Back Development - Why You May Be Lacking It
Back development, a complex issue that takes a complex approach.
This is a point most trainers are only mildly aware of.
Not being knowledgeable enough in back anatomy they train it like they would their chest which in comparison is rather simple.
The back is actually comprised of a number of muscle groups that must be directly addressed to be successful at creating a complete back with width, density, and separation between the individual muscle groups that coexist there.
Complete back development is a hallmark that tells others you know what you are doing, because proper back training is hard, exhausting, uncomfortable, and can be as intimidating as leg training.
Training this body part takes an exceptional mind/muscle link that must be sustained throughout the entire set of each exercise and you must know what part of the back you are trying to target on any given movement.
Back development cannot be attained by using general catchall exercises, the result will be a lackluster, unbalanced look.
The muscle groups involved in the back complex are as follows.
Upper and middle Trapezius, posterior deltoid, teres major, rhomboids, upper and lower latissimus dorsi, and spinal erectors.
That is eight different muscle groups, albeit the upper and lower lats and traps work together in some exercises but they cannot be totally developed by just doing these exercises, they need direct targeting in the right order of an exercise sequence.
Reasons for failure in back development are as follows.
Ignorance of what exercises actually work what part of the back, not realizing the back actually consist of individual muscle groups inhabiting a concentrated area, using too much weight in very poor form, not being able to see the back while training, having a zero mind/muscle link, and an inability to feel the target muscles working.
Starting with width and that is where you should start, there are various types of chins and pulldowns.
While wide grip chins are touted as superior to wide grip pulldowns, I beg to differ as most people do not possess the strength necessary to maintain proper body and arm position, especially on the last reps of a hard set, instead the movement turns into a free for all as they attempt to get themselves up close to the chin bar.
And if you are going to use one of those weight assisted machines to displace some of your body weight you might as well just do pulldowns anyway.
Do not look at pulldowns as a wimpy second choice reserved for weaklings, instead it allows you to pull weight through a very controlled movement and custom target the back muscles, something that is very hard to do with chins.
You control the speed of the positive and negative aspects of the exercise as well as where you want the bar to touch in the contracted position, thus allowing concentrated emphasis on the specific area you are trying to build.
There is less difficulty maintaining proper body position and form right to the last rep even if a loss of full range occurs on the later reps, as this seems to be something unique to back or pulling exercises due to bicep fatigue.
Wide grip pulldowns work to widen the upper lats while close parallel grip pulldowns work to widen the lower lats which lie underneath and below the upper lats.
Barbell rows thicken the upper lats while T bar row thicken the lower lats.
Seated cable row seem to do a cross of both upper and lower widening and thickening and should be done closer to the end of a back workout.
All of these exercises work the rear deltoids and trapezius but don't depend on them to buid these areas up as they just work along with the other back muscles.
If you want well developed rear deltoids and traps do isolated rear delt and trap work first in your workout followed by wide behind the neck pulldowns before starting back width training and then following with back thickness training.
Proper form is essential to developing the back to a high level.
With wide pulldowns the lower back must remain arched and the chest kept high, going from a full stretch with arms straight to bringing the arms down ending with elbows behind the body so the lats can completely contract.
On close grip pulldowns keep the lower back arched and chest high pulling straight down from the fully stretched straight arm position.
Use enough weight to work the lats but not so much that it pulls you out of proper body position, forcing you to lower your chest, round your lower back and shoulders, and bring your elbows forward in front of your body as you try to touch the bar to your chest.
If this happens you are wasting your time and effort.
On barbell and T bar rows stay bent over and do not start raising up as the weight gets harder to row.
Stay at a 90% angle on barbell rows and 45% angle on T bar rows and as you row pull the weight up and back, making it slide up the front of your thighs until you make contact with your pelvis.
On barbell rows remain still while pulling the weight and on T bar row your body will have to move with the weights ascent being that one end of the bar is attached to a stationary structure.
Do not do T bar rows with one end of a barbell if the other end is not secured due to the risk that the dead end may slide forward and pull you over and injure your lower back.
On seated cable rows forget the B.
S.
about leaning all the way forward first before you begin rowing.
