When involved in any strength training routine, a strong back is a must. It is important to allocate equal time to all the major muscle groups when training. When we refer to major muscle groups we’re talking specifically about the following six areas:
Major Muscle Groups
- Legs/Hips
- Back
- Chest
- Shoulders
- Arms
- Core (abdominals etc.)
For the purpose of this article, the focus will be on the second muscle group listed above, the back. Some of the back muscles support your spine and trunk. A strong back is important to move your body, stand up straight, help with breathing and of course, during exercise.
Exercises for a Strong Back
There are many different back exercises to choose from when your goal is a big, strong, powerful back. There are approximately 40 muscle that make up the back! Some of the basic “pulling” exercises typically used are: lat pull-down, bent-over row, T-bar row, and seated row. All of which are great movements but here are a few others that you may like. Let’s take a look at them.
Deadlift
The deadlift is one of the best overall muscle building exercises you can do. It works everything from the feet up to the trapezius. More specifically, the legs, hips, back, forearms and grip. For more information on proper technique read this Jefit blog post. Try using a trap bar (Hex bar) initially before transitioning to an Olympic bar.
Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups Combo
When it comes a bodyweight, pulling movement to choose for your program, either of these will do. If you have trouble (like most people) performing this exercise try the following first. Try inverted rows and then progress to assisted pull-ups on a machine. From there, try a giant band that allows you to use a percentage of the weight of your body, before progressing to full bodyweight. to bodyweight. Try to alternate these two movements every other workout.
Loaded Carry
Like the deadlift, another great, full body movement that many don’t use often enough. The exercise can be performed with dumbbells, kettlebells, Hex bar, and other machine-built devices. It is important whenever using this exercise to remain upright, traps relaxed, scapular detracted and eye looking slightly ahead. The exercise targets many muscles including the legs, shoulders back and grip. A great byproduct is it builds work capacity.
Landmine Row
For this exercise all you need is a barbell, a few plates and a corner of a room to place the bar into. There is a a landmine device that you can use where the bar inserts into one end. Why is it good? It allows you to use a larger range of motion while the weight plates aren’t a limiting factor in your pull, letting you get a full, intense contraction in your lats and mid-back area.
Try one or more of these exercises as part of your next workout. Use the Jefit custom tool for the loaded carry and landmine row.
Stay Strong Together
Jefit, named best strength training app by Sports Illustrated, Esquire, GQ, Men’s Health, Greatest, Forbes Health, and many others. We offer a community responsible for 92,000,000 workouts to date! The app, which recently passed 10 million downloads, comes equipped with a customizable workout planner and training log. The app also has ability to track data, offer audio coaching cues, and can share workouts with friends. Visit our members-only Facebook group. Connect with like-minded people, share tips, and advice to help get closer to reaching your fitness goals.
Read the scientific paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research using the Jefit app. Also, a great Jefit app review was recently published by MUO that can be found here.
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