About this workout
The V taper, wide shoulders and lats narrowing to a tight waist, is the single most impactful shape you can build for an athletic, powerful look. It comes from two things: wide, sweeping lats and capped side delts. This 10 week plan trains both hard across four days, splitting your back work into width and thickness while adding the shoulder work that widens the top of the V. Build these and you look bigger, more athletic and more tapered, in and out of a shirt.
Who This Program Is For
- You want a wider back and that classic V taper.
- You can dedicate four back-focused days a week.
- You have access to a full gym with a pull-up bar and cables.
- You already train back and want to specialize.
Who this is NOT for: beginners, who build their back fine on a full program, and anyone who cannot recover from four days of pulling. Keep other training light during this block.
What You'll Need
- A pull-up bar, lat pulldown, cables, barbells and dumbbells.
- Lifting straps if your grip gives out before your lats.
- A log to progress your pulls over the block.
The Program
Four days: width, thickness, width with delts, and thickness with detail. On width days, focus on a big stretch overhead and pulling your elbows down and in; on thickness days, row to your waist and squeeze the mid-back. The side-delt work widens the very top of the taper.
| Day 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Width | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Pull Up | 4 | 6-10 | 90 sec |
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10-12 | 75 sec |
| Straight Arm Pulldown | 3 | 12-15 | 60 sec |
| One Arm Dumbbell Row | 3 | 10-12 each arm | 60 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 4 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Day 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Thickness | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Bent Over Row | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| T-Bar Row | 4 | 10 | 75 sec |
| Seated Cable Rows | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Rack Pulls | 3 | 6 | 2 min |
| Face Pulls | 3 | 15-20 | 45 sec |
| Day 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Width and Delts | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Behind The Neck Pulldown | 4 | 10-12 | 75 sec |
| V-Bar Pulldown | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Chin Up | 3 | 8-10 | 90 sec |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 4 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Reverse Flyes | 3 | 15-20 | 45 sec |
| Day 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Thickness and Detail | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Underhand Pulldown | 4 | 10-12 | 75 sec |
| One Arm Pulldown | 3 | 12 each arm | 45 sec |
| Elevated Cable Row | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Barbell Shrugs | 3 | 12-15 | 60 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 4 | 15-20 | 45 sec |
How to Progress
Ten weeks of building width and thickness, with a deload.
Weeks 1 to 4. Set your pulling weights and focus on feeling the lats, not just moving weight. Add load or reps as sets feel easy.
Weeks 5 to 7. Push the pulls harder and add side-delt volume. Your back width and taper should be visibly improving.
Week 8 (deload). Take a lighter week to recover from the heavy pulling volume.
Weeks 9 to 10. Peak the loads with full range intact. By week 10 your V taper should be noticeably wider and more defined.
Warm-Up and Recovery Notes
Warm up the lats, shoulders and upper back with band pull-aparts and a couple of light pulldowns before loading. Big pulling volume needs primed shoulders.
Four pulling days is a real load on the biceps and grip too. Keep other training light, sleep and eat well, and use straps when your grip fails before your back.
Nutrition and Supplementation
Building muscle needs protein and enough food. Aim for about one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and eat at maintenance or a slight surplus.
Support: protein powder for protein, creatine monohydrate at 5 grams a day, and a daily multivitamin.
FAQ
What actually creates the V taper? Wide lats and capped side delts over a tight waist. This plan builds the lats and delts; keep your waist tight with sensible eating and core work.
Why so many pulldown variations? Different grips and angles bias different parts of the lats, building a fuller, wider sweep than any single movement.
Can women do this plan? Absolutely. A wider back and capped shoulders create an athletic, tapered look on anyone and make the waist appear smaller.
Questions and results
Ask a coach
Running this program? Tell us what week you are on and how the progression is going. A coach answers every question here.