Reach forward with your lower back arched and protected and legs bent, then after you have a hold of the close parallel handles push yourself back with your legs and keep a slight bend in your knees.
Keep your lower back arched, knees slightly bent, body upright, chest high.
With arms straight pull the handles toward you until your hands touch your hips with elbows behind the body and contract all the back muscles then slowly let the weight return to straight arm while maintaining lower back, chest, and vertical positions.
A bonus tip on trap training, don't pile lots of plates on a bar and start pulling it up and down with your arms bent, a waste of time and effort.
Shrugging is a short movement and the usual way I see people doing them takes even half of that range away.
Stand in front of a low pulley with a pulldown bar, stand erect with arms completely straight, shrug the weight up smoothly until you completely contract your traps then slowly lower the weight using only trap strength.
If you do rear delt work then this type of shrugs and follow them with behind neck pulldowns you will have well developed traps without the hassle of the macho less effective way.
The reason you must go to this much trouble is because you cannot watch your back as you work it and even though it is very important to feel any muscle group you are working, that goes double for back.
Look at photos of well developed backs and study where each muscle group is and when you are using an exercise designed to target a specific area, mentally focus in your minds eye on the extension and contraction of every rep of every set.
Stand in a three way mirror and do a double bicep pose and try to locate and control the contraction of the different areas of your back to program in your mind where they are, how to contract them, and how they feel when you do contract them so that when you are training them you will get them to give their all to your efforts.
I did not mention lower back training as the lower back works pretty hard during the row potion on upper back training and it would be foolhardy to do additional direct work to it on back day and then make it work in a compromised state on leg day, if you are splitting your muscle groups into different workouts this will lead to injury.
It is better advised to work lower back last with stiff legged deadlifts when you train your hamstrings.
This way your lower back can remain strong in its major role working with the abdominals to stabilize the upper body on heavy thigh training and when that is past then you can safely train it directly.
Remember it takes the lower back longer to recover from training than any other muscle group when it is targeted directly so be intelligent about it.
If you follow these quidelines you should see improved development in your back, letting others know that you know what you are doing.
This is a point most trainers are only mildly aware of.
Not being knowledgeable enough in back anatomy they train it like they would their chest which in comparison is rather simple.
The back is actually comprised of a number of muscle groups that must be directly addressed to be successful at creating a complete back with width, density, and separation between the individual muscle groups that coexist there.
Complete back development is a hallmark that tells others you know what you are doing, because proper back training is hard, exhausting, uncomfortable, and can be as intimidating as leg training.
Training this body part takes an exceptional mind/muscle link that must be sustained throughout the entire set of each exercise and you must know what part of the back you are trying to target on any given movement.
Back development cannot be attained by using general catchall exercises, the result will be a lackluster, unbalanced look.
The muscle groups involved in the back complex are as follows.
Upper and middle Trapezius, posterior deltoid, teres major, rhomboids, upper and lower latissimus dorsi, and spinal erectors.
That is eight different muscle groups, albeit the upper and lower lats and traps work together in some exercises but they cannot be totally developed by just doing these exercises, they need direct targeting in the right order of an exercise sequence.
Reasons for failure in back development are as follows.
Ignorance of what exercises actually work what part of the back, not realizing the back actually consist of individual muscle groups inhabiting a concentrated area, using too much weight in very poor form, not being able to see the back while training, having a zero mind/muscle link, and an inability to feel the target muscles working.
Starting with width and that is where you should start, there are various types of chins and pulldowns.
While wide grip chins are touted as superior to wide grip pulldowns, I beg to differ as most people do not possess the strength necessary to maintain proper body and arm position, especially on the last reps of a hard set, instead the movement turns into a free for all as they attempt to get themselves up close to the chin bar.
And if you are going to use one of those weight assisted machines to displace some of your body weight you might as well just do pulldowns anyway.
Do not look at pulldowns as a wimpy second choice reserved for weaklings, instead it allows you to pull weight through a very controlled movement and custom target the back muscles, something that is very hard to do with chins.
