Thick wide back are beautiful!

What do back do?

Why are strong back mandatory?

A strong back is the base of power. They connect the hips, glutes, chest, shoulders and neck.
They protect our spine, fix its alignment and our overall posture while reducing stress on the spinal discs and joints.
Get respect from all gym bros and work on your back, it’s your duty!

Ok, let’s talk how!

There are two types of movements necessary for big back: Horizontal and Vertical.
The movement is horizontal if the upper body is parallel with the floor. You guess what the vertical movement is!
For back thickness, you do more of the horizontal movements, and if your wings are lacking, introduce more of the vertical.

There are lot of muscles in our back and you should do enough weekly sets to cover all of them. Good thing is, with horizontal and vertical combination you won’t miss any.
The good amount of sets is between 12 and 24, done at least 2 times and not more than 4 times per week.
Do not start with 24 sets from the get go because, as we mentioned before, we rise number of sets only when current volume does not feel sufficient.
2 sets per movement is great start, with full range of motion and slow eccentric. With time, when you feel like you can do more, raise number of sets.

Exercises

Finally, let’s talk exercises. Every barbell movement can be performed dumbbells as well.

Pullups

Pullups are the best back exercise. The king of calisthenic movements and one of the simplest methods to build upper back and lats.
They are not easy and require a long learning curve to incorporate into training because not everybody can do them.
There are different pullup variations and grips and you should rotate between them so all angles are hit.
Once you come to respectable number of reps (more than 5), pull ups are the best vertical movement you can do in your workout routine.
Don’t be fooled with number of reps. If you are bulking and your weight is rising, you are getting stronger, even though your reps remain the same.
If you are not bulking, feel free to add weight once you can do 3 sets of 8.
Pull ups are must do for every serious lifter and everybody who can hit the reps with full range of motion deserves respect!

Bent Over Rows

Bent over rows are horizontal movement which is a perfect mass builder for back. It’s very easy to do and can be done with different equipment (Barbell, kettlebells, dumbbells or with different machines).
Technique is of utmost importance and one should start with barbell only and gradually increase the weight.
If done correctly, as a beginner, you will be able to add weight with every session and gradually progress.
The reward is huge with bent over rows since they build entire back and everyone should do them at the beginning of fitness journey!

Bro tip: When in starting position, try to keep your chest up with contracted scapula! That intensifies the back stretch and is perfect for hypertrophy!

One Arm Dumbbell Rows

One arm dumbbell rows are another great back builder. Muscles worked are lats, trapezius, rhomboids, rear deltoids and core which enables straight spine.
This is very stable position, hence you can work with more weight and even bigger range of motion, which provides great hypertrophy stimulus.
Since it is one arm movement you can address muscle imbalances which will be useful at some point in time.
Control the movement on the way down and stretch your lats and scapula as much as you can.

Trap Bar Shrugs

Shrugs are excellent trapezius builder. Trapezius muscles control the movement of your shoulder blades, upper back and neck.
Strengthened through the exercise, you will improve your posture dramatically, pull your shoulders back, stabilize the upper back and help with neck pain.
Lifting, reaching, bending and sitting is much more safer with strong trapezius.
With trap bar, weight will never touch your body, hands are in wider position which is beneficial for trapezius targeting since it is more in line with it’s muscle fibers and you can handle more weight. Traps respond perfectly to higher weight and weighted stretch, so it’s safe to say that eccentric part of the movement is much more important than concentric part.
Do your shrugs!

T-Bar Rows

Since there is Bent Over Barbell Row already in a list, there were a few seconds of decision making wether T-Bar Rows should be as well since they work on a same muscles from similar position. The difference is the emphasis that T-Bar row puts on back thickness (front to back), while bent over rows put more emphasis on back width because of wider grip.

Lat Pulldown

Lat Pulldowns mimic the motion of pull-ups, but because you pull the weight down, you can adjust the resistance level by using more or less weight.
There are various bar types to change the hand position for different stimulus.
If you are not strong enough to do pullups, this exercise is a great substitution, but it has it’s place irregardless.
Great exercise, but try to slowdown eccentric part of the movement and avoid momentum use while doing them.

Conclusion

There are certainly great movements which did not make the list, but these exercises will certainly serve on a way of building great back.
There are no deadlifts involved because, in my opinion, they belong to lower body training and this post focuses purely on back as upper body part.
Work on your back Swole Bro, you’ll thank me later!