• Benefits of Training your Back

  • 8 Best Exercises and how to do them

Introduction: Unleash the Power of a V-Shaped Body

Let’s talk about the popular ‘V-Taper’ Back. As the name suggests, it refers to a V-shaped torso with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Key to developing this are 3 muscles in the posterior chain – latissimus dorsi (colloquially called “lats”), teres minor and teres major.

  • The posterior chain is critical for balanced body composition and aesthetically desirable results, but is often neglected. Instead, we focus on the anterior chain or “mirror muscles” which are the set of muscles most noticeable in the mirror (duh!). The anterior chain includes the pecs, abs, arms and quads, and working these muscles provides more instant gratification in the form of noticeable results.

“How much can you bench?”

is a typical questions gym-goers and heavy lifters ask one other to compare strength, but nobody ever asks “what is your lat pulldown PR?”. This overemphasis on the anterior chain is often at the detriment of the posterior chain, but I can help you change that with 8 exercises explained step-by-step.

The Benefits of Training Your Back:96988ec2 66cb 49d4 addd 73f8017face2

1. Back Workouts Help Improve your Posture:

The last couple of years have been relatively sedentary for most of us, and with gyms shut down in most areas as well it was only a matter of time your posture took a bit of a beating. The most common effect is having rounded shoulders and a rounded upper back. Back workouts will directly target these muscles groups and help fix your posture and get rid of the ‘office-back’

2. Back Workouts Reduce the Risk of Injury

Imagine driving a Honda Civic on a highway at a baseline speed of 50kph, and then suddenly revving up the engine to go to 150kph within seconds and then seconds later pressing the brakes to come back to 50kph. Sounds like the recipe for an accident or an engine failure doesn’t it? That’s what most of us do with our workouts on a daily basis. The average Joe goes from working a 9-5 desk job, to directly having an intense 45 minute session in the gym, and back home to sitting on the couch for the rest. This 0-100 approach is exactly what the Civic goes through and is bound to produce both short term and long term injuries that could take months to heal. Training your back would give your other muscle groups a rest and also give your body overall balance

3. Back Workouts Will Boost your Bigger Lifts

The back consists of your traps, lats, delta, rhomboids, erector spinae and more muscles associated with the posterior chain. While the below back workout will work on these muscles both in isolation and in compound movements, they will also aid in your other compound lifts. The bench press for example, uses your upper back and lats for stable movements. Likewise, your forearms will strengthen, making a variety of other anterior chain exercises more efficient. Working on your traps, will directly impact how much you can shoulder press.

4. Back Workouts Will Help you Develop a V-Shape Physique

Finally, the whole topic for this workout is to get that V-Shape upper body and working on your back is essential in achieving that coveted figure.

The 8 Best Back Exercises you Need to Include in your Workout:

Why: When talking about exercises that include multiple muscles, i.e not only your posterior chain, look no further than the dreaded pull up. The pull up helps sculpt your shoulders, forearms and chest. Pull ups also incorporate your core, working your abs in the process too. The Pull Up is a must have in your back routine and arguably the most important exercise on this list. Most back workouts recommend starting with Pull Ups to failure and justifiably so due to its overall muscle involvement and strength it takes to do every rep.

Why: Firstly, let’s start with the difference between a pull and a chin up. Both exercises may seem similar in terms of range of motion as both exercises involve pulling your body up from a suspended horizontal bar. The Pull up uses a pronated grip with your palms facing away from your body and the chin up uses a supinated grip with your palms facing towards your body. The chin up hence focuses more on the front of your body like your chest and biceps while the pull ups are more effective at targeting your back and shoulder muscles. A combination of both in your workout will effectively target your posterior and anterior chain. 

Why:  Barbell rows is another great compound exercise which work multiple muscles at the same time. The Barbell row works your upper and lower back, your hips and arms. Due to its compound involvement the barbell row is great to add more weight to your Squat, Bench press and the Deadlift. It is very important to have good form while performing this exercise as improper form can lead to injuries to your lower back which can take months to heal.  If you are unsure about your form feel free to reach out to me on Instagram at @fitnessup.online. 

Why: The inverted row is another great exercise a lifter can do to build their back and get the desired V taper. It is easy to perform and requires just a  bar. The inverted row is also perfect to build up the strength to be able to do pull ups if you’re unable to do them as a beginner. Due to it being a body weight exercise, the benefits of doing the inverted row comes from the volume and not load, you can perform multiple reps till failure while achieving great strength and core stability gains. 

Why: Coming onto one of the most recognized exercises at the gym, the lat pull down. The Lat Pull down is a staple in every back workout for those looking to increase size and achieve the much desired V-shaped physique. The Lat Pull down mimics the range of motion that off a Pull Up and Chin Up and is perfect for those who have difficulty performing the body weight exercises as beginners. The Lat Pull down can hence be used a progression exercise as you can start with a weight that provides you good form and progressively overload till you are able to perform the Pull Up. This exercise works the ‘latissimus dorsi’ muscles which are the wing shaped muscles you see in your mid back, which will ultimately contribute to the V-shape. 

Why: The Cable Lat Pull Over is an isolation exercise that is based on shoulder extension. Using the cable machine, the exercise acts on the shoulder joints which targets the back, in particular the lats.

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Why: The Face Pull primarily targets then rear deltoids. It also works the rhomboids, which come from pinching the shoulder blades together at the peak of the range of motion. Training these muscles is key in reducing shoulder injuries, fixing your posture and improving muscle imbalances which come from over training your chest. The Face Pull is also performed while standing which allows you to engage your core which would improve stability and balance.