The Best Science-Based Back Workout (TARGET EVERY MUSCLE!)

The biggest mistake people make when training back is utilizing too many isolation exercises and not targeting all of the back musculature which includes both superficial and deep muscles. The four main muscles that make up the bulk of the back and the ones we want to focus on developing are the trapezius which has an upper and lower portion, the rhomboids which lay deep to the trapezius muscle, latissimus dorsi or lats and the erector spinae which are the lower back muscles. There are also a few smaller muscles that serve an important role such as the teres muscles and the infraspinatus. We want to focus on these muscles as well as they will strengthen our shoulder through stabilization and also provide an aesthetic appeal. And when it comes to building a powerful and attractive looking back, I think that most of us want the following large but not over developed upper traps for thickness wide strong lats that extend down low to create that elusive V taper strong lower traps and rhomboids for mid back thickness clear development and separation in the teres major and infraspinatus muscles and a well defined Christmas tree structure in the lower back created by the erector spinae. We can achieve these features and train all these muscles by choosing the right exercises to include in our back workouts. In this video I'm going to go through a back workout consisting of five of the best back building exercises based on current scientific literature and our anatomical understanding of the back muscles. Now before we get started on the exercises, I want to briefly talk about muscle activation. It's important that you have a solid mind to muscle connection with your back muscles during each of the back exercises you perform or or else you'll be training the wrong muscles. In fact, one study by Snyder et al. Examined the effect that cueing had on untrained athletes who were performing lat pulldowns. The study found that activation of the lats were significantly higher after coaching than before. Some helpful cues I personally use are to think about pulling with your elbows as opposed to thinking about pulling with your hands and bring your shoulders down and away from your ears to depress your traps before starting each movement. Another thing I also do for most back exercises aside from the deadlift, is I'll remove my thumb from under underneath and put it over the grip with my fingers, also known as a thumbless grip as I find this makes it harder to engage the bicep and makes it easier to feel your back. Working using these cues will help you maximally activate the muscles that should be working in the following exercises if deadlifts currently aren't somewhere in your lifting routine, then I highly suggest you start doing them. It's a great compound movement to target pretty much all of your upper and lower back muscles which will add more width and depth to your back and help you get that Christmas tree shape. And it also works several lower body muscles in addition to the large hormonal response this exercise elicits when compared to isolation exercises. It's also very easy to progressively overload this exercise with weight given that you're doing the exercise with proper form, which of course is essential. And although I'm not going to explain how to perform the deadlift properly in this video, I highly recommend you do a little bit of research as to the proper way to do them before trying it out. I personally prefer including deadlifts on my back day as opposed to my leg day, and I suggest starting with this exercise first first during your workout as it's a very energy demanding exercise. This is probably my favorite back exercise for several reasons. First of all, not only does it work pretty much all of your back musculature like your lats, lower traps and rhomboids, they also greatly increase the role of your shoulder and scapular stabilizers like the teres muscles and the infraspinatus. And the fact that it's a closed chain exercise, meaning that the hands are held at a fixed anchor point, means that it may result in greater motor unit recruitment as demonstrated in several studies that compared open chain exercises like LAT pulldowns with closed chain exercises like the pull up. Now as for whether you should do pull ups or chin ups, research such as this study by Yudis et al. Tends to show that both pull ups and chin ups provided equal LAT activation. However, this same study showed that the lower traps and infraspinatus had greater activation in the pull up when compared to the chin up, whereas the chin up had greater pectoralis major and biceps brachii activation. Given that we are focusing on maximizing back growth, pull ups seem like the better option for this reason. However, I urge you not to immediately draw conclusions directly from literature, especially solely from EMG studies as all studies have flaws and we all have individual differences in our anatomy and body structure. So try them both out and see which feels better for you and you can always include both in your workout. I find that a fairly wide overhand thumbless grip pull up best activates my back. And as for progressive overload, once