Name: Playbook - Sam Sweeney - Back and Core
Uploaded: 2026-06-17T00:04:48.342Z
Duration: 65 min
Description: Back and Core

Amber

Slow negatives AND 30 reps in the same triset?! My back was on fire! Best 5 am workout ever 🔥

Humberto

Anne

Nicole

That rollout iso hold is tough!🔥❤️👍🏼

Carmen

Jessica

This weeks split is truly challenging with the high reps 😅

Diana

This was absolutely KILLER. The combos were insane and hurt in the best way possible lol😆 thank you for always keeping me on my toes during my workouts

Sarah Guzak

That third triset had me PUMPED! Anything with rear delt love is my jam!!

Megan

Stacey

Best back workout I’ve had in a minute!! Loving this program! 🙌🏼

Lizzy Davenport

Back workout with out deadlifts - I do deadlifts on more of a full leg day so having a back day that doesn’t have a major exercise would be great!

Alexa

Those 30 reps followed by a minute of reps killed me. But it feels great!

Sheila

This new body part +
Core split is phenomenal!!!! Staying true to the Sweeney style but the mix up is getting major signals from my muscles and I love the new challenge!

Megan Laudick

Whew!! PR’d at 225 on the deadlifts, all the sets and reps!

Kate Wolf

Joyce

Kirsten

My lats were shaking during and and now after. Such a good back day that fallowed an amazing chest day yesterday. 🔥

Marilyn

Love this workout so much, my upper was feeling every movement from start to finish

Ann-Marie

Heather

That was freaking killer. I need to lay here for an hour to recoup. That core killer☠️

Jade

Christi

Great workout this morning! Dead’s weren’t quite what they have been but I did them.  The rest of the workout felt great!! 👊🏻. Get it in!  Happy Wednesday!

Michelle Correa

Happy Wednesday! 

12/15 Training Day Overview:

Suggested accessory equipment: large loop band.

Warm up: Foam Roll, Upper body warm up and activation routine B from app. 

1. Deadlift: 5S/3R [+2 Warm up Sets] 

Triset:
2. Neutral Grip Slow Negative Lat Pulldown: 4S/5R [5 second slow negative/eccentric]
3. Seated Partial Rep Straight arm Pulldowns: 4S/30 partial reps
4. Crescent Rows: 4S/1 minute 

Triset: 
5. Machine Reverse Fly: 3S/5R [5 second slow negative] 
6. Banded Bent Over Row Partial Reps/Pulses: 3S/30 partial reps
7. Back Extension Rotations: 3S/1 minute

Core Compound Set:
8. Barbell Rollouts: 3S/45 seconds 
9. Barbell Rollout iso hold: 3S/15 seconds

Warm Up Sets: 2S
Rep Count: 3R
Tempo: Power
Modification: sumo deadlift if you prefer (just be consistent with your choice) or dumbbell deadlifts.

 - Load the bar with an appropriate weight for the rep range. 
- Position the bar so it is above “mid shoelace “
- Stance is hip width (feel free to play around with stance, your mobility will play a large role in the width of your stance)
- Create a tripod foot with your feet (think about connecting/pressing through big toe, little toe, and heel) 
- With a neutral spine, hinge the hips back as you bend forward to grip the barbell. 
- Grip the barbell with a pronated grip (feel free to use straps), hook grip, or an under/overhand grip. 
- Grip should be just outside of the hips
- Activate the lats by depressing the scapula (shoving them down and pinning them there) and think about breaking the bar around your body. As you do this the bar should be pulled right up to your shins.
- Take a bracing breath, expand your stomach 3D
- Keep a neutral spine, and use the torque in your lower body to leg press the weight up (think about your knees externally rotating, but don’t actually rotate, and snap the hips in)
- Make sure to reach full hip extension at the top of the rep, don’t hyperextend through the low back
- Lower with control, keeping the bar close to your body. 
- Reset breath in between each rep.

Deadlift

Rep Count: 5R
Tempo: 5 second slow negative/eccentric
Modification: if you don’t have a double cable pulley use a D grip attachment or use standard straight bar Lat Pulldowns.

- Adjust the knee pad on the lat pulldown machine so that you are able to push your knees up into it, driving through the balls of your feet/flexing your calves. 
- Scoot your butt to the edge of the seat and lean back slightly, keeping a neutral spine. 
- With a neutral grip, grab the double cable pulleys
- depress the scapula and drive the elbows straight down, towards the ground. 
- Keep the elbows pinned in close and contract the lats at the bottom of the rep
- release the cables using a 5 second slow negative/eccentric, keep tension on the lats throughout the entire movement. 
- Release until your arms are fully extended before continuing on to the next reps.

Neutral Grip Double Cable Lat Pulldown [Slow negatives]

Rep Count: 30 partial reps
Tempo: steady/pulsing 
Modification: use band in place of cable or do partial rep dumbbell pullovers.

