The back as a whole is the biggest asset of the upper-body. The width of the lats alone tend to set the difference between someone who is just muscular, and someone who has the look of a freakish-monster, commonly known as a "bodybuilder". They offer an immediate impression to anyone that sees them because they are visible from all angles. A decent set of lats can be seen poking out under the armpits, but an awesome set will fill in the space between your upper arms and your torso, making it look as if you have wings ready to burst out from underneath your shirt. Take a look at Franco Columbu or Dorian Yates hitting a rear lat spread and you'll see what I mean…their lats are so big that if either one of them hit a spread and bent over you could use him as card table, or maybe even a dinner table depending on the size of your family.

From whatever perspective you view the big picture, whether you're a leg person or a chest person, you cannot overlook your back. It's a very good idea, and an almost mandatory one in my opinion, to learn about the muscle structure and kenesiology of any muscle group before (or during- it doesn't matter as long as you do!) beginning to train them because you'll have a better understanding of the muscle and how it works. These things will inevitably lead to better training through a more thorough mind-to-muscle connection. With that said, I'll take you a step further with a brief look at the anatomy and kenesiology of the back.

Anatomy and Kenesiology

In addition to the large muscle groups like the trapezius, latissimus dorsi, and the spinal erectors of the lower back, the back is made up a number of small muscle groups such as the teres major and minor, the rhomboids major and minor, the infraspinatus and supraspinatus, the longissimus dorsi and spinalis dorsi and the levator anguli scapulae (I know- where do they come up with these names…), just to name some of the more commonly-known ones. These muscles together constitute five layers in all, making for a truly complex muscle structure. I'm not going to bore you by going over every function of every little muscle that resides in the back, but I will go over the basic functions of the three large muscle groups of the back.

The trapezius is a large, almost kite-shaped muscle mass that is positioned on your upper back. It inserts into the neck, then flares out to both sides inserting into the shoulders, and then sweeps back down to about the middle of your spine. The primary function of the Traps is to pull the entire shoulder girdle up and to the back. As a secondary function, the traps also contract to help arch the spine.

The latissimus dorsi muscles are triangular and extend from a few inches under the shoulders down to the lower back, and sweep back up to the upper-middle of the back. The primary function of the lats is to pull the shoulders down and to the back.

The spinal erectors are two thick columns of muscle on both sides of the spine that originate from just above the hips and extend to a point about halfway up the back. These are very important muscles as far as the spine is concerned. They are responsible for straightening the back from a bent position, they protect and guard the nerve channels, and they are the primary muscle responsible for arching the spine.

The Upper Back

The lats are the showcase of the upper back. In order to achieve maximum upper body mass, size, width, thickness, and V-taper, the lats must be fully developed. These are the largest muscles of the upper body, and they shouldn't be overlooked simply because they aren't visible in a mirror. I mean, a good portion of a big chest is your back, just as 2/3 of an arm is your triceps. So if you're goal is to be wide, thick, massive, and intimidating, the lats are the place to start.

In addition to the lats, there are, as I mentioned earlier, many tie-ins throughout the upper back. Every area needs to be developed in proportion to the next to constitute a truly balanced back. Other than the lats, the biggest and most noticeable muscle of the upper back are the traps. These are the centerpiece of back upper back development and need to be hit from two main angles in order to develop the upper and lower portions. The first being the shrugging motion, or the shoulder blades moving up, and the second would be a kind of backward shrugging, or the shoulders rolling backward to the spine.

Focus and Visualization

It's true that a lot of the cases where people have huge chests and biceps, but tiny little backs stem from them just not being able to see it in the mirror. This often leads to a lack of motivation to train it, in addition to a lack of focus and mind-to-muscle-connection. You have to be able to visualize the muscle you are training, whether it is something as small as the rear deltoid or something as massive as the quads. It doesn't matter- you absolutely must be able to feel the muscle working- literally and mentally.

So how do you go about doing this? Well, the best way gain total control of a muscle is to flex it and mess with it. The first step would be learning to flare your lats. Before I knew how to flare them, every time I would go into the bathroom I would try look in the mirror and flex them. Eventually I learned how, but the habit never left, so I still flex whenever I look into a mirror. I might hit a double-biceps or I might hit a front lat spread, but it's something that works great for me. This is just what worked for me though, you have to make habits like this is if you ever want to have full control and focus over a muscle, especially one as complex as the back. If this seems weird to you or whatever, then find another way. And if it seems pointless, think about this: imagine not knowing how to flex your biceps…or your chest. What would you do if a girl asked you to flex, you rolled up the sleeves, and nothing happened? The back is easily the most difficult muscle to gain this kind of control of, but for you it could be the most important. Everyone is born with certain muscles that are better than the rest. The back may be yours. I mean the back is the biggest muscle of the upper body, so why not treat it like it is and start blasting it like everything else. Hey you never know, maybe one day you'll be able to fly with those wings, or at least glide…that's always a plus.

The next step is learning to get the feel on the exercises themselves. This is a completely different ballgame because now you're not just standing and flexing, your holding heavy friggin' weights. The best thing to do is use a fairly light weight at first and just get the feel and the form down. Then when you're ready, start to bang out reps with the big weights. When I first started doing bent over rows, I set up the mirrors so that I could hold the weight at the point of contraction, turn my head around a little, and see my back. This helped me more than anything to get the full feel when doing these. And to this day, I still have a mirror right at my side so I can look over and make sure my back I straight and I'm pulling the weight up to the right place or all the way up. The same thing applies here- find a trick like the mirrors or something to help you until you are so comfortable that you don't even need to concentrate on form, it's just natural.