Building a Big, Wide Back

Training tips and Exercises for Back Mass

We all start out lifting weights for bigger chests and arms, but eventually most of us move on to training the entire body with the goal of achieving a symmetrical physique that flows like a classic Greek sculpture. Even so, many trainers never quite bring the development of their backs into proportion with the rest of their body. Perhaps it’s because the back is behind us and thus difficult to see, or it could be that fostering a mind-muscle connection with the lats is more challenging than for muscle groups like the arms or chest. But make no mistake – no man’s body is every truly complete unless he has a rugged, powerful back. Wide, thick lats stand out in any crowd, and mark you as real strong man. Why do you think the English language is peppered with phrases like “put your back into it” and “back-breaking labor?” If you don’t have much muscle going on back there, it’s time you did something about it. Comprehensive training for the largest muscle structure of the upper body can be simply broken down into just a few areas. Choosing an exercise from each group will ensure maximum back development.

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Vertical pulling movements

These include all types of pull-ups, cable pulldowns, and similar movements done on various machines. The toughest of all of these, without question, are pull-ups. It is much harder to pull your own bodyweight up to a bar than it is to pull the same amount of weight down from a cable pulley. Almost any 175-pound man can do sets of pulldowns with 180 pounds, but few can do three good sets of chins. The balancing and mechanics of pull-ups make them far more difficult, yet this also translates into better results in the growth and strengthening of the back. If you elect to do chins, make sure you do them right – almost no one does. You can use either a pronated grip with palms away from you and slightly wider than shoulder width, or a supinated grip with palms facing you and set at shoulder width or slightly narrower. Start from almost a dead hang, but do maintain a very slight bend in the arms. Do not relax the shoulders, as they could dislocate, especially if you are over 220 pounds. Next pull smoothly up until your upper chest comes within an inch or two of the bar. Most guys don’t go anywhere near that high up, and it shows in their weak backs. Hold the contraction for a second and then slowly lower, feeling the lats stretch. This is a far cry from the jerking style of chin-ups you see in Army boot camps and police academies, and if you can complete three sets of ten reps like this, you are doing quite well. Once you can do that, start hanging weights from your waist to add extra resistance. If you can’t do a single chin-up, it is acceptable to use the cable pulldown station or an assisted chinning machine to help develop your strength. But by all means, chin if you can.

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Horizontal pulling movements

The second type of exercise you must do for your back is a horizontal pulling movement, more commonly known as a row. You can choose a barbell, a dumbbell, a T-bar, a seated cable row, or any one of many fine rowing machines made by companies like Hammer Strength, Cybex, Icarian, Paramount, Strive, and Flex. They are all essentially the same exercise, pulling resistance toward your body the way the poor old slaves had to pull the oars of ships back in the days of the Roman Empire. Focus on pulling the weight through your body, even though this won’t actually happen, and squeeze the shoulder blades together at the end of each rep as you flex the lats. If you are using a barbell or a free-standing T-bar, take care to keep your torso locked in place during the set. Letting your body rock back and forth or jerk while you’re pulling a couple hundred pounds is just not safe. You may selectively target either the lower lats by pulling the resistance into your belly button, or the upper lats and smaller muscles around the shoulder blades by pulling towards your top row of abs. In all rows, focus on driving the elbows as far back as possible for a full range of motion, and never bounce the weight out of the bottom position.

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Deadlifts

Deadlifts are really the closest thing to a total body exercise there is, as you are using the quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, lats, traps, biceps, and rear delts to pull a bar off the floor and up into a standing position. Thus, most trainers can eventually work up to using a great deal of weight. A tough set of deadlifts will knock you on your ass like nothing else, and thousands of weight trainers over the years swear by its ability to pack meat onto the back. A more recent trend is to do deadlifts only from the knees up in a power rack, making the exercise more of a back movement and taking away most of the participation of the legs and glutes. Whichever method you choose, try to find someone well versed in proper form to teach you the correct technique.

