Cavaliere doesn't pick back exercises - he covers back functions. Here's how to turn that into a client's exercise-selection checklist.
The "perfect back workout" isn't a magic list of exercises - it's a method. ATHLEAN-X builds the session by making sure every job the back does gets trained: width, thickness, the lower back, and the rear delts and traps almost everyone skips. This breakdown covers his approach in our own words, adds our honest take for programming a client roster, and shows how to template a function-complete back day once and reuse it across every client.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Cavaliere's video builds a "perfect" back day by covering every function of the back - a vertical pull for width, a horizontal row for thickness, the lower back, and the rear delts and traps most programs neglect - with sets and reps for each. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop picking back exercises by habit and instead run every client's back day against a function checklist, so no region quietly falls off the plan.
Jeff Cavaliere - The PERFECT Back Workout (Sets and Reps Included)
Source: Jeff Cavaliere (ATHLEAN-X) on YouTube - "The PERFECT Back Workout (Sets and Reps Included)". Watch on YouTube. This video is on Cavaliere's own ATHLEAN-X channel. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Jeff Cavaliere, and nothing here implies his endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Jeff Cavaliere, and why coaches watch
Jeff Cavaliere is a physical therapist (MSPT) and certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) who served as head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets before building ATHLEAN-X, one of the largest fitness channels on YouTube. His angle is science- and joint-first: exercises are chosen for what they do to the muscle and the joint, not just for load. His "Perfect [muscle]" series is a recurring format that assembles a full session by covering each function and region of a target muscle. For coaches he's a go-to reference for exercise selection - which is exactly the lens this page is written for: not "should I copy his back day," but "what does his function-first method mean for how I build every client's back day."
What Cavaliere actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas in the video, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact exercises, cues and prescriptions.
- 1
Build the session around function, not exercise names. The back is a set of jobs - width, thickness, spinal extension, rear delts and traps - and a "perfect" back day picks at least one movement to cover each, rather than stacking variations of the same pull.
- 2
Width and thickness need different movements. Vertical pulls (pulldowns, pull-ups) bias the lats for width; horizontal rows pull the load to the torso for mid-back thickness. Train one without the other and half the back is under-stimulated.
- 3
The neglected regions get their own slot. Lower back, rear delts and traps do real pulling and postural work but rarely get direct attention. Treating them as functions to cover forces them onto the plan instead of leaving them as afterthoughts.
- 4
Warm up and prime before the heavy work. Consistent with his physical-therapy background, the session starts with a primer to prepare the muscle and joints - not straight into the heaviest pull - so the working sets are done well and safely.
- 5
Prescribe sets and reps per role. Each function gets its own set-and-rep target rather than one blanket scheme, so heavier compound pulls and higher-rep detail work are dosed differently within the same session.
Coachway's take
We're fully on board with the core idea, and it's the reframe most coaches need for exercise selection: build a session as a set of functions to cover, not a list of favourite exercises. The "function checklist" is the actual portable skill here - it works for back, but it works just as well for legs, shoulders or a full-body day. Once you think in jobs to fill, you stop accidentally giving a client three horizontal rows and no vertical pull.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: Cavaliere is demonstrating the ideal, fully-equipped version. Your roster isn't training in his gym. The honest coaching move is to keep his functions as the non-negotiable, then swap the specific movement to fit the client - a resistance-band or dumbbell row still covers "horizontal pull" for a home-gym client, a lat pulldown or an assisted pull-up both cover "vertical pull." The checklist survives even when the equipment list doesn't, which is exactly what makes it usable across twenty different clients.
The other coaching-specific point: a function-complete session is only worth building if the client can actually execute it. A back day with six distinct movements is great for an intermediate but overwhelming for a beginner - so for newer clients we collapse the functions into fewer, higher-value picks (one vertical, one horizontal, a little rear-delt and lower-back work) and add regions back as they progress. Completeness is a target to grow into, not a rule to dump on day one.
So our version of his advice is: define the functions a session must cover, pick the simplest movement that fills each one for that specific client, and prescribe sets and reps per role rather than one blanket scheme. Then - and this is the part that saves your evenings - build that function-complete template once and reuse it, swapping exercises per client instead of designing every back day from scratch.
Save the function-complete session once, swap exercises per client
A function checklist is only useful if you can deliver it without rebuilding a session for every client. That's what Coachway's workout builder is for: build your function-complete back day as a reusable template - one slot per function (vertical pull, horizontal row, lower back, rear delt/traps), each pulled from a large exercise library with demo videos, per-set rep ranges, supersets and drop sets - then assign it to a client and swap the specific movement to match their equipment and level. When a client trains at home, you switch the barbell row for a band or dumbbell row in a couple of clicks without breaking the checklist, and clients log each session and see the demo, so form work travels with the plan.
If you want the surrounding programming logic, our breakdown of how often to train each muscle covers the frequency this back day slots into, and the companion piece on how many sets per muscle per week covers the volume you're distributing across those functions.
Complete back-day template (one movement per function)
A fill-in template you can copy for any client. Each row is a function the back day must cover - your job is to drop in the movement that fits the client's equipment and level, not to use these exact exercises. The example picks are just defaults; the set-and-rep ranges are our coaching defaults, not figures from the video. Trim the last rows for a beginner and add them back as they progress.
