Back Training: Building the Biggest Upper Body Muscle Group
Back Training: Building the Biggest Upper Body Muscle Group
When was the last time you were sore for several days after your back workout? Hopefully you can say 'I'm still sore from my back work I had yesterday' or '...a couple of days ago.' Often times I see younger weight lifters training chest and arms with all-out intensity but they tend to neglect body parts such as back and legs. If you're not training your back and legs hard you're missing out on slabs of muscle you could be gaining. Today I want to focus of back training. Your back is the largest muscle in your upper body. That being said it should actually be your first priority over any other upper body muscle group. I believe many don't put as much effort into their back workouts because it's not as visible as chest and arms when in fact it's much more visible that you may think.
You can always tell right away when someone pays attention to their back workouts. They just look different, even from those who workout on a regular basis. Guys with a huge back have that thick and wide look. They're arms flare out a little because they have huge lats are pushing them out. You'll also notice they look big and solid from every angle. Some who neglect their back may look muscular from the front but from the side they look skinny.
There are several back exercises that you can do but there are a handful that should be staple in your back workout. Barbell rows, often referred to as bent over rows, is one of the best back exercises you can do for mass. You can alternate your grip every back workout doing overhand grip one week and underhand grip rows the next. Deadlifts are also an undisputed mass builder as you'll put on slabs of muscle with this back exercise (not to mention deadlifts work many other muscles as well). Pull-ups or chins are an effective back exercise as well. You can do lat pulldowns too but I prefer to do pull-ups with added weight. Any type of rows is great such as heavy dumbbell rows, seated rows, and Hammer Strength rows.
You can find an excellent variety of back workouts here on my site: Back Workouts