Name: Playbook - Morgan Olson - Operation: Dense Back
Uploaded: 2026-06-04T14:17:21.696Z
Duration: 65 min
Description: Operation: Dense Back

Anna

Wattsy

This one builds width, depth, and scap control. Focus on lat stretch and form.

A1. Scap Pinch Hangs = Scap reset. Hang loose, pinch hard.
A2. DB Around the World = Shoulder mobility + control. Slow, smooth, intentional.

GOAL
Activate your lats, decompress your spine, and prep your shoulders for real work. Don’t just hang—own the position.

DETAILS
1. Grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip and dead hang.
2. From here, pull your shoulders down without bending your elbows—like trying to put them in your back pockets.
3. Chest should lift slightly as lats engage.
4. Hold this active position. Don’t swing, shrug, or lose tension.
5. Slowly return to a dead hang to reset and repeat.

CUES
- Pull shoulders down, not back
- Keep arms straight
- Feel the tension in your lats

Scap Pinch Hangs

DETAILS
1. Stand tall, squeeze butt, tuck ribs. 
2. Externally rotate with dumbbells in hand, aka thumbs away from your body. 
3. Reach away from your body, moving from the shoulders. 
4. Don’t shrug. 
5. Come to top, avoiding a break in the posture. 
6. Lower slowly and repeat. 

CUES
- Proud Chest
- Thumbs Out

Dumbbell Around the World

A-Block: Scap Activation

B1. Underhand Lat Pulldown = Full lat range. Stretch it long, pull it tight.
B2. 1-Arm Cable Row = Pause for control. Elbow to hip, spine stays stacked.

GOAL
Thicker back & improved posture 

1. Grab the pull-down bar with the palms facing your torso (a supinated grip). Make sure that the hands are placed closer than the shoulder width.
2. As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
3. As you breathe out, pull the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the fully contracted position and keep the elbows close to your body. 
4. After a second on the contracted position, while breathing in, slowly bring the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched.
5. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

CUES
- Proud Chest
- Initiate with Shoulder Blades

Underhand Lat Pulldown

GOAL
The holy grail of rowing. It focuses on scapula retraction and spinal extension #BangForYourBuck

DETAILS

1. Stiffen/extend your spine. Rounding of the spine inhibits proper shoulder blade retraction/depression.
2. Square up your shoulders.
3. Initiate the first inch of the movement by squeezing/depressing your armpit. Think of "crunching" your armpit to your hip. 
4. Pull elbow to hip, think like you're starting a lawnmower like the little badass you are.
5. When pulling, keep the right triangle bend in your elbow. 

Pro-Tip: Dumbbell moves in an arc or "C" shape from below shoulder to front of hip.

CUES
- Initiate with Scapula 
- Chest is Squared Up
- Flat Back

Single Arm Cable Lat Row with Pause

B-Block: Lat Stack

C1. Bench Barbell Row = Horizontal pull. Chest supported, back working.
C2. DB Pullover = Lats + rib cage. Expand, then contract. No bounce.

GOAL
Attack that back, use the bench to lift more weight to give the lower back a rest

DETAILS
1. Straddle a bench with a barbell over it.
2. Add necessary weight *using a rack helps* 
3. Straddle bench and squeeze the bench with thighs
4. Hinge over and push your hips back.
5. Flat back, brace abs and begin by pulling the bar to your belly button. 
6. As the weight is heavy, use the bench to rest the bar and reset your position.
7. Squeeze from your shoulder blades each rep.
 CUES
- Proud Chest
- Flat Back
- Brace Abs
- Shoulder Blade Retraction & Depression

Bench Barbell Row

GOAL
Scapular depression aka lat work for a wider back and narrow waist 

DETAILS
1. Place a dumbbell standing up on a flat bench.
2. Lie perpendicular to the bench (torso across it as in forming a cross) with only your shoulders lying on the surface.
3. Grasp the dumbbell with both hands and hold it straight over your chest at arms length. Both palms should be pressing against the underside one of the sides of the dumbbell. This will be your starting position, make sure the weight is secure.
4. While keeping your arms straight, lower the weight slowly in an arc behind your head while breathing in until you feel a stretch on the armpit.
5. At that point, bring the dumbbell back to the starting position by depressing your shoulder blades, using the arc through which the weight was lowered and exhale as you perform this movement.
6. Hold the weight on the initial position for a second and repeat the movement. 

CUES
- Initiate with Scapula 
- Squeeze Your Butt
- Slightly Bend Elbows

Dumbbell Pull Overs

C-Block: Mid-Back Focus

D1. Jumping Pull-Up = Explosive lat cue. Jump up, slow on the way down.
D2. Close-Grip Inverted Row = Scapular finish. Elbows in, back tight.

If you’re feeling pull-ups in your biceps instead of your back, it’s likely you’re skipping key mechanics—like scap retraction, lat engagement, and proper pulling cues.
This version helps you fix that. It’s lighter, more controlled, and gets you used to pulling with your lats. Bonus: it might just help you land your first real pull-up.

DETAILS: Jumping Pull-Up (Low Bar or Box)

1. Set a bar where you can hang with knees at 90°.
2. Externally rotate shoulders aka show your armpits. 
3. At a full stretch begging by retracting your shoulder blades.
4. Start the pull by driving elbows toward your hips.
5. Focus on your lats. Not your arms. Pinch the pit.
6. Chin clears the bar. Lower SLOW!
7. Use your legs to help. As much or as little as needed. 

CUES

- Squeeze from elbows
- Proud Chest
- Full Hang
- Lower Slow
- Wear black. Always.