Complete back day
The session (by function)
| Function | Example movement | Sets x reps (default) | Your pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primer / warm-up | Band pull-apart or straight-arm pulldown | 2 x 12-15 | — |
| Vertical pull (width) | Pull-up / lat pulldown | 3-4 x 6-10 | — |
| Horizontal pull (thickness) | Barbell / dumbbell / cable row | 3-4 x 8-12 | — |
| Lat isolation | Single-arm cable / straight-arm pulldown | 2-3 x 10-15 | — |
| Lower back / spinal extension | Back extension or RDL | 2-3 x 8-12 | — |
| Rear delts / traps | Face pull + shrug or reverse fly | 2-3 x 12-20 | — |
Coverage check
| Region | Covered? | Swap for home / beginner |
|---|---|---|
| Lats (width) | Vertical pull | Band pulldown / assisted pull-up |
| Mid-back (thickness) | Horizontal pull | Dumbbell / band row |
| Lower back | Extension / hinge | Bodyweight back extension, bird-dog |
| Rear delts / traps | Face pull / fly | Band face pull, dumbbell reverse fly |
How to use it: fill the "your pick" column with the simplest movement that covers each function for this client, then confirm every region in the coverage check is ticked before you assign it. Beginner? Keep the two pulls plus one rear-delt move and add the rest as they progress. Home gym? Use the swap column - the function stays the same even when the equipment changes.
COMPLETE BACK-DAY TEMPLATE (via Coachway) - one movement per function; swap exercises per client THE SESSION (BY FUNCTION) - set/rep ranges are our coaching defaults, not from the video Function Example movement Sets x reps Your pick Primer / warm-up Band pull-apart or straight-arm pulldown 2 x 12-15 Vertical pull (width) Pull-up / lat pulldown 3-4 x 6-10 Horizontal pull (thickness) Barbell / dumbbell / cable row 3-4 x 8-12 Lat isolation Single-arm cable / straight-arm pulldown 2-3 x 10-15 Lower back / spinal extension Back extension or RDL 2-3 x 8-12 Rear delts / traps Face pull + shrug or reverse fly 2-3 x 12-20 COVERAGE CHECK Region Covered by Swap for home / beginner Lats (width) Vertical pull Band pulldown / assisted pull-up Mid-back (thickness) Horizontal pull Dumbbell / band row Lower back Extension / hinge Bodyweight back extension, bird-dog Rear delts / traps Face pull / fly Band face pull, dumbbell reverse fly HOW TO USE: Fill "your pick" with the simplest movement that covers each function for this client, then confirm every region is ticked before assigning. Beginner: keep the two pulls plus one rear-delt move, add the rest as they progress. Home gym: use the swap column - the function stays the same even when the equipment changes.
Building a client's back day - FAQ
How do you build a complete back workout?
Cavaliere's method is to build the session around function, not exercise names. The back isn't one muscle - it pulls vertically (lats for width), horizontally (mid-back for thickness), extends the spine (lower back / erectors), and includes the rear delts and traps that most programs neglect. His 'perfect' template picks at least one movement for each of those jobs, warms up first, and prescribes sets and reps for each. For a coach, the takeaway is a checklist: before you finalise a client's back day, confirm every function is covered rather than stacking three variations of the same pull.
What is the difference between vertical and horizontal pulling for the back?
Vertical pulls - pulldowns, pull-ups - load the lats through a mostly overhead-to-down path and tend to drive back width. Horizontal pulls - rows in their many forms - pull the load toward the torso and bias mid-back thickness, the rhomboids and mid-traps. Cavaliere's point is that a back day needs both, because training only one leaves the other function under-stimulated. As a coach, splitting a client's back volume across a vertical and a horizontal movement is a simple way to make sure the whole back is being developed, not just the part their favourite machine hits.
How often should a client train their back?
Across his content Cavaliere generally favours training a muscle group roughly twice a week rather than one all-out session, which lines up with the mainstream of training research. For a coach, that usually means the function-complete back template above becomes two lighter, higher-quality sessions instead of one marathon - or the back is folded into a pull day or upper day that recurs twice weekly. The exact frequency follows the client's split and schedule; the constant is that the full set of back functions gets trained across the week, not just once.
Why do rear delts and lower back get neglected in back training?
Because they're not the muscles people watch in the mirror. Rear delts and the lower-back erectors do a lot of the postural and pulling work, but they rarely get direct attention, so they lag. Part of what makes Cavaliere's 'perfect' framing useful for coaches is that it forces these regions onto the plan by treating them as their own functions to cover, not afterthoughts. When you program a client's back day as a set of jobs to fill, the often-skipped regions stop falling off the sheet.
More training-science breakdowns
- · Jeff Nippard on how often to train each muscle - the frequency this back day slots into.
- · Dr. Mike Israetel on how many sets per muscle - the weekly volume you distribute across these functions.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in programming
all guidesJeff Nippard on Training Frequency: How Often to Train Each Muscle (Coach Breakdown)
Jeff Nippard's high-frequency full-body argument, broken down for coaches: why frequency is really about distributing weekly volume, and how to program how often clients train each muscle.
Read the guideDr. Mike Israetel on How Many Sets Per Muscle (Coach's Breakdown)
A coach-to-coach breakdown of Dr. Mike Israetel's volume-landmark advice - MEV, MAV and MRV: what his video actually argues, where we agree and push back for a coaching business, and a copy-paste 4-week volume-ramp planner for programming and tracking clients.
Read the guideExercise Progression and Regression for Coaches (2026)
Progression is the smallest change that keeps a client adapting; regression is the respectful step back that keeps them training. The nine progression variables, pattern ladders for six movements, and the decision rules for when to move.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Protein Calculator · Weekly Training Volume Calculator · Calorie Deficit Calculator
Build the session once, reuse it across every client
A function-complete back day only pays off if you can deliver it without rebuilding a session per client. Coachway's workout builder lets you template your function-by-function scheme, assign it in seconds, and swap the specific movement when a client's equipment or level changes - while they log every session and watch the demo so form work travels with the plan. Start your 14-day free trial and program your first client roster from one screen.