you can comfortably perform 10 to 12 clean reps of a bodyweight pull up. I suggest starting to gradually add weight by using a weight belt or holding a dumbbell between your feet in order to continuously get stronger in this exercise. And if you're currently unable to do a pull up, I suggest using an assisted pull up machine and focusing on negatives until you build the strength to do bodyweight pull ups. Next you want to move on to a horizontal rowing movement. One study by Lehman et al. Actually found that the seated row provided similar levels of LAT activation as LAT pulldowns, but more activation in other areas of the back like the traps and rhomboids. So I definitely suggest you include a rowing type movement into your back routine to hit these other muscles, whether it be T bar rows, bent over barbell rows and so on. I prefer this variation of the chest supported row where you put a bench at an incline and pull a weighted bar towards your chest which works the majority of your back muscles with more emphasis on your mid back musculature. I prefer this exercise because it minimizes the involvement of my lower back in the movement which has already gotten a good workout for my deadlifts. Now, although the pull up is a superior exercise when compared to lat pulldowns, the lat pulldown is an excellent supplemental open chain exercise that targets pretty much the same muscles I previously showed in the pull up, just with less involvement of the shoulder stabilizers. As for the best variations to perform them, in my opinion overhand, middle and wide grip front pulldowns with a slightly lean back are likely the best options. Front pulldowns have been shown in numerous studies such as this one by Barros et al. To be superior in terms of LAT activation when compared to other variations like behind the neck pulldowns. And another bonus is it doesn't place your glenohumeral joint in a compromised position as behind the neck pulldowns do, so stick to front pulldowns. As for hand grip, one study by Lusk et al. Concluded that a pronated grip had significantly higher LAT activation when compared to a supinated grip during lap pulldowns, which is why I recommend using an overhand grip. I also suggest a slight lean back during the pulldowns based on the conclusions of this study which demonstrated that a slight lean back at 135 degrees led to an 11% increase in lat activation as long as no momentum is used. So a slight lean back may be optimal, but you don't want to be swinging every rep. As for grip width, this study by Anderson et al. Examined the activation of various back muscles using three different grip widths, narrow, medium and wide. The researchers concluded that the three different widths exhibited very similar lat activation, but the biceps were most activated with the middle grip and in addition subjects were able to lift the most weight with the middle grip. However, the same study also showed that during the eccentric portion of the movement, the infraspinatus, one of our rotator cuffs, was better activated during the wide grip. And given that a wider grip will also involve more of your teres major muscle due to its anatomical position and function, I think we can conclude that using a combination of both the middle and wide grip is best in terms of back training as opposed to just sticking to one grip width. This last exercise is something I highly suggest you add into your back training routine. They're called scapular pull ups and mainly strengthen your lower traps while helping with your scapular stability and keeping your shoulders healthy. You simply want to hang from a bar, depress your shoulders down and away from your ears and press pull your body up without allowing your elbows to bend as you get stronger. With this exercise, you can always progress it by using a weight belt or alternatively perform the exercise on your knees and use the handles on a cable machine. So to wrap this all up, here's a sample workout you can do using the five exercises I discussed. You want to stick with this routine for a couple months and focus on progressively overloading these exercises, but I guarantee that if you get strong as hell with these exercises, you will develop a well rounded and powerful looking back. Thank you guys for watching. I hope you found the video useful. I know it's a lot of information to take in at first, but I honestly believe that if you implement what I go through in the video that you'll be able to maximize your back training and see a lot more back growth. And with that being said, I've put in a lot of time and effort into this video, so I'd really appreciate if you hit that like button and leave some comments below as to what you liked about the video, what you think I could improve on in the future, and also if you have any questions about the video that you'd like me to answer. And as always, please don't forget to hit hit that subscribe button as well as it really motivates me to continue making informative content like this in the future. And I also highly suggest that you check out some of my other videos that I made as I think you guys will find it useful as well. And that's basically it for today, guys. I'll see you next time.