A good back workout routine is essential to having that hourglass shape, as well as being very good for your overall health. Your back is the workhorse of your body, carrying all the stress that you throw at it. If not properly cared for, it can be a huge problem later on down the road.
Your latissimus dorsi (most often referred to as lats) are the largest muscle in your body when measured in surface area. The lats are the muscles that will give you the V in the upper portion of an hourglass figure all women want. Since they are a very large muscle, they also burn more calories than many of the other small muscles in your body (remember, muscles help raise your base metabolic rate). The other major muscle group in your back is the trapezius, which runs from the middle back up to the neck. There are also the rhomboids and the teres major, but these are considerably smaller than the two major groups in the back. Since back pain (of one kind or another) is one of the leading ailments we have when we get older, exercising our back is a very important part of preventing future problems.
Good back workouts should include a minimum of 2 exercises and 2 sets for the major muscles, but I recommend 3 sets. The minor muscle will be worked along with the major groups so there is no need to target them specifically and it’s nearly impossible to isolate them anyway. Make sure to also incorporate a lower back workout in your routine, but not necessarily the same day as the upper back workout. Most of the time, I do my lower back on the same day as my leg day workout. Most of the good core exercises are also lower back workouts. One thing I always work in is back extensions, holding a extra weight if possible.
A good upper back workout routine is as follows:
- 3 Sets – Pull ups, assisted if needed. There is no better lat exercise than good ole pull ups
- 3 Sets – T-bar rows Be sure to keep your back straight and flat like a table top, you can also do bent over barbell rows instead
- 3 Sets – Straight arm push downs this is great workout for those teres major guys as well as the lats
- 3 Sets – Lat pull downs
- 3 Sets – Rear lat pull downs
- 3 Sets – V-bar pull downs
- 3 Sets – Seated Low cable rows
Select 3 of these for one day of back and rotate in and out as desired, but be sure to do all of them so this will cover your lats.
Some people do the trapezius muscles on the same day they do shoulders nonetheless I will give you the workout:
- 3 Sets – Reverse Fly’s
- 3 Sets – Shoulder shrugs, these target the upper portion of the traps
- 3 Sets – Upright rows
These do include a lot of use of the shoulder you can do them on shoulder day if needed but there is nothing wrong with doing them on back day.
This workout plan along with the other weight loss tips you’ll find on my site will have you looking great and feeling even better, before you know it.