Resident MAXIM fitness guru Alexa shares her tips, tricks and training to beefing up your back…
If there’s one set of muscles that truly separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to strength, physique and athletic performance, it’s undoubtedly a big, strong back. This is the foundation – not just for the people pleasing V Taper that we can gaze on from behind, but from which bone crushing strength and power can be built. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to choose the “best” back exercise because the back isn’t just one muscle. And simply hammering rows, pulldowns and pullups with the same angles and grip in every workout isn’t going to cut it either, because even though your lats, traps and spinal erectors are the super visible muscles, they aren’t the whole picture.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
When building a bragworthy back, you’re looking for both thickness and width, so you’ve got to know what muscles you need to hit, the right angles to hit those muscles, the best exercises to hit those angles, and then how to best program the exercises.
Top Tip
Different back muscles respond better to different loading schemes. For instance, the lats respond well to heavier loading, but the posterior delts respond best to higher reps and metabolic stress.
BACK WIDTH
The muscle primarily responsible for creating width is the latissimus dorsi AKA the lats or wings. These drive shoulder extension and adduction (think arms moving behind and towards the body), and contribute to scapular retraction, depression, and downward rotation (think shoulder blades moving down and together) – all pivotal movements in vertical and horizontal pulls.
BACK THICKNESS
The muscles primarily responsible for creating thickness are the upper back muscles, more specifically the teres major, rhomboids and all fibres of the traps (upper, middle, and lower). The posterior delts also count here.
BACK STABILITY
The Spinal Erectors run the length of your spine and isometrically contract to brace and stabilise it in all major movements.
Top Tip
The path your arms take and the type of grip you use will play a key role in which muscles get recruited. Generally speaking, underhand (supinated) grip and elbows in close bias the lats more, with an overhand (pronated) grip and wider elbows homing in on the upper back. Most people go far too heavy when training their backs and their form falls apart. If you’re serious about building a strong, muscular, and dense back, then stick to the exercises that offer you the most value for time, focus on mind muscle connection (“backtivation”) and utilise the principles of progressive overload.
WORK IT OUT
Here are six incredibly effective variations that you might not know about, but should definitely try…
TRAP BAR BENT OVER ROW
As the old saying goes, “you gotta row to grow” – and if you’re looking to grow your lats, it’s really hard to find a better horizontal variation than the hex bar. The neutral grips mean that your arms and elbows will be tucked right by your side as you pull the weight, and you can really drive your elbows all the way back to get the best contraction possible. Most people also find that the neutral grip makes handling heavy loads easier, not to mention that your wrists, biceps and shoulders are in a much safer position minimising the risk of injury. Try 4 sets of 6-8 reps.
LEAN AWAY CHIN-UPS
This is a great exercise, not only for your lats and biceps, but also for the subscapularis, serratus anterior, triceps and believe it or not, the abdominals. The exercise is simple. Perform a chin-up, then lean back and push yourself away from the bar as you slowly lower down. This will be a unique stress to your lats. Your torso should be at approximately 45 degrees to the floor. At the bottom, return your torso to an upright position and repeat for the desired reps. If you can’t do a strict chin-up, you can perform eccentrics. Try 3-4 sets of 4-6 reps (weighted or bodyweight).
GORILLA ROW
These are perfect for building grip and back strength. By rowing from a static position, you recruit more motor units which will increase muscle tension and have your lats pumped with blood. Begin with the kettlebells between your ankles, brace your midline, and sit your hips back into a proper hinged position. From there, row the kettlebell/s into the hip pocket. Not only will these blow up your back, but you’ll likely get a good burn in the glutes and hamstrings. At the end of your workout try doing 6 -12 reps of gorilla rows, followed by 6-10 reps of deadlifts, and end with a 30-50m Farmer’s Walk. 3-4 sets of this combo will fire up your entire back chain.
CHEST SUPPORTED TOP DOWN BENT OVER ROW
One of the biggest problems lifters face with dumbbell/barbell rows is managing lower back pain and instability. This exercise mitigates the issue, and the support of the bench makes it damn-near impossible to cheat. The isometric portion at the top creates constant tension while boosting your mind-muscle connection, making it a staple for building thick traps and rhomboids. For a comprehensive pull combo, pump out 12 alternating HEAVY reps (6 each side) before a set of pull-ups/chin-ups.
BULGARIAN RING ROW
This is also known as the Elbowing Ring Row because it is performed with the elbows pointed out to the side with the upper arms parallel to one another. This exercise is a great preparatory movement to help develop strong and capable shoulders, as well as being very effective for isolating the upper back muscles – especially the rhomboids and mid/lower traps – the wide elbow angle greatly diminishing any help from the lats. Try 8-12 reps at the beginning of your workout as a primer, or at the end for a higher rep finisher.
BY ALEXA TOWERSEY
For the full article grab the September 2023 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