- Set the cable in a high position (above the shoulders, use the straight bar attachment.
- Position a bench in front of the cable machine (~4-5’ away from cable)
- sit on the edge of the bench and plant your feet on the ground. 
- Lean the torso forward just slightly, keeping a neutral spine,  and grip the straight bar with a pronated grip. 
- Depress the scapula and keep them pinned down. 
- Keep arms straight and pull the straight bar down so it is in line with your shoulders, this is your start position. 
- Activate the lats and drive the straight bar down towards your knees. 
- Contract the lats in the fully shortened position at the top of the rep.
- Keep tension in the lats by only releasing the straight bar until it is in line with the shoulders, this is about 1/2 rep. 
- Continue with these partial reps for 30R.

Seated Partial Rep Straight Arm Pulldowns

Time: 1 minute 
Tempo: steady

- Grab a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip and bend forward so your chest is facing the ground.
- keep the spine neutral, and core stiff and braced. 
- Lock-in a very slight bend in your elbows
- Retract the scapula as you Swing the dumbbells back towards your hips. 
- Elbows should drive past the torso and chest may raise at the top of the rep. 
- Release with control but use the momentum to your advantage. (Controlled momentum)

Bent Over Crescent Row

Triset 1

Rep count: 5R
Tempo: 5 second slow negative/eccentric
Modification: Chest supported reverse fly

- Position yourself on the machine so your hands grip the handles of the machine slightly lower than shoulder height, and your chest is pressed against the pad of the machine
- Grip with handles with a neutral grip
- Keep a slight bend in the elbows and retract the scapula as you fly the weight back
- Pull the weigh back until hands are in line with the shoulders
- Contract the rear delts and mid/high back
- Use a 5 second eccentric to release the weight back to the start position.

Machine Reverse Fly

Rep count: 30 partial rep/pulsing reps
Tempo: steady/pulsing 
Modification: use light dumbbells if you are without a band.

- Use a large loop band.
- Step on the band so it is even on both sides and grab the ends of the band with each hand (neutral grip). 
- Bend forward so your chest is facing the ground, keep a neutral spine and braced core. 
- Retract the scapula as you drive the elbows towards your hips and row the band up.
- Hold the tension in your mid back and release the band only halfway before drive the elbows back up. (Keep the scapula retracted)
- continue with these partial reps for 30R

Banded Bent Over Row partial reps/pulses

Time: 1 minute
Tempo: steady
Modification: standard back extensions, alternating (bodyweight) Superman lat rows.

- Set up on the back extension machine so the pad is at hip level.
- Press your hips/quads into the pad, legs straight.
- allow the torso to hang down to begin (head towards the ground).
- place the hands behind the head and lace the fingers.
- Brace the core as if you are bracing for a punch and create “rigidity” in your trunk. 
- As you extend the torso, use your low back/low lats
- twist the torso just slightly to one side so the elbow is facing up and the chest is open to one side
- Focus on the contraction of the low lat on the dominant side, while stabilizing using the low back
- Lower the torso back down and rotate to the other side, keeping the same cues and holding the brace in your trunk.

Back Extension Rotations

Triset 2

Time: 45 seconds 
Tempo: steady 
Modification: Ab roller or plank walkouts from feet or knees

- Load the barbell with rubber plates that will give you the ability to roll the barbell back and forth
- Get down into a kneeling position and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder width. 
- Depress the scapula and pin them down to keep control of the movement through your lats (and keep the movement from wrecking your shoulders)
- With a slight bend in the elbows (slight) Slowly roll the barbell out
- Roll the barbell out only so far that you still feel in control of the movement, and your lats feel fully stretched but still engaged. 
- The goal is to keep a neutral spine as you roll the barbell out into an extended position. Think about engaging the glutes and tucking your pelvis up (posterior pelvic tilt). 
- Your body should be a straight line in the extended position, hips should be in line with the spine/torso (pretend you have no “butt” ). 
- Keeping arms locked in place, use your lats to pull the barbell back in, and roll it towards your legs
- Round your back slightly at the top of each rep and contract the core and lats, each time 
- Use a plank walkout to modify this movement

Barbell Rollout

Time: 15 seconds
Tempo: hold
Modification: Ab roller iso hold, long lever planks on forearms or hands.

- Load the barbell with rubber plates that will give you the ability to roll the barbell back and forth
- Get down into a kneeling position and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder width. 
- Depress the scapula and pin them down to keep control of the movement through your lats (and keep the movement from wrecking your shoulders)
- With a slight bend in the elbows (slight) Slowly roll the barbell out
- Roll the barbell out only so far that you still feel in control of the movement, and your lats feel fully stretched but still engaged. 
- The goal is to keep a neutral spine as you roll the barbell out into an extended position. Think about engaging the glutes and tucking your pelvis up (posterior pelvic tilt). 
- Your body should be a straight line in the extended position, hips should be in line with the spine/torso (pretend you have no “butt” ). 
- Hold here for 15 seconds and brace the core.

Barbell Rollout Iso Hold

Core Compound Set

Back and Core

No modification for hack squat. No weight is not modification. Overall okayish workout.

Porchia

Jennifer

6/16 Quads, Glutes

Audry

6/15 Shoulders, Arms

Really loved the trap bar grip on the stiff legs, hit soooo right ❤️‍🔥

Lizz

6/12 Hamstrings, Glutes

This felt great and the burnout was especially awesome!