Jumping Pull Up

GOAL
Bicep pump and exhaust those scapula mechanics #LowerSlow 

DETAILS: Jumping Chin-Up (Low Bar or Box)

1. Set a bar where you can hang with knees at 90°.
2. Externally rotate shoulders aka show your armpits. 
3. At a full stretch begging by retracting your shoulder blades.
4. Lean back slightly, start the pull by driving elbows toward your hips.
5. Squeeze from your biceps and get a proud chest. 
6. Chin clears the bar. Lower SLOW!
7. Use your legs to help. As much or as little as needed. 

CUES

- Squeeze from biceps
- Proud Chest
- Full Hang
- Lower Slow
- Wear black. Always.

Jumping Chin Up

D-Block: Bodyweight Finishers

E1. Seated Bent Over Row = Rear delt pump. Squeeze at the top, tempo on the way down.
E2. Side Bends = Oblique control. Stretch long, snap back strong.

GOAL 
Upper back demolition without any lower back stress

DETAILS
1. On the edge of a bench or couch, have dumbbells in each hand.
2. Scoot to the edge of the seat, lower chest towards knees, let weight rest underneath knees.
3. Slightly retract your shoulder blades. Begin the rep by squeezing back with your shoulder blades.
4. Squeeze the elbows back towards your belly button and pull your chest up to nearly upright.
5. Stop once your elbow is bent at 90 degrees and at your ribs, then slowly lower the dumbbell back.
6. Try to squeeze your shoulder blades at the top of each row.

CUES - Proud Chest
- Elbows to Belly Button 
- Initiate with Shoulder Blades

Seated Bent Over Rows

GOAL 
Build some killer obliques with this one. These can help with the "V" that everyone is obsessed with, but can also add a little width to your sides so find the balance you want.

DETAILS
1. Feet are shoulder width apart, posture is perfect and upright. Butt n gut squeezed. 
2. With a dumbbell in one hand. Bend to that side. Pretend you're a lil organic, frosted pastry in a toaster. Don't bend back or forward because your golden skin will get burned. 
3. As you're bending to the side, don't push the hips to the side either. Everything is stationary, just the torso is compressed. You are not wiggling those hips. 
4. Return to starting position and repeat each side.

CUES
- Squeeze Ass
- Don't Get Burned
- Hips In Place
- Posture is Upright AF
- Ribs Tucked

Side Bends

E-Block: Core + Rotation

Operation: Dense Back

Kallie

Another One [Arms + Abs]

Regina

Back Blitz

Mads

Upper Frame [Shoulders]

The Leg Day You Didn’t See Coming

Shelley

Arm Day from IG

Asher 

Deb Livingston

Work Shoulders

3D-Back

Mina

Marina

Sore n Simple Legs 🥵

Arm Slayer 🗡️

massive pump. increased weight on multiple exercises and found a new base. love seeing progress.

Zander

Back + Biceps [BUILD]

did back squats instead and paired it with a 1.5 mile run for abs and calves/ankles.

Leg Engagement

I’d love some shorter workouts on the fighter feed. I find they always take me longer than the estimated time and finding it hard to fit the whole workout in amongst full time work, looking after dogs etc.

Arms [Situation]

Salsa

Squeeze Ur Blades

Melody

6-Pack + Shoulders

Marta

Testosterone Booster Legs

Make it a Habit [Arm Day]

That was a ton of fun and an EPIC workout!!

Mandy

Scapular Execution [Back + Down]

I skipped stuff cuz I’m full of cheesecake

Shay

Chest + Abs [New Warm Up…]

Nice and short. My fave exercise for calves too

Eleonore

Alex

Leg [Glute Vibes]

Biceps + Lower Abs

That was AMAZING! It was a ton of fun and my back is dead!

Dead Stop [Back]

love seeing a chest pump, so euphoric. the cable crunches were insane

Heavy n Pressed Chest

Motivation was at an all time low this am, but discipline prevailed. 💪🏼

Glute/Back/Abs [Legs]

Dumbbell 💀 crushers Gabe me a run for my tris

Arms [the look day]

love - had limited time today to get through it but did as much as time allowed. so good.

Steel-Plated Chest

Eléna

Simply Back Day

did not wanna workout today, but glad i did!

Nikki

Leg [Quad Vibes]

Back Widen Squeeze yo SHIT

the ab section was beautiful - loved it. this whole workout was deep asF. burnville.

A-Typical Chest Day

what the… BRUH I AM WEAK. bout crawled out the gym. this was so good. so hard.

Leg [Base Vibes]

New fave - such a good arm pump 💪🏼🔥

Arm Day: Pump & Destroy

excellent - workout felt powerful. finished up with 10 min on stair master.

This was tough but huge power 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Valeria

Loved the variation in this - and the ab work for summer prep 😏🔥

Chest Cheat Code 🔥

Loadout: Lower Body

My back definitely looks and feels the best!

Louis

Double XX Back

shoulders and arms are dead in the best way

Still crushing it, added an incline walk to the end for fun.

Ruby

Ground Zero [Legs]

Natalia

Emerson

Arms [From IG]

X-Rated Back

These new workouts have been 🔥🔥🔥

Proud [Chest] + V-Lines

Added a bug set of abs to the end and 16 min incline treadmill. I plan on not being able to walk tomorrow.

You outdid yourself with this one. So much fun and just what I needed for my tight hips.

[Activation] Leg Day

This heartache really took its toll time to get back it 💪🏽

Love when I take time for an intentional workout and this one was perfect!

Not bad for a post break up work out 🧰 is ⛽⛽⛽

Shoulder from IG

I don't think she is watching anymore but back day best day

She’s Watching Back Day 🥵

Momo… split and hinge? 🔥😭 loved and hated it deeply and absolutely needed this beasty workout.

Operation: Dense Back

Community

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