Building A Strong Back

Building A Strong Back
Why Build a Strong Back?

Building your back will add muscle to your upper body and
make your waist look smaller creating that sexy 'V' shaped
body men crave. Many every day activities involve your back
muscles, so it is useful to make them strong so tasks like
lifting become easier and you'll be less prone to back
injuries. The muscles in the back are large and so bigger
muscles here will also help you burn more fat day to day.

Your Back Muscles

Three major muscle groups that make up your back are:

The Latissimus Dorsi is the large flat triangular muscle
that runs down the sides of your back and is responsible
for extending, rotating and pulling your arm in to your
body (adduction). A common exercise for the Latissimus
Dorsi is the lateral pull down.

The Erector Spinae is made up of three muscles that run
from your neck down to the bottom of your spine and is
involved in extending your spine. In other words it helps
you stand up straight.

The Rhomboids sit between your shoulder blades and are
responsible for rotating, elevating and retracting the
shoulder blades.

Training Your Back

You should train your back no more than three times a week;
like any other muscle, they need rest in order to grow. If
you're using weights that are heavy enough that you can
only do 6-8 reps you should do no more than two back
workouts per week.

Make sure you choose a variety of exercises to target each
of the muscle groups and change your workout every 6 weeks
or so to make sure you keep getting gains.

5 Best Back Exercises

The Deadlift

The Deadlift is one of the best exercises for exercising
the whole of your back. In fact, it works almost every
major muscle group in your body.

Start by standing behind a barbell with your shins close to
the bar and your feet about shoulder width apart. Hold the
bar with your hands a little wider than shoulder width
apart. Bend your knees, flatten your back and keep your
arms straight.

Now lift the bar off the floor by straightening your legs
until you are standing up straight. Finally, lower the bar
back down to the floor. Make sure you keep your shoulders
back and keep the bar close to your body throughout the
move.

Lateral Pull Downs

The lat pull down works your Latissimus Dorsi, rear
deltoids (back of the shoulders), biceps and forearms.

Grab the bar with both hands (you can use a wide, narrow,
overhand or underhand grip) and sit at the pull down
machine with your knees under the pad. Arch your back and
pull the bar down until it touches your chest. Hold this
position for about one second before straightening your
arms again.

Pause with your arms straight for a second or two and feel
the stretch before repeating the movement again.

Pull Ups

This is essentially the same exercise as the lateral pull
down and therefore works the same muscles. However, it can
be more difficult as you have to lift your whole body
weight.

If you find you can't do many pull ups at first, you can
build up strength using the lat pull downs instead. Or,
some gyms have an assisted pull up machine where you place
your knees on a pad that slide up and down counterbalancing
some of your weight. Alternatively, just do as many as you
can do, and build up the reps gradually over time.

To perform the exercise, take hold of the pull up bar (like
the lat pull down, you can vary the grip width). Start with
your arms straight and your lat muscles stretched. Whilst
arching your back slightly, pull yourself up bringing your
chin above the bar. Stay in this position for one second
and then lower and repeat.

Bent Over Barbell Row

The bent over barbell row works the latissimus dorsi,
rhomboids, trapezius (neck, shoulders and back), erector
spinae, biceps and forearms.

Start with your knees slightly bent, bending over a barbell
with your back straight. Take hold of the bar with an
overhand grip.

Pull the bar up to your upper waist and then lower it again
until your arms are extended and your shoulders are
stretched forward. Then repeat the movement.

For strictly correct form, your torso should be kept as
horizontal as possible. Make sure you keep your knees bent
to stop your lower back from rounding.

Hyper Extensions

Hyper Extensions work the erector spinae in the lower back
as well as the buttocks and hamstrings.

Position yourself in the hyper extension machine with your
upper thighs are on the pad. Keeping your legs straight,
place your feet under the foot pad.

Lower your upper body at the waist until it is at right
angles to the floor. Then contract your lower back muscles
to raise your upper body back to the starting position
(with your legs and back in a straight line). Pause for a
second and repeat the movement.

As you progress, you may want to increase the intensity of
this exercise. You can do so by holding a weight plate
against your chest.

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For more information on exercise, muscle building and great
fat burning techniques, visit http://www.homomuscle.com .
There's also more information on how to do deadlifts,
including a few variations on the standard deadlift.