Guide to A Muscular Back

So you want a big Back?  Read this guide

Let me say this just now. You will not gain muscle and build an impressive Back unless you get in enough calories to support growth & take in enough protein.  Simple. Do you have these two factors in place?  Good!  Read on.

The principles of progressive overload will ALWAYS apply when it comes to gaining muscle mass.  However,  the Back is a different beast altogether.  Why exactly?  Because you can’t see it when you train, and as a result, you don’t hit peak contraction.

Let’s break it down very quickly as you need to know the individual muscles of the back;

Trapezius (Traps) – Wide triangular shaped muscle.  Covers a large part of the back just below the neck.  Because of its origin, you will get some people who train it with shoulders as most people refer to it as the”upper-back” – Barbell shrugs, upright rows etc.

Rhomboids – These originate at the spinal column and attach to the middle of the scapula.  Next time you squeeze your shoulder blades together, you are using your Rhomboids to allow your scapula to move down towards the spine   – Barbell rows, seated cable rows etc.

Lats – Good old lats.  Most people think that the Lats only matter in the back.  Wrong.  Even though this is the largest muscle of the back, you still need to train the others to have a well-balanced and thick back.  This muscle allows for the V-shape and is targeted when you do a dumbbell row or Lat Pulldown.

Erector Spinae – These could quite possibly be the most important muscles as they give support to the spinal column.  The function is to allow the spine to extend. Whenever you do a bent-over row or deadlift, your Erector Spinae comes into play as you are forced into bracing your core and using your whole back – Deadlifts, Bent over rows, Hyperextensions.

So What is Peak Contraction?

Did you know that when you lean forward when you row, you don’t hit the lower fibres effectively? When did you last do this?  When did you last do a row, get to the top, hold it there for a second and lowered the weight slowly?

Yes, this matters.  You must be willing to train in a controlled fashion If you want your back to grow.  It’s not a case of doing heavy deadlifts, a few heavy sets of dumbbell rows and a couple of lat pulldowns.  No. it’s about lifting with intent.  It’s about really squeezing the muscle and ensuring you wear the muscle out by taking it through its full range of motion. Yes, you can certainly throw in some deadlifts in there to really target the erector spinae and traps, but please first learn how to contract and squeeze.

Once you have learned how to really feel the muscle work, this is where you now focus on gradually increasing the weight and putting a programme together.  Ensuring you hit all areas of the back and then making sure you actually keep your spine stable without swinging about and throwing the weight about.  It may look cool, but you are doing absolutely JACK.

Make sense?

Good.

The reason I haven’t put a sample Back workout together for you is due to the fact that everyone will respond differently to different exercises and approaches.  I can send out free samples of course, but I must have an idea as to what your height, weight and training experience is.  Please see the Contact section, fill in the form and I can send you over a FREE Back workout.

Just because I’m nice and I want you to grow!