Here is all the information you need to know about training back!
And if you dont want to read, you can just check out this video!
Exercises and movement patterns
There are 2 types of exercises that you need to include in your back workout:
1. Horizontal pull
2. Vertical pull
Horizontal exercises
These are the horizontal exercises that i recommend:
Barbell row, dumbbell row, chest supported row, seal row, t-bar row, seated cable row, or meadows row.
Or pretty much any exercsie that has the word "row" in its name.
Vertical exercises
The two vertical exercises that i recommend the most, is the lat pulldown machine, or any pull up variation.
You can also try the straight arm pulldown, or the single arm pulldown if you want to.
What about the deadlift?
If your goal is purely bodybuilding, then you should stay away from the deadlift.
For beginners, its good to learn how to do the deadlift, because the technique has some carryover to other exercises that you will be doing down the road.
Like for example the romanian deadlift, hip thrust, or good mornings.
But after that point, i just dont see a reason to do the deadlift.
As the amount of fatigue you get from it is very high, in contrast with how little gains you get in return.
Should i train traps?
Is it something that you 100% have to do?
Definitely not, but if you want to, go right ahead.
But the main priority should always be on the horizontal and vertical movements first.
And training traps should always be seen as just doing something extra.
So if you want to train traps, then do it after you have already done all of your necessary back exercises.
Doing something like 3sets of shrugs, twice per week, will be more than enough to stimulate your traps.
I dont even recommend doing more, because it might cause way too much extra fatigue, that you might not be able to handle.
I used to do rackpull above the knee, with like 800 pounds, and it just completely kills you.
Obviously there is a very big difference between doing extremely heavy rackpulls, and shrugs with 225, but it helps to get the point across.
Number of workouts
As per usual, 2 workouts per week is pretty much where you want to be, but you can easily increase that number a little higher, if your back needs some more work.
Number of sets
When it comes to the number of sets per week, i would recommend something between 12-24 sets per week.
I would definitely not go over that number, as it is already pretty high.
Rep ranges
You need to split your exercises into:
1.Main exercise
2.Secondary exercise
This will make it much easier to understand.
And it will also make sure that you hit your back from all the angles necessary while also taking advantage of every single useful rep range.
Main & Secondary exercise
The exercise that you select as the „main exercise“ will be the one that you will do first in your workout.
For this muscle group, it doesnt have to be the first exercise of the whole workout.
And the secondary exercise, will obviously be the second one in your workout.
Use the 8-15 rep range for both the main exercise, and the secondary exercise.
So if you would select for example 8-12 reps for both the main and the secondary exercise, that would be completely fine.
What you can also do, is to select 8-12 reps for the main exercise, and then 12-15 for the secondary exercise.
The most important role that the main and the secondary exercise fullfil when training your back, is that you can prioritize one vertical and one horizontal pull in each one of your workouts.
So if you had two back workouts throughout the week, you could set it up like this:
This will allow you to get the best of both worlds.
And even if you have more than 2 back exercises per workout, its still going to work the same exact way.
We do it like that, because if you for example, started every single one of your back workouts with a horizontal pull, then your vertical pull would suffer in the long run.
But with a setup like this, its not going to happen, because each pull has its time to shine.
Abuse the stretch for more gains!
When you pull the bar down, you need hold your chest up and pull your shoulders blades together – almost like if you did the arch on the bench press, and then you squeeze at the bottom.
And when you perform the negative portion of the movement, try controlling the negative all the way.
Do it until your hands are basically almost straight, but still try hold your shoulders blades together, if you get to the point where you cant hold your shoulders blades together anymore, its a sign that you have reached the top.
I know that this might not be possible for some people, because sometimes you can reach the top of the machine, before you reach the maximum stretch.
In this situation, i can recommend an easy fix:
just ditch the seat, and sit on the ground, below the seat, so it doesnt pull you back.
That way you can get a full stretch at the top, even if the machine sucks.
