When we see fitness models out there, they usually show the front section of their body and for the majority of the people out there, we tend to have a desire to look like them. The thing is, most of them tend to always show their front section of their bodies. Therefore, when we see that, we tend to become engrossed with the idea that we should be working on our Chest, Biceps, Abdominals and Legs. Little do we know that our Back plays such a huge and important role when it comes to physique and overall body function. The most important thing about working on our backs is the improvement and maintenance of our good body posture. Aside from having a body posture, you would be surprise with the number of medical conditions that can occur when one has a bad body posture.
Before we begin our list of back workouts, let’s talk a little bit about the anatomy of our back muscles. Our back have a lot of muscle groups that come together to perform certain body movements. We at Fitnacle don’t want to confuse you with all these fancy terminologies so we’ll just call them the Upper Back, Lower back, latissimus dorsi (lats) and trapezoids (traps). With that being said, let’s get down to what we’re here for!
(1) Deadlift
Let’s start with the most important one. A deadlift can be the most annoying workout there is out there but we can assure you that it yields the most amount of results. This workout works almost all of your muscle groups in your back. From the upper back, to the lower back and to a certain extent, your lats as well.
How to do a Deadlift?
- Load a barbell with the appropriate weight and stand with your feet at shoulder width apart.
- Bend at your hips and knees. Then, grab the bar with an overhand grip (slightly beyond shoulder width). Keep your lower back naturally arched.
- Then pull your torso up and thrust your hips forward as you stand up with the barbell. Hold this position for a few seconds.
- Lower the bar with your back naturally arched and repeat the process.
(2) Rows
There are many different variations to this workout. Mainly in the equipment used for this. It’s a rather simple workout but has maximum effect primarily on your upper back. The thing about this workout is that everyone has a different method of doing this, whether its Bent-Over Barbell rows, Seated Cable rows, Single-Arm Dumbbell rows, and the list goes on. Well, our only advice on this is to do any one of these workouts which works best for you! When doing any one of these rows, it may look good in someone else’s eyes but if you don’t feel a thing, then there’s no point in doing that in the first place!
There is one thing to keep in mind when doing these workouts. To properly target the muscles of the Upper Back, you have to make sure that there would be a full range of motion with the scapula (both abduction and adduction ).
(3) Lat Pulldowns
As the name suggests, this works the latissimus dorsi muscles. Why work on the lats? Well it helps with the V-Taper body physique and more importantly it provides massive amounts of support for your spine. The best way to do this workout is to do it is with a slow and controlled tempo. Make sure that with every rep you do, you should feel your lats taking in most of the stress.
How to do a Lat Pulldown?
- Sit down at the Lat Pulldown station and lock your legs with the cushion on the machine.
- Grab the bar with an overhand grip that’s just beyond your shoulder width. Keep your body straight with your chest outwards and your back arched.
- Engage your core and pull the bar down towards your chest. Once you have reached your chest, hold that position for a few seconds.
- Bring the bar back up slowly and repeat the process.
(4) Pull Ups
Just like how the deadlift is a gold standard for our lower back, the Pull-up is the gold standard for the Lats and Upper Back! If you really want that V-Taper body, then the Pull Up is a MUST! Pull Ups build width because they target primarily our lats. These muscles are the ones that give the torso a wider, flared shape, and can make us appear slimmer even if we haven’t lost an inch around our mid-section (love handles). There are different variations when it comes to this workout and like all other workouts, you just have to find the one which works best for you!
These are the workouts which we think would give you the maximum amount of results, whether it’s body building or just getting fit!
*** A word of Caution! You must adjust your weights accordingly and not carry weights that are way to heavy for you. This applies to all workouts in general but the biggest emphasis would be for your back as your spine may be injured and paralysis may occur. Please do be careful when doing these workouts especially with the lower back workouts. ***
With all these said, you’re ready to go out there and Create The Best Version Of Yourself!