When you want to show that you train hard, a wide and thick back is one of the most important parts of your body! It is also a muscle group that is often overlooked by most athletes. Is it because you don’t see it as clearly in the mirror? Or is it because building a thick and wide back is so incredibly difficult!
I think it’s a combination of both reasons. The back doesn’t immediately fall under the show muscles you display on the beach or in the pub.
On the other hand, training the back properly is very demanding if you want to do it right. It’s also the muscle group that demands the most from proper execution of back exercises.
Furthermore, the back can handle a lot of weight, so you need a lot of weight to develop it properly.
Training the Back
For me, the back is one of my favorite muscle groups to train! A heavy back workout gives you a kick, but it also takes a toll on your body. It’s best not to train the back muscles in combination with another large muscle group, especially if your back is a weak point.
Why? Because you need all your energy to tackle and develop your back to the maximum, and you can’t do that if you’re already tired from training another muscle group. Training another large muscle group after a heavy back workout is almost impossible! If you can do that, then you haven’t done well in your back training!!!
I personally train my back together with biceps. That’s a logical combination because your biceps are already heavily engaged when you train your back. It may cost you some weight in your bicep training, but ultimately it’s about the effect your training has, not the weight!
Just like with all other muscle groups, you train the back muscles best with basic exercises. These exercises ensure that your body works together to complete the exercise, and that is the most natural way of moving for every muscle. They also ensure that you can use maximum weights safely because your whole body ensures that your body remains balanced and doesn’t ‘break’ on a small part of your body. When you concentrate all training intensity on just a part of your body, the risk of injury is much greater (at least, that’s the case with the major muscle groups).
When you go to the average gym or fitness center, you see most people training with machines and cables. Most hardly train with free weights anymore, and you see many only training their back with cables! Okay, cables certainly have their place in a back workout, but if you want to get the maximum effect from your training, you really need to train part of your training with free weights or your own body weight. Development will also be faster with those basic exercises than with the use of all kinds of equipment that only targets a small part of your muscle group.
My own back training usually consists of four to five exercises, two or three of which are performed without a machine. I will explain the five exercises that I see as the best back exercises here.
Pullups
My training usually starts with four to five sets of pullups. I train back on Saturday around ten in the morning, and that’s not really a fun way to wake up…
For those who don’t know, pullups are simply pulling up! So, you work with your own body weight. If you’re too heavy, you can have a partner help you by holding your feet. However, if you’re too light, you can make the exercise harder by clamping extra weight between your legs or by using a special belt with a chain to which you can hang weights (just like with dips).
With pullups, you target the latissimus dorsi, or the large back muscle. This exercise is good for stretching your muscles and training them in the upward and downward movement. When you perform pullups correctly, your back will gain width. However, pullups will not make your back muscles thicker (unless you have a really predisposition…)! Rowing exercises are much better suited for that.
If you want to train the latissimus dorsi well, you should pull your chest towards the bar. This way, you approach the natural movement best, and your large back muscle will be maximally engaged. If you bring your neck to the bar, the emphasis will be much more on your trapezius, regardless of the fact that you put your shoulders in a much more vulnerable position.
When performing the exercise, make sure that your elbows move towards each other behind your back. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to contract the back muscles properly. The best way to achieve this is by slightly arching your back as you do the exercise. Keep your legs slightly behind you to keep your back arched. Also, don’t put your hands too far apart. Slightly wider than shoulder width is perfect.
If you don’t believe this is a basic exercise, just feel what your forearms, biceps, and shoulders have to say about it!
After pullups, we move on to four sets of an exercise that adds much more thickness to your back:
Bent Barbell Rows
This is truly the basic exercise for a thick back! I dare say that you won’t get a complete and thick back if you don’t row!!!
Bent Rows train your entire upper body, and the movement of your arms trains your back completely. If you do this exercise more often and start to enjoy it, you will also become stronger, which translates into better back development.
The exercise is quite simple: you need an Olympic barbell (easier to grip than a regular heavy barbell) with enough weight for about eight to ten repetitions in good form. Grab the barbell with your hands at hip width, and lift the barbell while your back is arched, coming up until you’re fully standing.
Bend your knees slightly, arch your lower back, and bend forward from your waist until your upper body is at an angle of about seventy degrees (ninety degrees is parallel to the ground). Your arms hang straight down. Look straight ahead (this keeps your lower back arched). Now push your elbows back and up until the barbell touches your abdominal muscles. Hold for a moment (contract the back muscles) and slowly return.
I use a belt for this exercise with heavier weights. The position puts a lot of pressure on your lower back, and the belt helps reduce that pressure. However, this is the only exercise (besides when I do deadlifts) where I use the belt, and I can recommend that to you too! Wearing the belt a lot weakens the lower back muscles, and you really don’t want that!
An exercise that we actually do too little of is:
Deadlifts
If you want a strong and thick back and trapezius, this is the exercise! Your lower back becomes much stronger, and your back gets a depth that can’t be matched with other exercises.
Unfortunately, this is also an exercise that is not allowed in many gyms because it is considered too dangerous.
That’s true, but only if you do the exercise incorrectly. However, if you’re properly guided, this is a very good exercise that you’ll enjoy!
The execution is basically very simple:
Take an Olympic barbell with enough weight for about ten repetitions in good form. Grab it at shoulder width and bend your knees until you squat. Place your feet flat on the floor and arch your lower back. Now come up while leaning slightly backward. Make sure your legs are not straight in front of you but your upper body is straight. Now bring the barbell back down in reverse form.
This is not an exercise to do first! The effort you put into this will make it almost impossible to do the rest of the exercises afterwards!!!
To finish off the major back muscle, we continue with four sets:
Seated Cable Rows
Yes, a cable exercise! I have nothing against cables, but I do have something against a whole workout with just cables. However, cables do allow you to perform exercises that are much more precise than with free weights.
This is the standard exercise that you see being done a lot. You use a special machine for this that can be found in all gyms.
Also a simple execution, but one that can easily be done wrong and unproductively. This is the exercise where I am best in terms of execution, but that has taken a lot of training (maybe I should post a video of me doing this exercise…).
Alright, hang a V-shaped bar on the lower cable and sit down. Place your feet on the designated places and pull the cable towards you. Now sit up straight with a slightly arched back. Now bring the cable back forward while leaning slightly from your waist.
Pull your hands towards you while your back comes up again and pull the bar towards your stomach. Make sure your elbows stick far back and push your chest far forward. This ensures maximum contraction of your back muscles. Now slowly let the cable go forward again while your arms stretch and you slightly bend from your waist until your back muscles stretch.
As a final back exercise, we do three or four sets:
Behind The Neck Pulldowns
I know… this exercise is always discouraged, even by me! However, it is the best exercise to train the upper back muscles and the trapezius maximally. If you do this exercise in a controlled manner, little can go wrong.
The major back muscle is already tired, so everything now comes from those smaller muscles.
Use a wide bar with slightly bent ends and hand it on the upper cable. Make sure the seat and leg supports are properly adjusted, and grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width, just past the bend in the bar.
Again, keep your lower back slightly arched and bring your chest forward. Now pull the bar down in a straight motion until it reaches your neck, with your elbows coming together behind your back. If you have to move forward to get it to your neck, you’re not doing it right!
Great! Done with everything? Uh, no…
Two more points:
If you’re not yet strong in your hands, make sure you use straps to keep holding onto the bars and dumbbells until your back is tired!
Second point: stretch your back between exercises to lengthen the cramped muscles. You’ll clearly notice the difference when you do the next set.