Pullovers

The only way to isolate the lats without having to go through the weak link of the biceps is by performing pullovers. You may be familiar with the dumbbell version of these, which some lifters still do for their chests. A more effective option is to either use a machine or a high pulley cable station. Companies like Nautilus, Life Fitness, and Hammer Strength all make excellent pullover machines, with roll bars and pads for the elbows so that you aren’t even tempted to cheat and use your arms. Pullovers are especially useful for those of you who find your biceps giving out before your lats on chins or rows. After a set of pullovers, jump right into the chin or row while your lats are temporarily fatigued and your biceps are at an advantage. They are also good to sandwich in between vertical and horizontal pulling movements to give your biceps a few minutes to recharge so they don’t become a weak link.

The traps and lower back

Finally, don’t neglect the muscle groups at the top and bottom of your back, the traps and lower back. Well-developed traps are especially impressive and give the illusion of a thicker neck. Shrugs and upright rows will take care of the traps, and the lower back can best be worked with hyperextensions or good mornings. Nautilus also makes a very good lower back machine that’s easy to use and has a pretty heavy weight stack for those who want lower backs forged of solid steel.

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Top five tips for efficient back training

1. Never round the back

The lower back stabilizes your torso during most exercises, but attention must be given to maintaining a slight arch or concave shape to it at all times during your sets. The number one reason most lower back injuries happen is because trainers get sloppy and start rounding their lower backs, creating a convex shape in the lumbar spine. This puts the area in an overly vulnerable position where the muscles of the lower back and the disks between spinal segments are at high risk of injury. These types of injuries can often be debilitating to the point where even everyday tasks like putting on your own shoes and socks become impossible without excruciating pain. Don’t round the lower back while training, ever!

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2. Emphasize the squeeze/peak contraction

Many lifters fail to reap substantial results with back training because they employ a ballistic style of executing repetitions, a continuous rapid motion with no pause at either the stretch or the contraction points of the rep. At this speed momentum and other muscle groups rob the lats of the tension they need for adequate stimulation. Using too much weight is the usual reason this happens. If you suspect this may apply to you, try pausing for a full second to stretch the lats before the pull, then pull into a flex of the lats and hold another one-one-thousand count. Use no more than 60% of the weight you typically do. You may be surprised at how much better feeling in the lats and a subsequent pump that training in this style promotes. Never be afraid to lighten the weight if your form is less than optimal.

3. Don’t overtrain

The back is a complex structure that can be trained from various angles and with a wide selection of grips. Some rowing machines, for example, give you the option of three or four different hand positions. It’s very easy to start doing more and more exercises and variations in a single workout. Before you know it, you’re doing four sets of ten different exercises and spending two hours training your back. Your enthusiasm in this case is commendable, but misguided. Too much training can cause so much muscular damage that even a full week may not be sufficient to allow for recovery before training it again. You could actually start losing size and strength in the lats. It’s okay to employ a wide variety of exercises and grips, but don’t try to do them all every time you train.

4. Stretch between sets

An easy way to enhance your flexibility and range of motion for the back is to stretch the lats between sets. Simply grab hold of any upright pole or part of a machine, then slowly rotate your body away from it while pulling on the immovable object. Stretch each side individually and hold the stretch for five seconds.

5. Consider training twice a week

If your back is a real missing link in an otherwise complete physique, you may want to specialize on it for a period of 2-4 months by training it twice a week, say on a Mondays and Thursdays. However, you don’t do the same movements both times. In the first workout of the week, try deadlifts and rows, then come back later in the week to do chins, pullovers, and shrugs. The high workload for a brief time should shock your back into a new realm of size and shape.

Basic back routines

Routine A

Chin-up 3 x 8-10

Machine row 3 x 8-10

Dumbbell shrug 3 x 8-10

Routine B

Chin-up 3 x 8-10

Barbell row 3 x 8-10

Machine pullover 3 x 8-10

Barbell shrug 3 x 8-10

Routine C

Dumbbell row 3 x 8-10