Back Workouts

HOW TO DO THE BARBELL DEADLIFT:

1. For this compound exercise, load a barbell as heavy as you can without needing to sacrifice form. Starting position is holding onto the loaded barbell with a shoulder-width grip and an overhand grip, standing with feet flat on the ground and feet about shoulder width apart.
2. Take a deep breath, and beginning in a hinged position, bend the knees and slide the barbell down close to your thighs and shins in a controlled movement until you are in a bent-over position.
3. Let it rest briefly on the floor before reversing the movement to lift the barbell as you come back to standing with torso upright.
4. Use your core strength for stability and keep spine stable for all repetitions. Be sure to use strict form the entire time to avoid risk of injury. Use smaller rep ranges for all of your heavy compound exercises.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This classic back exercise hits traps, lats and lower back with a heavy dose of overload for building upper body strength. It’s one of the best compound full-body exercises to incorporate into your training plan for strong upper-body muscles. You should shoot for 1-2 sets per week of the conventional deadlift as the sweet spot to get the most out of this exercise.

HOW TO DO THE WIDE GRIP PULLUP:

1. Perform the Wide Grip Pullup with your arms extended in a Y position on the chin-up bar.  For this exercise you are looking for a much wider than shoulder-width overhand grip.
2. Keeping your torso rigid, pull your torso up until your chin clears the bar, pause at the top of the movement and slowly lower down to the starting position.
3. Keep your core tight by pulling the belly button in toward your spine throughout the entire exercise, and observe proper form to avoid injuries.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: Switching to a wider overhand grip in this demanding exercise variation helps you hit other muscles like the teres major.

HOW TO DO THE BARBELL DEAD ROW:

1. Start position for this barbell row is in a hinged position with feet shoulder width apart grabbing a loaded barbell on the floor with an overhand grip.
2. Start with a deadlift movement with a soft bend in the knees and finish with a barbell rowing movement.
3. Perform a controlled movement and use your core strength to maintain proper form and keep spine stable for all repetitions to avoid risk of injury.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This barbell row variation is an explosive exercise that builds off the same movement pattern as the deadlift, but incorporates athleticism by allowing you to train explosively with heavy weights. Shoot for 1-2 sets per week of this exercise.

HOW TO DO THE ALTERNATING HIGH CABLE ROW:

1. Start by putting the attachment in a high position on the cable station and grab the cable pulley handle in the left hand.
2. Pull your elbow joint in toward the torso twisting slightly and perform a single-arm row. Engage the lats as you twist.
3. Return to the starting position and grab the cable pulley handle in the right hand. Repeat this motion on the opposite side.
4. Use your core strength for stability and keep spine stable for all repetitions.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This cable machine exercise takes the lats through their entire range of motion. Unlike the limited range of motion of the seated cable row, this movement allows you to take your arm out in front of the body to get the lat out in full stretch. Another of the best benefits of cable rows is that it’s a unilateral exercise you can also use it to overcome muscle imbalances.

HOW TO DO THE HYPER Y W COMBO:

1. Use a glute-ham raise or a stability ball for this exercise and a light weight plate in each hand.
2. Raise your torso and raise the arms outward slightly beyond a 90-degree angle into a W position to hit the rotator cuff muscles, and then lower back to the starting position.
3. Then raise up again with arms in a Y position to activate the lower traps.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This exercise hits some of the smaller muscles of the back which are often overlooked, like the rotator cuff and the lower traps.

HOW TO DO THE STANDARD BARBELL SHRUG:

1. Grab a loaded barbell with a slightly wider than normal grip for shrugs
2. Come up to standing position with feet flat on the ground, and an upright torso and perform an explosive shrug movement sliding shoulders up the neck toward the head.
3. Use correct form the entire time for injury prevention.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This is one of the best barbell back exercises to hit the often-neglected upper traps by applying a slightly wider than normal grip.

HOW TO DO A FROG GLUTE BRIDGE:

1. Starting position is lying on your back on the floor with bend in knees out toward the sides and feet touching each other sole to sole.
2. Bridge up as high as possible, squeezing the glutes and low back to achieve muscle contraction.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: The turning out of the feet in this exercise helps you to activate the lower back along with the gluteus medius, which is a hip external rotator with muscle fibers that feed into the pelvis.

HOW TO DO THE ANGEL OF DEATH:

1. Lie flat on your stomach on the floor with the spine in a neutral position.
2. Lift the toes and thighs off the ground along with the upper body as high as you can to get extension through the hips and glutes.  Knees should stay slightly bent to keep them off the ground.
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades and pull your chest muscles off the floor, keeping your core tight.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This is one of my favorite advanced exercises for the lower back because it works the low back and glutes together in such an effective way.

