Have you ever wondered what the BEST exercises were for your back? Which exercises are the best for adding width and thickness? I wanted to share my findings on this subject with all of you. This will take a lot of the guess work out of your back training!
Research has shown that grip width, rather narrow, wide or medium, is not a factor in recruiting muscle fibers, and pulling it down in front is far more effective than behind your head (which by the way is very dangerous and can cause rotator cuff damage when combined with other exercises.) This movement hits the bulk of your latissimus dorsi which is responsible for increasing the appearance of back width. Adding a pause for 2 or more seconds to the negative or rising portion of the lift will also go a long way in recruiting muscle fibers. A nice little BURN for you. This movement doesn’t do much for back thickness though.
4. Deadlifts
Dead lifts are one of the best back exercises for increasing strength and trunk stabilization which will aid you in your efforts for every other lift. Dead lifts are hard work and are usually done at the end of a workout.
3. Bent Over Barbell Rows
The proper form for this movement is to bend your knees, keep your chest and head up, but lower your trunk to below 45 degrees. The weight should be light enough for you to raise the bar as high as the upper part of your abdomen. It will activate your lats, rhomboids, traps etc. The Barbell Row is a solid back exercise and will add some nice size to your back.
2. T-Bar rows
Look at any back training videos from any great bodybuilder and you’ll notice that their weapon of choice for adding back thickness is the T-bar row. It is far superior to any other exercises in terms of activating your mid-lower traps, rhomboids, and inner lats. It also hits the rear dealts and nothing compares to it for adding thickness.
1. Pull-Ups/Weighted Pull-Ups
Thats right! This is one of the oldest and most undisputed kings of the back exercises. There are many variations to this exercise but the proper form that makes it king is with a pronated grip using your own body weight with added weight if possible. The pull-up is king of all back exercises, and is considered by many as the best back exercise, period. No other exercise will fry your lats like a pull up!
These are the back movements that I found to work best for me. What types of exercises for back have you found to work really well? Please feel free to share the information here with me.
Here's to a new you!
Matthew Eubanks
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