Back Workout | Best Back Exercises for Back Muscles

Having a V-shape back is one of the most favourite trends in younger boys. Some people just ignore back muscle,which is foolishness. Having your back strong helps you to do day-to -day tasks easily. If you want to grab something or pull something ,you engage your back muscles. Because pulling any object is the function of your back . Your back will look completely developed only if you train every muscle of back on a regular basis.

And yes, red bull doesn’t give you wings. For that it’s important to train back muscles on a regular basis. We have designed the workout in such a way that you can hit every part of the muscle groups. So, stay tuned till the end.

Before beginning the actual workout, it’s important to know anatomy first.

1 ) TRAPEZIUS ( TRAPS ): Traps covers your upper back. Your upper back thickness depends on how much your traps are developed. The trapezius is a very deep muscle, which starts from your neck and ends at mid-back. We can further divide them into upper traps, middle and lower traps.

2) LATISSIMUS DORSI ( LATS): For having v-shaped back, your lats should be properly developed. Lats provide you broader back. We can further divide them into upper lats and lower lats.

3) MID BACK: Mid-back is just below traps muscle. Also, your middle back thickness depends on how much your lower traps are developed.

4) LOWER BACK:  It’s below middle back. Christmas tree shape on your lower back depends on how much your lower back is developed.

There is also a rhomboid beneath upper -mid back .

Pull ups is an exercise which involves raising oneself with both arms by pulling up against a horizontal bar which is fixes above our head. We need to lift our body against gravity in vertical posture.

How to do Pull Ups : 

• Take overhand grip on a pull up bar and hands placed about shoulder width apart.
• Keep your legs straight and core tight. This will be your starting position.
• Now pull your upper body until your chin touches the bar. Exhale while you pull yourself up.
• Inhale and come back slowly to starting position. Feel the contraction in your back.

Precautions :

• You need to maintain straight posture of your body while lifting. Do not lean forward
• Maintain full range of motion while doing pull ups
• Engage your shoulder at start of pull ups (don’t give external lift by a jump)
• You must hang with locked elbows (Full range of elbow movement)
• Don’t use violent kipping motions (swings) to do your pull-ups

The lat pull down is a compound exercise which work on several muscles at a time with major focus on back muscles. Latissimus dorsi is the primary muscle worked where biceps and forearm muscle acts as helpers.

How to do Overhead Grip Lat Pull down:

• Sit on the lat pull down machine and keep the weight of plates according to your capacity.
• Keep your knees under the pads provided.
• Take a wide overhand grip and keep your back arched,core tight. This is your starting position.
• Now pull the bar down upto your upper chest and squeeze your lats.Pause for 2 seconds and return to starting position to complete one rep.
• Feel the contraction in your lats. Exhale when you pull down and inhale while you go back to starting position.

How to do Underhand Grip Lat Pull down:

• The procedure is same as of overhand grip lat pull down. You have to just change the grip from overhand to underhand.
• In Underhand Grip Lat Pull down, your whole latissimus dorsi gets activated, with most of the tension created on lower lats.

Precautions :

• Keep your back straight along the spinal cord while performing the exercise
• Distance between the grips must be appropriate and symmetric.
• Keep your elbows pointed straight down
• Maintain this bottom position for few microseconds and do not let your shoulder blades protract
• Don’t give a jerk while returning the bar back to position.

Dead-lift works more muscles than any other exercise (even more than Squats). Dead-lift is a weight training exercise which engages key muscles like quadriceps and hamstrings. Dead-lift is considered as the perfect multi-tasking exercise which you must do when you have less time for workout.

Dead-lift is one of the three power lifting exercises, along with the squat and bench press. (These 3 exercise must be part of your full body workout routine at any cost)

How to do Dead-lift with Correct Form :

• Take the barbell and set the weight according to your capacity.
• Keep the normal distance of your feet. Your feet should be below barbell.
• Bend your knees slightly and bend your torso upto 45 degree, just like in bent over barbell rows.
• Now, grab the bar with shoulder width apart. This is your starting position.
• Take a deep breath, hold it and stand up with the weight exhaling. Remain standing for 2 seconds and while inhaling go back slowly to starting position.

Precautions :

• Dead-lift is a very risky exercise, if not performed with correct form. So make sure that you are performing it with correct form.
• Don’t round up your back while lifting the weight up.
• Don’t take your back  behind while you stand up.
• If you are a beginner, then make sure that you have a personal trainer or a partner to look after you.
• If you have any previous lower back injuries, kindly consult your doctor or personal trainer first.

‘Bent over Barbell Rows’ is a full body compound exercise. It targets your upper-back, lower back, hips and arms. It is a core exercise which builds muscular and strong back. It also helps in developing bigger biceps.

Bent Over Barbell Rows helps in developing correct form for Squat, Bench Press and Dead-lift.

How to do Bent Over Barbell Rows :

• Set the weight of barbell according to your capacity.
• Keep the distance of your feet about shoulder width apart.
• Bend your thighs slightly,with your core nice and tight.
• Keep your back straight. Bend your torso upto 45 degree.
• Take an overhand grip on barbell with your hands more than shoulder width apart and your arms dangling straight down from your shoulders. This is your starting position.
• Now pull the bar up,without moving your torso until it reaches your lower chest. Exhale while you pull the bar up.
• Return back to starting position to complete one repetition. Inhale while you return to starting position.

Precautions :

• Keep the upper body stationary while pulling the barbell and during torso and pause.
• Always take weight which is within your control. Increase weights only when you have attained correct form with previous weight.
• During Bent Over Barbell Rows, keep your back straight and shoulders must be pulled out.
• If you are having lower back injuries, strictly avoid this exercise. Or consult your doctor or personal trainer for further assistance.

Majority of people train only Dumbbell or barbell shrugs. They are training only there upper traps . But we here focus on covering each and every muscle. Rope shrugs will target your middle traps as well as upper traps. Your lower traps are already trained when you performed bent over barbell rows.

How to do Dumbbell Shrugs :

• Take two dumbbells according to your capacity.
• Keep your feet distance normal (in line with shoulder)
• Keep your head,back straight and core tight
• Hold the dumbbells extended at your sides. This is your starting position .
• Now shrug your shoulders as high and as far as possible.
• Return to the starting position to complete one repetition.Exhale while you shrug up and inhale while returning to starting position.

How to do Rope Shrugs :

Rope Shrugs exercise is same as Dumbbell shrugs with minute variations:

• Take rope of cable machine instead of dumbbells.
• Put your arm angle upto 45 degrees instead of straight arm,so that the tension will arrive on middle traps.
• Pull the rope upside with maintaining 45 degree angle. Don’t move your torso and don’t bend your elbow.
• Exhale when you pull the rope up and inhale when you go back to starting position.

Precautions (Dumbbell Shrugs and Rope Shrugs) :

• Avoid rolling of shoulders while performing a shoulder shrug.
• Avoid excessive jerking of the free weight.
• Maintain neutral alignment of back while performing shrugs
• Shoulder movement must be upwards and downwards (and not forward or backward which may cause injury)