HOW TO DO WALL DRIVERS:

1. Stand sideways next to a wall so that your right hip is next to the wall, hips square.
2. Put your right arm on the wall for support and lift your right leg.
3. You’ll notice that your left hip will drop out to the side, but use your glute medius to drive your right leg toward the wall and make sure that your left hip doesn’t drop.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: If you’re experiencing a lot of low back pain, do this exercise daily to get some relief.

HOW TO DO THE THREADING THE NEEDLE:

1. Lie on one side on the floor using the bottom arm for support.
2. Bring the top leg back behind your body and then lift it up with the toes pointing down.
3. Bring the knee forward to touch the ground and repeat.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: Strengthens the glute medius to help relieve lower back pain.

HOW TO DO THE WEIGHTED PULLUP:

1. Use a dip belt at the gym or a dog leash at home to add extra weight to your waist.
2. Grab the pull-up bar with hands facing away from you, hands shoulder width apart.
3. First hang straight on the pull-up bar in vertical position and then pull your torso up in a straight line until your chin clears the bar, keeping your core tight, spine stable and body under control for all repetitions.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: The pullup is one of the best back exercises there is, so when you add weight to it, you can build some serious strength. It’s also great for challenging your grip strength.

HOW TO DO THE DUMBBELL DEAD ROW:

1. Starting position for this explosive movement is in a hinge position with feet hip width apart (in a slightly wider stance), bending forward with knees bent, heavy dumbbells on the floor in front of you.
2. Grab the dumbbells and perform explosive rows generating force through your feet into the ground.
3. This is basically a deadlift up to knee level and then the elbows pull back into a row. Maintain core stability throughout the exercise.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This is a great dumbbell exercise that also allows you to incorporate speed and explosiveness to develop strength and muscular power in the upper back.

HOW TO DO THE DUMBBELL PULLOVER:  

1. Starting position is lying across a flat bench perpendicularly with your feet flat on the ground, holding a dumbbell overhead with both hands.
2. With a slight bend in the elbow, begin lowering the dumbbell over and behind the head with the arm muscles in extended position.
3. Then reverse the movement bringing the dumbbell back up and over the head.
4. Keep your abdominal muscles tight and spine stable throughout allow repetitions and don’t allow your back to arch up away from the flat bench.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This is an excellent dumbbell exercise for laser targeting the lats.

HOW TO DO THE CHEST SUPPORTED TOUCH ROW:

1. For this chest-supported row variation, starting position is lying on an adjustable bench in incline position face down with one pair of dumbbells in hands and another set of lighter dumbbells on the floor below the bench.
2. Perform the first set by touching the moderate-weight dumbbells in your hands to the light dumbbells on the floor to allow you to get more of a lat stretch.
3. When you fatigue with the dumbbells in your hands, just grab the lighter pair from the floor and keep repping out to push to and through that burn.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: Gives the sustained burn in the lats that we’re looking for without compromising the safety of the low back which any standing row variations would do. The prone position on the incline bench supports the back during this chest-supported dumbbell row variation.

HOW TO DO THE MANMAKER:

1. This exercise is a combo between a push-up and a single-arm dumbbell row. Start in high plank position with hands holding onto a pair of light dumbbells on the ground, keeping your core tight.
2. Beginning in push-up position, perform a pushup and then progress from a pushup into a renegade row on each side (one-arm dumbbell row).
3. Then jump the feet back in, clean the pair of dumbbells with control up to shoulder height, stand and press, come back down into pushup position and repeat.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This is quite simply the best total body exercise that hits the lats hard as well. You won’t be compromising the back in this exercise because you need to use light weight for the renegade rows. Add this one to all of your full-body workouts!

HOW TO DO THE BACK WIDOW:

1. Starting position is lying face up on the floor.
2. Bend your elbows up with your fists in the air.
3. Pushing hard through the upper back muscles and pulling your shoulder blade in, engage the rhomboids, traps and posterior deltoids to push your upper body and spine off the ground.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This body weight only move hits all the upper back muscles including traps, rhomboids, and rear deltoids and is excellent for body control.

HOW TO DO THE SLIDING LAT PULLDOWN:

1. Start position is lying face down on the floor with arms stretched out above your head and legs straight out behind you.
2. Engage your core muscles and perform a total body prone pull down.
3. Pull yourself forward and push your arms up into plank position.
4. Then lower yourself back down to the starting position.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE: This is a creative and effective way to hit the lats with no equipment at all.

HOW TO DO THE REVERSE SUPERMAN:

1. Starting position is lying face down on the floor with arms beside you, hands facing up toward the ceiling.
2. Squeeze your glutes as you lift your arms and legs simultaneously.
3. Rotate your shoulder blade in as hands turn toward the ground. Use a 2-3 second contraction for each rep.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE:  This bodyweight exercise works the lower back with the glutes and lats… muscles it prefers to work with. Because this exercise is done with the arms behind the body, it incorporates the shoulder blades as well.