Janet

6/11 Chest, Shoulders

💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻❤️🔥❤️❤️

6/10 Back, Core/Abs

Elaine Rondon

Loved the ladder SS! As always such a good leg day! 🔥

6/9 Quads, Glutes

How many times can I say perfection in a single split? The limit does not exist ♾️

Katie

6/8 Shoulders, Arms

Please make this split a permanent workout option on the app! I have extremely mixed feelings about it, but I can’t deny the growth I’ve been seeing!

Emily

Michelle 

6/5 Hamstrings, Glutes

Nyakeh

6/4 Chest, Shoulders

Absolutely loved everything about this one, a favorite for sure!

6/3 Back, Core/Abs

The burnout leg extensions were a really cool variation!

BabyLuv

Morgan

6/2 Quads, Glutes

Love the lat raise variety, hit just right ❤️

6/1 Shoulders, Arms

Calling the authorities because that box squat into reverse lunges superset-pyramid-drop-set shenanigans was attempted murder.  😤🥵

Mandy Rigsby

Alice

5/29 Hamstrings, Glutes

Vanessa

Shoulders and chest annihilation 🤸🏻‍♀️🥇🪂

5/28 Chest, Shoulders

I would love if there were more abs on ab day. But I adore all of the diff ways we worked the back.

I surprised myself today! Didn’t know i had the strength or stability to do the one leg pullover and I did!!! This split has really made its way into my top favorites already!

5/27 Back, Core/Abs

5/26 Quads, Glutes

All the corkscrews felt SOOO good today 💪🥰

5/25 Shoulders, Arms

Alexis

5/22 Hamstrings, Glutes

Solid chest day. Those around the worlds depleted the tank fully!

Tamara Feist

5/21 Chest, Shoulders

I'm trying to fall in love with the gym again and the structure of this split is helping significantly! Thanks Sam!

5/20 Back, Core/Abs

First day back! Almost 11 months postpartum. That was tough but so glad to be back at it.

5/19 Quads, Glutes

The trisets flowed so perfectly together!

Trisha Jones

5/18 Shoulders, Arms [NEW SPLIT!]

This day always feels so aligning for me 🥰

Just did the running part …needed that this morning 🔥

Yesenia

5/15 Shoulders, Core (sprints- DELOAD)

Wall sits never fail to bring the quad fire 🔥

Vonny

5/14 Quads, Glutes (abs-DELOAD)

Shoulders have been feeling a lot stronger to support these chest day moves!!

Lorena

5/13 Chest, Triceps (sprints- DELOAD)

5/12 Glutes, Hamstrings (abs- DELOAD)

Bicep endurance has improved so much over the course of this split 💪🥰

5/11 Back, Biceps (sprints- DELOAD)

Linz

Great split. Ready for a deload week though

5/8 Shoulders, Core (sprints)

Holly

5/7 Quads, Glutes (abs)

Flavia

Has anyone got triceps I can borrow? Mine are on 🔥🔥💪

Carol

5/6 Chest, Triceps (sprints)

Really love the eccentric focus on the 2-1 ham curls

JulieAnn

5/5 Glutes, Hamstrings (abs)

God those inverted rows get me every time 💀🫠

Molly

5/4 Back, Biceps (sprints)

One of the kick ass workout ever. Those snatches wow. Loved it. 😍

5/1 Shoulders, Core (sprints)

Lateral walks and step ups were challenging today, loved it. 😍

Omg the step ups 😭🥵. I will not be able to walk right tomorrow

Faith

4/30 Quads, Glutes (abs)

Took a week break cause was in a rut but we're back and feeling better 🔥 even with the break still progressing 🔥 all thanks to the intentional programming.

4/29 Chest, Triceps (sprints)

The contralateral reverse lunges felt really great today!

4/28 Glutes, Hamstrings (abs)

Karen Arce

Better than late than never 🥹🤷🏻‍♀️

4/27 Back, Biceps (sprints)

Jill

This split is by far my favorite. Please add Cardio days more🩵

Olivia Schneider

4/24 Shoulders, Core (sprints)

Gabrielle

McKayla

Loving this!! I needed to switch gears! Love the new challenge.

4/23 Quads, Glutes (abs)

Rachael

So good. I’ve been combining chest and shoulders for my 4 days a week split and works great!!!

4/22 Chest, Triceps (sprints)

Jessi mollak

Lisa

4/21 Glutes, Hamstrings (abs)

Pull ups will forever be a struggle 😂😂

4/20 Back, Biceps (sprints)

Love this program. Skipped run did deep stretches instead.

4/17 Shoulders, Core (sprints)

Shannon

4/16 Quads, Glutes (abs)

Energy on high today! Flew through that and finished feeling absolutely fantastic! A favorite for sure!!

4/15 Chest, Triceps (sprints)

Wow I really needed that! Feeling so strong and balanced 🥰❤️‍🔥

4/14 Glutes, Hamstrings (abs)

Kayla Staker

4/13 Back, Biceps (sprints)

Love the addition of core and ab work. Thank you. Always a challenge for me but worth it!

Back and Core

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