The 5 best back exercises for women!
- Reading time: 9 min.
Whether you sit at a desk all day, or spend a lot of time doing household chores, it's important to train and strengthen your back to prevent injuries and maintain good posture. So it's time to say goodbye to back pain and strengthen our back muscles with these 5 great back exercises for women!
Why is training your back so beneficial?
Fortunately, we are becoming increasingly aware that strength training, in general, is incredibly good for us! Training your body has countless benefits. It's important to work on every muscle group, including your legs, arms, shoulders, and back. Target all your muscles to reap all the rewards from your training. Curious about the benefits of training your back muscles? In addition to building strength, training your back has many more advantages, including the following six:
- Boosts growth hormone and testosterone: This can lead to better hormonal balance, muscle growth, and help reduce hormone-related complaints.
- Promotes fat burning during and after workouts: Training your back muscles burns a lot of calories! Because the back muscles are large, it requires more energy to train them and helps with recovery afterward.
- Contributes to creating an hourglass figure: A broad back with a narrow waist underneath.
- Improves overall sports performance: Almost every sport you can think of requires strong back muscles.
- Reduces the risk of injuries: A strong back optimizes the stabilization of the spine, encouraging proper movement execution and reducing the chance of injury.
- Improves your posture: This will benefit you not only in the gym but also in daily life, such as lifting items or working at a desk.
When is the best time to perform these back exercises for women?
I recommend training your back at least twice a week (preferably, every muscle group twice a week!). This minimal frequency is the most effective for muscle growth. It’s also important to ensure that you give your (back) muscles a minimum of 24 to 48 hours of rest after a workout before training them again. For example, if you train your back on Monday, it’s advisable to wait until Thursday to do it again! On Tuesday and/or Wednesday, you can certainly train other muscle groups. This way, you stimulate your muscles enough to grow and develop, while also giving them sufficient rest to recover.
If you’re still looking for a good training program, check out my other blog: The Ultimate Fitness Plans for Women.
The 5 Best Back Exercises for Women
Now that you know all the ins and outs of back exercises, it’s time for the next step: getting acquainted with the five back exercises I recommend! Below, I will cover these five exercises, including which muscles in your back they target and the correct execution for each.
Back Exercise for Women 1: Pull-ups
Which muscles do you use for this exercise?
Primary:
- Biceps
- Latissimus dorsi (also known as the ‘lats’)
Secondary:
- Brachialis
- Brachioradialis
- Teres Major
- Deltoid (back)
- Rhomboids
- Levator Scapulae
- Trapezius (both lower and middle)
- Pectoralis major & minor
Execution of Pull-ups:
In most gyms, there is a special bar for doing pull-ups. Stand facing this bar and grab it with a very wide, overhand grip. If you are shorter, use a step to reach the bar.
Now hang from the bar, inhale, and pull yourself up until the top of your chest is approximately level with the bar. Try not to tense up and aim to remain as still as possible while pulling yourself up. The same applies here: practice makes perfect. The more you do pull-ups, the better you will get.
After pulling yourself up, lower yourself back down to the starting position in a controlled manner. Are pull-ups a breeze for you? Make it more challenging by using a dipping belt and adding weights!