Back exercise, is it really necessary?

Yes because back exercise can

make your waist look smaller,

make men look far more powerful,

improve your sporting performance,

improve posture and give women a unique elegance

And

Lower back exercises can help you remain pain and injury free.

Of all the muscles that are neglected by people training today, the back and legs are definitely the two least exercised body parts, there are not many who want to do back training, It seems so many people only like to train the muscles they can see, which is why bicep, chest and shoulder exercises such as the crucifix rollout are far more popular.

As for back workouts who wants to do them? In fact it is possible to go to your local gym and see people exercise the same 3 muscles every time they train and back exercise isn’t one of them.

I understand the psychology behind this, it is because you can look in the mirror and see the muscles of your chest, bicep and shoulders getting bigger as you train. However, the total lack of back training in there routines can only be described as madness.

make no mistake about it, people who train this why end up with a body that is completely out of proportion and the imbalance usually results in pain or injury.

As for body weight exercises if you doubt that they can build a great back think back to the martial arts legend Bruce Lee. It is a fact that he very rarely used weights but yet he still managed to build one of the most impressive backs ever seen, with lats that spread out like wings using exercises such as wide grip pull ups. Anyone who has not seen his film Enter the Dragon should give it a look and you will see what I mean and why everyone should do back exercise.

Why do I need to train my back when I can’t even see it?

The back muscles are the second biggest and strongest muscles in the body; only the legs have more power so if you do plenty of back workouts you will have plenty of power.

A wide back i.e. big lats or (latissimus dorsi) as they are known, create the illusion of you having a much smaller waist than you really do, so for both men and women a wider back makes you look a lot trimmer than you are.

A thick upper back is required to make you look really strong and powerful.It gives the impression of muscles busting out all over you body, another reason why back exercise is essential.

And last but by no means least the muscles of the lower back (Erecror spinae). Although it is not possible to build big muscles in this area the lower back exercises are perhaps the most important exercises you can do.

The Reason

Lower back exercise is so important Is because like the saying goes - a chain is only as strong as its weakest link - and the fact is, your lower back is used to some extent in most of the exercises you do from chest, to bicep to shoulder exercises your so your must do lower back exercises regularly.

If these muscles have been neglected in training then it stands to reason that this is the place any injuries and pain will come from. So make no mistake about it, they need to be strong. For great advice about training with weights check out weight-lifting-coach.com.

Other benefits are

Back training will burn more calories than most exercises because they are the second biggest muscle group in the body.

and

They give your whole body more power. In sport you will always be able to throw further, punch harder or push further if you have strong back muscles.

Remember, what ever bodyweight exercises you do for your back make sure you also include some gentle stretching exercises which not only help keep your back supple but are also very invigorating giving you the feel good factor all over.

Which is the best bodyweight back exercise?

Well there are a number of bodyweight exercises that you could and should do for an excellent back. However, without a doubt the best one is the pull up. There is no other back exercise that will build muscle and power in your back like pull ups can.

Anyone who thinks that they can not even do one pull up need not worry because there are ways to get around this while you build up your strength.

You could for example, do them by simply holding on to the bar without moving and hanging there for a number of seconds. This would have the effect of building your grip strength and and your back muscles through isometrics.

If you think that even this exercise might be to much for you - and for some people it is - you can get around this by doing normal pull ups but supporting your weight on a chair or a couple of blocks.

For advanced athletes who find the number of sets and reps required for their goal easy, there is also ways to make pull-ups a lot harder.

You can for example, extend a rope from the top of the bar and grip it with one of your hands. The lower down you grab the rope the harder the pull up. This method works by making the other hand do more work, in fact it is the way you can train to do a one arm pull up and is a great exercise.

Another method is to do normal pull ups but just concentrate on using one hand more than the other. This is a good way to focus your mind as well as make the exercise harder.

Conclusion

As stated earlier for men, it can give you the look of someone powerful with a small waist and the lower back exercises will help you stay pain and injury free both in training and in life in general.

For women who do not want to look big and powerful, building up the thickness of your back will create the illusion that your waist is smaller than it is and the lower back exercises are just as important to women as they are to men for living a life without the pain of back problems.

How Rocky Marciano retired undefeated

The bodybuilding legend Frank Zane

The one and only Bruce Lee

Why a healthy eating plan is the key to great abdominal definition

How to follow the right diet to reach your strength potential

The secret of building muscle

The pull up

The clapping pull up

The grip pull up

See the chest building guide to compliment your back exercise

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