Training your back: the 9 best back exercises lined up!
- Reading time: 10 min.
A beautiful, muscular back—who wouldn’t want that? Yet, for many athletes, back day or pull day isn’t the most favoured day of the week. Whether it's because we can only see our back in a mirror, or because the results aren’t as quickly visible compared to other muscle groups, training your back muscles is crucial for a balanced and healthy body. But how exactly do you train your back? In this blog, we highlight the 10 best back exercises, so you can see results in no time! If you're a woman, we’ve written a special blog just for you, titled The 5 Best Back Exercises for Women.
The Back Muscles
Although we often refer to “the back muscle,” our back actually consists of multiple smaller muscles that work together to perform various functions. You can train both your lower back and upper back, and there’s also a distinction between exercises that focus on the thickness of your back and exercises for the width of your back. The main muscles in the back are:
- The latissimus dorsi is the largest muscle in the body by surface area. This muscle is located on the back and side of your torso. Training this muscle gives you the so-called “wings.” So, with exercises for your lats, you're essentially training the latissimus dorsi.
- The trapezius, a diamond-shaped muscle at the top of your back, helps move your shoulder blade, among other things.
- The erector spinae runs from your neck vertebrae all the way down to your sacrum. When well-developed, and with a low body fat percentage, this muscle gives the “Christmas tree effect” in your lower back.
- The rhomboideus is located at the upper and middle part of your back and, along with the trapezius, contributes to the thickness of this part of your back.
Ensure a Complte Back Workout
The back muscles work together during most movements, making it challenging to isolate one specific back muscle. Since these muscles collaborate, it's important to train all of them. If there’s too much of a strength imbalance between the various back muscles, the risk of serious injury increases. However, if you notice that a particular part of your back is lagging behind from a physical standpoint, you can certainly place more emphasis on that area in your training.
These 9 back exercises are not to be missed
If you're a frequent gym-goer, there's a good chance you already know many of these back exercises and perhaps even perform them regularly. But do you also know exactly which muscles these exercises target? We highlight the 9 best back exercises for you, so at your next gym session, you'll know exactly which muscles you're training!
Back Exercise 1: Pull-up
Which back muscles do you target: Lats. Additionally, to a lesser extent, the trapezius and erector spinae.
The pull-up is a challenging exercise that almost everyone aspires to master. Practice makes perfect, so even if you’re struggling to get those pull-ups right, don’t give up!
How to perform a pull-up:
In most gyms, there is a special bar for pull-ups. Stand facing this bar and grab it with a very wide, overhand grip. Now, hang from the bar, inhale, and pull yourself up until your upper chest reaches the bar. Try to avoid tensing up and aim to hang as still as possible while pulling up. As with many things, practice makes perfect.
The more often you do pull-ups, the better you’ll get. After pulling yourself up, lower yourself in a controlled motion back to the starting position. Are pull-ups too easy for you? Challenge yourself by using a dipping belt and attaching weights to it!