You control the speed of the positive and negative aspects of the exercise as well as where you want the bar to touch in the contracted position, thus allowing concentrated emphasis on the specific area you are trying to build.
There is less difficulty maintaining proper body position and form right to the last rep even if a loss of full range occurs on the later reps, as this seems to be something unique to back or pulling exercises due to bicep fatigue.
Wide grip pulldowns work to widen the upper lats while close parallel grip pulldowns work to widen the lower lats which lie underneath and below the upper lats.
Barbell rows thicken the upper lats while T bar row thicken the lower lats.
Seated cable row seem to do a cross of both upper and lower widening and thickening and should be done closer to the end of a back workout.
All of these exercises work the rear deltoids and trapezius but don't depend on them to buid these areas up as they just work along with the other back muscles.
If you want well developed rear deltoids and traps do isolated rear delt and trap work first in your workout followed by wide behind the neck pulldowns before starting back width training and then following with back thickness training.
Proper form is essential to developing the back to a high level.
With wide pulldowns the lower back must remain arched and the chest kept high, going from a full stretch with arms straight to bringing the arms down ending with elbows behind the body so the lats can completely contract.
On close grip pulldowns keep the lower back arched and chest high pulling straight down from the fully stretched straight arm position.
Use enough weight to work the lats but not so much that it pulls you out of proper body position, forcing you to lower your chest, round your lower back and shoulders, and bring your elbows forward in front of your body as you try to touch the bar to your chest.
If this happens you are wasting your time and effort.
On barbell and T bar rows stay bent over and do not start raising up as the weight gets harder to row.
Stay at a 90% angle on barbell rows and 45% angle on T bar rows and as you row pull the weight up and back, making it slide up the front of your thighs until you make contact with your pelvis.
On barbell rows remain still while pulling the weight and on T bar row your body will have to move with the weights ascent being that one end of the bar is attached to a stationary structure.
Do not do T bar rows with one end of a barbell if the other end is not secured due to the risk that the dead end may slide forward and pull you over and injure your lower back.
On seated cable rows forget the B.
S.
about leaning all the way forward first before you begin rowing.
Reach forward with your lower back arched and protected and legs bent, then after you have a hold of the close parallel handles push yourself back with your legs and keep a slight bend in your knees.
Keep your lower back arched, knees slightly bent, body upright, chest high.
With arms straight pull the handles toward you until your hands touch your hips with elbows behind the body and contract all the back muscles then slowly let the weight return to straight arm while maintaining lower back, chest, and vertical positions.
A bonus tip on trap training, don't pile lots of plates on a bar and start pulling it up and down with your arms bent, a waste of time and effort.
Shrugging is a short movement and the usual way I see people doing them takes even half of that range away.
Stand in front of a low pulley with a pulldown bar, stand erect with arms completely straight, shrug the weight up smoothly until you completely contract your traps then slowly lower the weight using only trap strength.
If you do rear delt work then this type of shrugs and follow them with behind neck pulldowns you will have well developed traps without the hassle of the macho less effective way.
The reason you must go to this much trouble is because you cannot watch your back as you work it and even though it is very important to feel any muscle group you are working, that goes double for back.
Look at photos of well developed backs and study where each muscle group is and when you are using an exercise designed to target a specific area, mentally focus in your minds eye on the extension and contraction of every rep of every set.
Stand in a three way mirror and do a double bicep pose and try to locate and control the contraction of the different areas of your back to program in your mind where they are, how to contract them, and how they feel when you do contract them so that when you are training them you will get them to give their all to your efforts.
I did not mention lower back training as the lower back works pretty hard during the row potion on upper back training and it would be foolhardy to do additional direct work to it on back day and then make it work in a compromised state on leg day, if you are splitting your muscle groups into different workouts this will lead to injury.
It is better advised to work lower back last with stiff legged deadlifts when you train your hamstrings.
This way your lower back can remain strong in its major role working with the abdominals to stabilize the upper body on heavy thigh training and when that is past then you can safely train it directly.
Remember it takes the lower back longer to recover from training than any other muscle group when it is targeted directly so be intelligent about it.
If you follow these quidelines you should see improved development in your back, letting others know that you know what you are doing.
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