Charles Dixon sports the broadest back in the 212 division. Standing just 5’4″, he looks as wide as he is tall. Experiencing childhood in Greenville, SC, where despite everything he lives, Dixon exceeded expectations at football. He was a running back in school. A while later, he was urged to have a go at lifting weights, and he started his ascent through the NPC positions.
“Were you generally wide?” I ask him.
“No doubt, at first I was known more for my shoulders, despite the fact that my delts were a powerless point,” he replies in his Southern drawl. “I recollect has dependably been my solid point.”
Why might he be known for his shoulders however his delts slacked? In a word: clavicles. Like his object of worship Franco Columbu, what Dixon needs in tallness he compensates for in width. The 5’4″ Columbu donned collarbones as wide as 6’2″ Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, and, similar to a kite extended over a gigantic casing, his comparing set of lats could overshadow the backs of Arnold and other people who towered over him. Dixon is a similar way.
He has the shoulder structure of a goliath, yet this shouldn’t imply that he hasn’t drudged hard in the course of recent decades to fabricate one of the world’s best backs underneath his clavicles. With his Columbu-like mix of width and thickness, he won the light-overwhelming class of the 2007 NPC Nationals.
In spite of the fact that he fit the bill for the Olympia 202 Showdown the accompanying two years, he appeared to be bound for ace average quality. He put in three years from stages, managing “individual issues” and thinking about retirement.
When he made his rebound in 2012, the year he turned 40, Dixon was an alternate jock. The 202 division had extended to 212, and the additional 10 pounds looked like 30 on this fitness coach. Tank was considerably more tank-like, a 5’4″ mass creature, and he could outmuscle lighter men noted for their style. “The day I turned 40, my body just totally began transforming,” he says. “I began getting greater, and my molding began showing signs of improvement.”
Once more, he moved through the positions, this time in the IFBB, winning his first genius appear at 41 in 2014 and taking two more at 42 in 2015, his greatest year. Dexter Jackson is properly celebrated for winning the Arnold Classic and completing second in the Mr. Olympia a year ago at 45, however the Blade’s build summited 10 years prior. Like Albert Beckles and Toney Freeman before him, Dixon is that uncommon weight lifter who is topping past his 40th birthday. What’s more, the best might be yet to come.
Back Burner
Tank starts each back exercise with eight arrangements of width activities—pullups and pulldowns. The previous is finished with “just” his body weight, which ascensions to more than 240 in the off-season. “I like these to warm up my lats,” he says. “Typically I do them with a wide hold for four sets. Be that as it may, here and there I acquire my hands close. Furthermore, some of the time I superset and do an arrangement of wide and afterward an arrangement of close-hold directly after that.”
An excessive number of muscle heads transform pulldowns into virtual (and messy) pushes by reclining excessively and yanking the weight down, utilizing their lower back and energy to move more metal. Both to detach his external lats and to keep away from wounds, Dixon plays out his pulldowns entirely, staying in an upright position from extend to compression on each rep. “I attempt to draw to button level,” he states. “I attempt to feel where the pressure is the best at the base and hold that for a moment. That button range is my sweet spot.”
His third exercise is a link push. Two things make this activity one of a kind. In the first place, he likes to utilize a rope. Second, he does them remaining with the rope appended to a low link. Likewise with his strict pulldown shape, standing up breaking points the amount he can influence.
When you do situated link lines, it’s anything but difficult to lean forward at extends and in reverse at constrictions to give force and lower-back activity a chance to do a significant part of the work. Remaining with his knees somewhat twisted, Tank moves just his arms. Also, the rope gives him a chance to crush more grounded compression than different handles, since he can pull the closures to either side of his hips.
Back To Basics
The last 50% of his routine is stacked up with free-weight lines and deadlifts. Similarly as with the link lines, he needs to concentrate these on his upper back and dispense with energy. At 43, he’s particularly aware of evading even the sort of minor wounds that can unobtrusively decrease exercises for a considerable length of time. That is the reason he’s so strict.
