Best Back Workout Routines

You know the guy — the one who has a back so wide he walks sideways through doorways. Yeah, he’s cool. And there’s a part of you that wants that cobra back too. But no matter how many deadlifts you do, your back is the size of a light post.

RELATED: Best Back Strengthening Exercises

Here are five mistakes you’re probably making with your back training, and how you can correct them for newfound muscle mass.

Not Mixing Things Up

You’ve probably been taught that the best way to build a huge back is through the deadlift. There is only one problem: It doesn’t work for everyone — and it’s not working for you.

If you’ve read this far, you likely need to switch things up and get a little freaky with your back training.

Reeves Row

Ever heard of a Reeves deadlift? It is a great exercise that not only tests your lats and upper back, but your arm and hand strength as well.

The Reeves deadlift is not that different from a classic deadlift. However, the Reeves Row — a modified version of it — is.  And it is great for getting that back width. 

RELATED: Build A Better Back Workout 

Load the bar with lighter plates than usual. Standing in the middle of the bar, grab the plates with the fingertips of your outstretched arms and perform a standard barbell row. Keep your elbows close to your sides and pull them back as far back as possible. This really keeps your lower lats in a stretched position throughout the movement. 

1.5 reps

This technique increases the time under tension and reduces momentum swings. Put simply, you do a rep in a full range of motion, lower the weight, do a partial rep, go all the way down and repeat.

Static Holds

If you need convincing to start incorporating static holds to your back training, just look at the musculature of Olympic gymnasts (they largely train and perform with static holds).

They’ve got impressive wingspans, and new research is starting to identify why.

A long forgotten study conducted by Dr. Jose Antonio subjected quail to an extreme stretching protocol for 28 days. At the end of the study, the stretched muscles showed a 334 percent size increase. But there was little to no scientific research done on humans until recently, when Dr. Jacob Wilson and his team at the University of Tampa investigated the effects of weighted intra-set stretching on skeletal muscle size and strength. Twenty-four recreationally trained participants (around the age of 20) were randomly assigned to training programs with or without a focus on stretching the muscle. The training focused on calves. At the end of the study, muscle thickness effectively doubled for the participants who trained with the stretching method. 

Both groups performed four sets of 12 reps of calf raises on a leg press, twice a week for five weeks. The first set was performed at 90% of subjects' 1-rep max (1RM), followed by three sets in which the weight was decreased by 15% of the subjects' 1-RM per set. The trainees in the stretching group let the weight from the leg press stretch their gastrocnemius (the big muscle in the upper calf) in the fully stretched bottom position for 30 seconds between sets.

Here is how you can apply this method to your back training: After completing a set of weighted pull-ups, fully extend your arms and let yourself hang for 30 seconds. Keep your feet off the ground for maximal tension. Repeat using lighter weight (or bodyweight) for two or three additional sets.

Word of caution: There’s a time and place for stretching. Doing stretches at the beginning of a workout has been shown to have a negative impact on training performance. Wait until you’ve completed all of your reps before finishing off the muscle with a static hold. You will build a strong back in no time. 

Too Much Body English

If you are dry-humping the barbell with every rep, you need to check your ego at the door and use a weight you can control.

There’s one exercise to “force” good form. It's called the Marriage Row, because you can't cheat on it.

Set up on an incline bench (the video shows a smith machine setup, but any incline bench setup will do) and keep your torso fixed to the bench with each rep, driving up with your elbows tucked at your sides. You can substitute a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells for the barbell. 

Another exercise recommended if you have trouble “feeling” your back engage — or you feel like your arms take over on most exercises — is a straight-arm pulldown, which takes your lats through a full range of motion, isolating them from your arms and other supporting muscles.

Not Resetting With Each Rep

You want to retract your scapulae with each rep. In other words, you want to fully extend your arms on the eccentric portion of the lift (for example, the portion where you reach to the ceiling during a pulldown) before performing the next rep.

When training the back, lifters will often keep the mid and lower traps in an isometric hold and pull through a partial range of motion instead of working the muscle through its full range of motion.

Another exercise that emphasizes the stretch on the eccentric portion of the lift is the Meadows row (hat tip to John Meadows for these). It is a modified version of a one-arm dumbbell row using a T-bar. ]

Stand on the floor next to the thicker end of the bar, where you'd normally stand if you were adding another plate. Grab the thick part of the bar with one hand and row. Keep your upper-body locked into place. Let your scapulae release and get stretched at the bottom.

The hip that is closest to the bar is hiked up a bit. This stretches your lower lats on the side you’re using to row and ensures they have to work harder as well. Use smaller plates (not the 45-pound ones) to increase range of motion.

Forgetting Your Rhomboids

As you’re discovering, there are a lot of areas and angles that need to be worked for complete back development. The rhomboid muscles (the big muscles in the middle of your back) are often neglected.

If you want to make that center portion of your back more three-dimensional (of course you do!), try doing kettlebell rows.

Note: To perform this well, start with a light load and do a brief isometric hold at the top to really feel it in your rhomboids.

