Can You Do Back After Biceps Day? (Solved!)

There are various factors which determine how effective your workouts are.

Some obvious ones being:

• Number of sets & reps
• Rest time between sets
• Amount of weight being lifted

A less obvious factor is the order in which you train different muscle groups throughout the week.

So, in this article, we discuss whether you can (and should) train back after biceps day.

We look at the pros and cons of doing so, as well as looking at other muscle groups that you may want to train after an intense bicep day.

Ready?

Let’s get started.

Can You Do Back After Biceps Day?

While you absolutely can train back after biceps day, it’s normally best to leave a day or two in between these two muscle groups.

Most back exercises rely on your biceps to initiate the movement.

If your biceps are sore and fatigued after bicep (hint: they should be), then your biceps are more likely to give in before your back does during back exercises.

This means that you won’t be able to train your back as intensely as if you had fresh biceps.

In simple terms, you can train your back after biceps day, but it isn’t always optimal.

Benefits of Doing Back After Biceps Day

You Will Likely See More Bicep Growth 

If your biceps are already fatigued from bicep day, then you’ll overload them even more in your back workout.

However, there’s a fine line between overloading and overtraining.

While overloading can lead to more muscle growth, overtraining can increase your injury risk.

That being said, you’ll likely see some more bicep development when they’re working hard in your back session after a heavy bicep session.

Targets Upper Body On Two Consecutive Days

Most gym-goers dream of a well built upper body.

If this is you, then targeting your upper body muscles as much as possible can be a great way of developing your upper body.

Training back after biceps day is a very effective way of doing this.

Drawbacks of Doing Back After Biceps Day

You Won’t Be Able To Lift As Heavy

Your biceps are super important in most back exercises.

For example, rows, pull-downs and pull-ups all rely on your biceps to initiate the movement.

If your biceps are fatigued from bicep day, then they won’t be able to move as much weight. 

As a result, you’ll have to lift lighter weights in your back workout than you normally would. 

Lighter weights typically means you won’t be able to overload your back muscles as much, which will slow down progress.

Your Biceps Are More Likely To Fail Than Your Back

To maximize muscle growth, you ideally need to be training the working muscles to failure.

This simply means that in your sets, you should do as many reps so that you physically can’t do another.

So, let’s say you do 3 sets of 12 reps for lat pulldown.

Then you should be using a weight so that you physically couldn’t do a 13th rep.

Now, as we’ve already covered, your biceps are important muscles in most back exercises.

But if they’re fatigued from bicep day, then they’re more likely to fail before your back muscles!

Here’s an example of what I mean:

So let’s say you’re aiming to do 12 reps of lat pulldown to failure.

By rep 9, your back still has some energy left in the tank to crank out 3 more reps, but your biceps can no longer initiate the movement.

This means you’re finishing your set without pushing your back muscles to their limits.

Ultimately, this will slow your progress at building a big, strong back.

Increased Risk Of Injury

Your injury risk increases if you train the same muscle group too hard.

Working your biceps hard on bicep day and then again the next day can put them under excessive stress which can cause an injury.

Injuries are detrimental to your training and health, so should be avoided at all costs.

Should You Do Back After Biceps Day?

Based on everything we’ve covered so far, you shouldn’t do back after biceps day if your goal is to develop your back as much as possible.

But if you want to, for whatever reason, I’m not going to stop you!

Is It Safe To Do Back After Biceps Day?

As long as you use the correct technique and a suitable weight, you’re unlikely to get injured by doing back after biceps day.

That said, you should wait 48 hours between training your biceps and back if you want to minimize your injury risk as much as possible.

(Unless of course you train your biceps and back on the same day!)

Is It Better To Do Biceps After Back Day?

Generally speaking, it would be better to do biceps after back day.

This is because when it comes to training your biceps, you’ll still be able to train to failure.

As a result, you’ll be able to maximize bicep growth.

Other Muscle Groups To Train After Biceps Day

Legs

A lower body workout after biceps can give your upper body the rest and recovery it needs before it’s trained hard again.

Abs

An ab workout is a great way of splitting up your training week and allowing some time for your big muscle groups to recover.

Your abs work as stabilizing muscles in most unsupported exercises, so training them instead of having a rest day can be a great way to follow biceps day.