If you think you know everything when it comes to building a bigger back, think again. Even if you’ve got the basics down, there’s plenty that can inhibit your progress if you’re not careful.
When it comes to bodybuilding, a big and defined back is where shows are won and lost. If you have no desire to shimmy into posing trunks and flex your year’s worth of work on a stage, training your back should still be a priority.
First off, bigger back muscles still look good – even if bodybuilding isn’t in the cards for you. Even if you’re wearing a sweater, hoodie, or suit jacket, the muscles in your back still show. They’re responsible, along with your shoulders, for creating a larger silhouette.
When it comes to lifting heavy weights, a big back only helps. You’ll have a larger base to bench press from, more surface area to rest a barbell when back-squatting, and more mass to help keep your spine from rounding (which can lead to pulled back muscles) when deadlifting.
Also, stronger back muscles are more important than ever in our sit-happy culture. All that time off of our feet lead to us slouching, and, over time, that weakens our back muscles and can cause us to hunch. To counteract this, start adding more back exercises into your routine.
Here, we go through five exercises that are key in back development, plus some tips to make sure you’re doing them properly.
When you see someone walking around the gym with a big back, you can guarantee they can jump up and kill 15-20 pull-ups without even breaking a sweat. See the connection? Pull-ups and chin-ups are two of the best mass builders for the back. Targeting the lats, shoulders, biceps, and grip, these exercises have so many different varieties, you’ll never get bored.
Modifications:
Change the grip; wide, narrow, alternated
Change the grip again; towels, thick ropes, two fingers, three fingers, gloves
Overloaded; dip belt, med ball, sandbag, dumbbell, kettlebell
Change the movement; side-to-side, slow negatives, holds, explosive
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Deadlifts
Sumo deadlifts, conventional deadlifts, beyond the range (from a deficit), rack pulls —it doesn’t matter, just do them. The back not only works antagonistically to stabilize the torso and spine, it works to lock out the weight to finish the movement. Deadlifts, by definition, are an exercise where you can move big weight.
Modifications:
Implement: barbell, trap bar, dumbbells
Stances: Conventional, wide
Range of Motion: Beyond the range (deficit), partial – rack pulls
Overloaded: Bands, chains, straight weight
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Seated Rows / Bent Over Rows
Seated Rows
Don’t throw them, don’t hyperextend, don’t tuck your chins and many other bad technique flaws you see everyday in the gym. Do them correctly and you’ll be targeting your lats, rhomboids, biceps, grip and posterior delts.
Bent Over Rows
Biggest flaw? Being too upright. Most guys use this exercise with too much weight and either throw it up, don’t arch their back or have too limited range of motion from being too upright. Keep your torso as close to parallel to the ground as possible while keeping your back in neutral.
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Back Extensions
Targeting the erectors, hamstrings, and glutes. Stay neutral and don’t hyperextend or hyperflex your lower back. Head should also be in neutral with the back. You can overload this movement with a variety of implements like; kb’s, db’s, med balls, barbells or just holding an Olympic plate.
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Face Pulls / External Rotations / Band Pull Aparts / Foam Rolling
Even though exercises 1-4 are super important for adding layers of muscle to the back, No. 5 is the key. Remember That! This tip is the difference between fighting through a crappy injury or lifting a long time with the greatest strength potential.
Face pulls and band pull aparts target the upper and lower traps, rhomboids, posterior delts, and teres major. Foam rollers improve soft tissue quality and extensibility while releasing tension and removing scar tissue and adhesions