Not Showing Love To Your Spinal Erectors

A strong set of spinal erectors looks cool but also helps support everyday activities. Lower-back pain is a common ailment, so make this area stronger through smart training. The lower back does get worked in many exercises indirectly, but that doesn’t mean it should be entirely ignored.

Target it safely and effectively through hyperextensions. The back hyperextension is one of the most basic and effective exercises you can use to build your spinal erectors.

Lie face down in a glute-ham or back extension machine with the tops of your hips just beyond the highest point of the pad. In the starting position, your torso should be folded over the pad with your back flat. Once everything is tight, extend until your upper body is parallel to the floor (going too far up will activate your hamstrings more than your lower back). Hold at the top for a second and repeat. Focus on squeezing your butt and keep your back tight throughout (don’t round it). Once you start getting stronger, add some weight or bands to really crank up the intensity.

BONUS CONTENT (For Advanced Trainees Only): Up The Intensity

As you become more advanced, performing the basics in regular rep ranges and continually trying to add weight to the bar with each workout does not infinitely lead to bigger and better gains.

For one, adding weight each and every week is a recipe for burnout and puts you at risk for injury.

You’ll eventually plateau — we all do — which is when outside-the-box techniques need to be employed to continue progressing.

Here are some intensity techniques to incorporate (in moderation).

Contrast Sets 

These movements involve pairing a loaded movement with an unloaded one. The heavy load will stimulate the fast-twitch muscle fibers and there will be a carryover to the next, lighter-load exercise. Try alternating heavy rows with bodyweight pull-ups.

As strength coach Lee Boyce explains, the contrasted loading will have the fast-twitch muscle fibers “think” they still need to be recruited in the same quantity and intensity during the lighter movement. Theoretically, the nervous system becomes hypersensitive and recruits a greater amount of muscle, leading to greater gains in explosiveness and strength.

Do five reps of the main compound lift and finish off with five reps of the secondary movement, as explosively as possible.

Drop Sets

Drop sets require you to do a target amount of reps until muscle failure and go lighter with every set — without breaks.

For example, with dumbbell rows, start with 80-pound dumbbells for eight to ten reps, drop to 60-pound dumbbells and rep out again, and then finish with 40-pound dumbbells — all in quick succession.

Widowmaker Sets

I’m not going to sugarcoat this — widowmaker sets are brutal and must be done with sound technique, spotters, and all necessary safety measures taken.

After you’ve completed a set, keep the heaviest weight on the bar. Instead of doing another 8-12 reps, aim to do 20 reps with sound form (with rest pauses and true grit).  This will be a grind and force you well beyond your comfort zone.

It’s OK if you don’t make it, but the goal is to push beyond the mental barriers holding you back. Unless you’re a really advanced trainee, avoid exercises with a high risk of injury (moves where form is difficult to maintain — deadlifts, for example).

Resistance Bands

Bands allow for accommodating resistance through the entire range of motion, matching your strength curve. In other words, the bands are most resistant when you’re at your strongest (i.e. band is fully lengthened at the peak of a dumbbell press, when you’re near full extension), challenging you equally throughout the entire distance your targeted muscle group travels. This adds a whole other level of difficulty to any exercise, without having to go too heavy and sacrifice form.

There’s also the benefit of eccentric overload — putting added tension on a movement during the eccentric/negative portion (lowering of the weight). During a standard barbell bench press, the eccentric portion is the action of bringing the bar down to your chest. The concentric portion is pushing the bar back up to full extension. For those in pursuit of muscle and strength, the eccentric (negative) portion of a rep is hugely important — and too often overlooked.

RELATED: Best Chest Workout Routine

Try this: Add heavy bands to the hammer strength machine to emphasize the stretch and build that mind-muscle connection.

Sample Back-Focused Workouts

Beginner

*Avoid highly technical lifts.

• Lat Thickness: Cable Rows – 3x8-12 (at your heaviest weight, add weight with each set). Do a final widowmaker set after completing the three sets.
• Lat Width: Pulldowns – 3x12
• Rhomboids: Bent-Over Kettlebell Rows – 3x 8-10. Flex hard at top and squeeze the middle of your back.
• Spinal Erectors: Hyperextensions – 3x20

Advanced

• Lat Thickness: 1.5 Rep T-Bar Rows – 3x8-12 (at your heaviest weight, add weight with each set). Do a final widowmaker set after completing the three sets.
• Lat Width:  Reeves Rows – 4x12
• Lat Width: Pulldowns On Hammer Strength Machine With Resistance Bands – 3x12
• Rhomboids: Bent Over Kettlebell Rows – 3x8-10. Flex hard at top and squeeze the middle of your back.
• Spinal Erectors: Banded Hyperextensions – 3x20
• (Optional) Traps: Dumbbell Shrugs – 3x12. Hold for a two-second count at the top.

Mitch Calvert is a certified trainer and fat-loss coach. He discovered his love for fitness 14 years ago at 240 lbs – and now works men who have weight to lose and confidence to gain. He hosts Mansformation Challenges for guys looking to get over the fat-loss hump.