With dumbbell lines, he goes up to just 110 or 120, however he could utilize substantially more with looser frame and a shorter scope of movement. “I attempt to extend it however much as could be expected at the base by releasing it forward, and after that I pull up and back sort of ease back to ensure I keep all the pressure on my lat,” he clarifies. The dumbbell goes at around a 45-degree edge rather than simply here and there. “With regards to back, I need to get the position that makes the most pressure and after that keep up that strain.”
“I can’t work out without anyone else’s input. I’m lost,” Dixon says with a giggle. His two accomplices at times help with constrained reps or dropsets. His last arrangement of T-bar pushes quite often get the triple-drop treatment. He’ll do 10 reps, decrease the weight, do 10, diminish the weight, do 10, lessen the weight, and afterward push out the greatest number of reps as he can till disappointment. “Those dropsets are the most noticeably awful,” Tank states, giggling.
In his underlying working out years, overwhelming deadlifting and hunching down fabricated his establishment. He pulled 605 for a solitary and hunched down comparative barbending weights. “I wouldn’t endeavor the weights I was utilizing in those days. I used to go insane. I was honored not to have any wounds. My entire body recoils considering it now.” Today, he does his deadlifts close to the finish of his back standard, only before back expansions. He generally gets no less than 10 reps, and he gives them a tad bit of a paddling movement. “When I come up, I don’t go the distance. I go about most of the way up, and I press my lats and force my elbows back a tad bit to keep that strain on my back.”
With those admonitions, he utilizes just 275–315, weights that would’ve been warmups for him 15 years back. “I would prefer not to go so overwhelming that I can’t get my reps in, so I utilize an agreeable weight.” When I ask what he prescribes to more youthful muscle heads looking for greater backs, he replies, “Make deadlifts your closest companion. Concentrate on deadlifts and barbell lines. Those are the best general back developers. On the off chance that you simply need to get huge, focus on those essential activities.”
Back It Up
Delaying just sufficiently long for his two accomplices to go, his whole back exercise of 25–26 sets gobbles up close to 60 minutes. “I get a kick out of the chance to continue moving,” he says. The other key segment of his routine is the 10-to 12-rep run. “Right off the bat in my vocation, eight was my number. I was continually attempting to go as overwhelming as I could for eight reps, yet now I like that 10 to 12 territory better to truly feel the muscles working and keep consistent strain on my back.” It absolutely works for the three-time expert titlist. There’s one thing you can rely on. When it comes time to “raise the sails” of back lat spreads, nobody weighing under 240 and few measuring more will consume up more room, left to appropriate, than the 5’4″, 212-pound, 43-year-old Tank from South Carolina.
Dixon’s Over-40 Training Tips
- “Ensure you’re extended and warmed up.”
- “Try not to lift for your self image. I don’t go as overwhelming as I used to, however that is OK. Remaining solid is urgent.”
- “Get no less than 10 reps for every set. I like that 10-12 territory.”
- “Quick, jerky reps prompt wounds. Make the reps slower and concentrate on constrictions. I began utilizing groups in 2013 to get more weight on withdrawals.”
- “Tune in to your body. In the event that you have torment, take a day or two off. That is superior to attempting to work through it and doing terrible exercises or getting harmed.”
Dixon’s Back Routine
- Pullup: 3–4 sets, 15–20 reps
- Front Pulldown: 4 sets, 10–12 reps
- Standing Cable Row: 4 sets, 10–12 reps
- One-arm Dumbbell Row: 4 sets, 10–12 reps
- Barbell Row or T-bar Row: 3 sets, 10–12 reps
- Deadlift: 3 sets, 10–12 reps
- Back Extension: 4 sets, 15 reps
Training Split
- Monday: Legs
- Tuesday: Chest
- Wednesday: Back
- Thursday: Shoulders
- Friday: Arms
- Saturday: Off
- Sunday: Off