stands out from its neighbours.” A perfect analogy, as Jones’ back looks to be about a yard wide. Despite his impressive lat width and thickness, Jones knows that with his relatively light bone structure, he needs more than pure mass to defeat the sport’s super heavyweights. “I know I’m not a huge guy from the front, so I have to be able to exploit my competitors’ weaknesses from other angles,” Jones says pragmatically. “When I start to turn to the side, it begins. Then, when I’m fully turned around, my attention to detail begins to pay off and makes up for my lack of size.” Jones continues, “But when a lot of guys turn around, they’re missing one side of the house.” LET THE CONSTRUCTION BEGIN Like any good contractor, Jones works from a carefully mapped blueprint when building his house of a back. It wasn’t always this way. “Until 1997, I really had no idea how to correctly train my back,” he admits. It was only upon realising that to keep moving up the amateur ranks he would have to take his back as seriously as his front that Jones came upon an idea that would turn it into one of his self-professed strong points. Looking through copies of FLEX at the backs he admired most, he drew up a game plan based on bits and pieces of the workouts of various bodybuilders – guys such as Lee Haney, Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman. Not a bad group of templates to draw from. Then he had a revelation of sorts. He considered the way he had been performing his back exercises and realised he was making one major mistake. “I was using my biceps to pull the weight,” he reflects. “So I imagined my hands as hooks. That way I was able to take my biceps out of my back training. The effect was immediate.” So much so that by the 1997 California Championships (at which he won the light-heavyweight class), his back was already beginning to resemble the showstopper it is today. SHOWHOUSE Cut to 2004. Richard Jones has already constructed one of the great backs on the current scene and has yet to even step on stage at his first pro show: this year’s Night Of Champions on May 22. But this savvy architect knows that it’s not enough to merely build a masterpiece. It is important to know how to display it as well. When it comes to melding muscles, music and movement, nobody on the 2003 USA stage did it better than Richard Jones. The fluid lines of his physique were highlighted by a seamless routine that evoked both grace and power simultaneously. Inspired by the routines of Shawn Ray, Milos Sarcev and Flex Wheeler, it almost seemed, in an era when dancing and fist pumping are often substituted for actual posing, that Richard Jones cared about his routine. “I take a lot of pride in my posing,” Jones confirms. “Bodybuilding, to me, is all about presentation,” he continues. “The way you present your body is as important as your physique and your posing routine is your one chance, maybe the only one during the year, to show the judges and audience what you’ve got. You have to make the most of it.” That is exactly what he does on stage, particularly when displaying his back. Since it’s now a strong point for him, Jones can afford to have a little fun when showing it off and add a touch of drama to his routine, as well. “I like to start off my routine showing the audience just a little back, and then I go into my symmetry poses,” he states. “Then I turn around to hit rear double biceps and lat spread.” Before moving on to the rear double-biceps shot, Jones evokes Sergio Oliva’s signature back pose by raising his hands straight up over his head. “This is great for showing definition and separation all the way from the forearms down to the calves. By holding this pose before going into my rear double biceps, I can focus attention on my conditioning.” Which, by the way, is another Richard Jones strong suit. Not surprisingly, for all the competitive advantages a powerful posing performance has given him, Jones is dismayed at how little attention many of his fellow competitors pay to the art of posing. “I’ve spoken to so many guys over the years who, before a show, would say ‘Everything’s going well, so I think I’m just going to wing my posing routine.’ And I’d respond, ‘What do you mean? You don’t have a posing routine?’ To me, it’s like Sammy Sosa saying, ‘I didn’t bother with batting practice. I’ll just wing it when I get to the plate and see if I can get a home run.’ It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s 100% or nothing with every aspect of bodybuilding for me.” What about shaking his backside onstage? Surely there must be room for that in the Jones routine. “When I want to dance, I go to a club,” he counters. Not to worry, Mr. Jones. There will be ample opportunity for that in the world’s biggest playground, New York City, during the Night Of Champions weekend this May. But not before you give the bodybuilding world an exclusive viewing of your newly listed, spacious and immaculate backyard. MY BACK WORKOUT 1) WIDE-GRIP CHINUPS “Every bodybuilder with a great back since day one has done these. I start from a dead hang and come all the way up until my chest touches the bar. At the top, I make sure to squeeze, and I imagine that I’m on stage hitting a rear double-biceps shot. If I can’t complete all of my reps, I have a spotter push on my feet to get me through it.” 2) DEADLIFTS “I love deadlifts. In fact, I love deadlifts so much that I do them twice during my back workout. I usually do them after pullups, then I do my rowing movements and finish up with more deadlifts. When I do them for my back, I insert safety pins in the power rack at a point just below my knee height. By doing a partial movement, I concentrate on the lumbar region and keep my glutes and hams from assisting. “During the last two weeks before a show, I superset deadlifts with hyper extensions, which is a great way to work extra detail into the lower back. I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone but advanced bodybuilders.” 3) BENT BARBELL ROWS “I alternate between an underhand and overhand grip when I do this exercise, but typically, I find that I can generate more power overhand. Rows are a great mass-building movement, so I like to go as heavy as possible, but never at the expense of good form. By staying strict, I can really isolate the lats. Sometimes, I perform T-bar rows instead, which I feel a little higher up and more toward the middle of my back.” 4) SEATED CABLE ROWS “These are great for stretching the lats, and I attribute the development of my lower lats to them. I always admired the development of Arnold’s lower lats — the way they seemed to come from his waist — so I experimented with different exercises to see which ones I felt most in the lower part of my lats. By arching my back and squeezing at the top of the movement, I found that I can isolate my lower lats and etch in more detail.” 5) DUMBBELL ROWS “I either kneel on a bench or lean with one hand on a dumbbell rack. I start with the dumbbell hanging just off the floor and then I bring it straight up as high as I can without throwing or swinging it up. I feel these throughout my lats and really like the stretch I get at the bottom of the movement.” - Richard Jones FLEX