Best Back Exercises

Proper back muscle training should take into account the individual characteristics of the body structure and the person's training experience, but in practice it all comes down to three or four popular exercises that are repeated over and over again. To quickly and effectively increase your back, both in width and thickness, you need to choose the best exercises for yourself, and today we will tell you how to do this.

How to choose?

There is no best back exercise for everyone. It all depends on your body structure, where your latissimus dorsi attach, arm length, etc. So if someone talks about the effectiveness of one exercise, in practice it may be zero for you. So how do you find the best exercise for yourself?

A good exercise stands out as follows:
You are comfortable doing the exercise;
You see progress when you add it to your training program;
You feel the work of the target muscles well even with a small working weight;
You gradually increase the weight of the weights while maintaining the correct technique.
List of the best exercises for the back

Pull-ups

One of the best movements for the back, but as often happens, the devil is in the details. Consider the exercise as a tool for increasing the width of the back, not its thickness. Suitable for beginners and experienced athletes. To determine how pull-ups suit your body type, it is enough to analyze your height. Tall height and pull-ups are a good combination for expanding the silhouette. For shorter people, pull-ups will not give the desired width.

The key nuance of the correct technique is the arch of the chest. Everyone tries to stretch their chin to the bar, but this was required in the army, not in fitness. Our task is to bring the shoulder blades together and mentally touch the bar with the upper chest. Focus your attention on the movement of the elbows. They should practically touch the body and move into the plane behind you.

The width of the grip does not play a key role. We recommend using a hand placement where the angle between them is approximately 90 degrees. Too wide a grip will make the exercise uncomfortable, and too narrow a grip will not allow the back muscles to contract 100%.

Tip: Bend your knees and cross them at the calf area. This will simplify the movement and reduce swinging. This will make it easier for you to pull yourself up to the bar with your chest, not your chin. Imagine doing a reverse pullover. This will make it easier to focus on the main movement. Another psychological life hack is pulling the bar towards you. Most people imagine pulling themselves towards the bar. Use the reverse technique. Simulate a vertical pull. Pull the bar towards you.

Deadlift

This exercise can often be seen on the TOP list of movements for the back muscles. In practice, this is an exercise for the leg muscles. The back here only helps to hold the weight. Deadlift is an excellent load for the trapezius. With ideal technique with the elbows back, you can develop the back extensors well, and even the widest muscles a little, but even despite this, the lion's share of the load falls on the leg muscles.

It is not known where the stereotype about positioning the deadlift as an exercise for the back came from. The fact remains that the back here is only an assistant for holding the weight. The weight is lifted by the legs, so they take all the load.

However, you shouldn't discount the deadlift. For skinny beginners who want to gain muscle mass, it will be a real salvation. Here you can take a large total load tonnage. After all, you work both the back muscles and the leg muscles. In addition, without the growth of the leg muscles, there will be no growth of other muscles, because the legs are 2/3 of the total human mass.

Thus, the problem of beginners in insufficient load volume is solved with the help of one exercise. That is, the deadlift can be considered as the best exercise for the back if we are talking about beginners with a small body mass.

Bent-over barbell row

An excellent exercise for the back muscles. There is no side load on other muscles, which allows you to focus on training your back. The only problem is the uncomfortable starting position, in which it is very difficult to hold a large weight. For this reason, many beginners refuse to do the barbell row, because an incorrect starting position can lead to spinal injuries.

There is a simple solution do not lean your torso forward excessively, thereby turning the exercise into a Yates row. The barbell should be taken with a reverse grip (palms facing you and up). A body tilt in the range of 65 to 80 degrees is more than enough for this version of the row.

Tip: Don't think about bending your arms. Focus on moving your elbows behind you. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and activate your trapezius. Your goal is not just to pull the barbell to your waist, but to move your elbows as far back as possible and thereby contract your back muscles.

If your biceps get tired, try not to straighten your arms all the way. It is important to keep your elbows far away from your body at the bottom of the trajectory. That is, lower the bar as low as possible, but do not straighten your arms, maintaining a slight angle in your elbows. This will remove excess load from your biceps, but at the same time preserve the load tonnage for your back muscles.

Style summary

There is no need to do 6-8 exercises for the back muscles. Even a couple of movements is enough. The main thing is to find the right one for you. The best exercise for the back cannot be found by reading an article, it must be found in a practical way, comparing sensations and analyzing the load.

Try to include vertical and horizontal movements in your training program. For example, pull-ups and seated lat pulldowns, or similar hammer pulldowns. However, we still recommend that beginners learn to perform the three exercises listed above. This is a kind of basic foundation, after which you can begin to master other movements. You will not be able to perform lat pulldowns correctly if you cannot do them with free weights.