Why back training is important

The back is one of the hardest body parts to train, next to legs. Not only the fact that it is so energy draining when trained properly but the fact that you can't see your back when training it and that it is very hard to focus on. If I went around my gym and asked people if they were satisfied with their back workouts, most would say no.

Your upper back muscles and lats form one of the largest areas of the upper body and therefore essential in hypertrophy workouts as well as fat loss workouts. Because these areas are so significant, back strengthening exercises will help you improve your maxes on most other upper body lifts.

It is very important to train your back muscles for posture because most of us sit all day long at work, and our shoulders tend to roll forward. Most men will focus on their chest in the gym, which will give them muscle imbalances as well as more rounding of the shoulders, which will create that slouchy "ape" look when they stand. We need to fix this by doing more pulling exercises of the upper back, traps, lats and also your rear deltoids(part of the shoulder muscles).

Posture exercises to include in your workouts

Seated rows
Sit slightly forward on seat or bench in order to grasp cable attachment. Place feet on a vertical platform. Slide hips back positioning knees with a slight bend.

Pull cable attachment to your waist while straightening your lower back. Pull shoulders back and push chest forward while arching back. Return until arms are extended, shoulders are stretched forward, and lower back is flexed forward. Repeat

Standing resistance band row
Secure the band around a post, stand up and hold the handles with your hands, arms extended in front of your hips, palms facing each other. Pull the handles back towards your abdomen and allow them to slowly return after a short pause. Keep your back straight and still throughout.

Standing band reverse fly
Secure the band at medium height, stand up and grab both handles with your hands, arms extended in front of your chest, palms facing each other. Pull the handles back by moving your arms to each side of your body and allow them to slowly return after a short pause. Keep your back and arms straight throughout.

How to increase back size
Are you trying to grow your back? You hit your back with every possible technique and exercise week in and week out for it to grow. You even have been able to progress with the weights that you are using. So why hasn't your back grown in ages? You need to rethink your back training plan and implement these techniques to get your back training on track.

Slow your reps
It's easy to go into the gym and just smash around the weights without thinking. Maybe you are not focusing and need to slow it down. Play around with different counting styles, for example, one second on the pull, four seconds on the return.

You aren't focusing on the muscle
It's great that you are in the gym working on your back muscles, but are you really focusing? Maybe you need to lower the weight a bit and think about what you are really doing. Pull back, squeeze hard and think about the muscles that you are working.

Challenge yourself
Maybe it's time to start challenging yourself more. Try playing around with drop sets, super sets and pyramid sets to really feel the burn.

Advanced Back Workout

Unassisted pull ups

6 sets 5-10 reps

One arm reverse grip lat pull down, moderate weight, 15 reps each arm. Pull down and hold one second

SUPERSET seated one arm row heavyweight 10 reps each arm

4 sets

T-bar rows with 4 drop sets 6-8 reps each set back to back

On the third set cut the weight in half and perform 10-15 reps pausing at the top

3 sets total

Close grip lat pull down 2 drop sets 8-10 reps each set

On the third set cut the weight in half for 10-15 reps holding at the bottom

3 sets total

Seated row (cable machine) with 2 drop sets

SUPERSET one arm dumbbell rows moderate weight 12-15 reps

4 sets

There you have it, hope this article was helpful. Try a few of these techniques today and see what happens to your posture, as well as putting on some lean mass on your back.

Angelique Kronebusch Fitness