Training the Upper Back

Like I said, the upper back is the hardest muscle to gain a full visualization of when training. So you would hope that that's the tradeoff for it being a piece of cake to actually train. Well, sorry but that's hardly the case. In fact, when it comes down to training, the back is the most grueling muscle group out there next to legs. Since the exercises for the back are heavy, basic compound movements, none of the exercises for it are easy. A good back workout should leave you totally drained- that is considering that you've done it properly.

When it comes down to it, there are two main features of the back, and they both require a different training approach: width and thickness. Thickness is developed by rowing exercises, such as bent over rows, while width is developed by pulldown movements, such as chins or lat pulldowns. Both are essential for possessing a balanced back, and it is a frequent problem for one to be better than the other. Common reasons for this can be things as simple as exercise selection or a lack of training focus in one area. Best thing to do is make a point of training both equally from the start, so you don't have to fight to keep one up to par down the road.

One of the biggest and most common problems with back training is the use of weights that are too heavy. Yeah I know it's great to get done with a set and look at the bar and see lots of weight on it…but make sure the weight you're using is allowing you to execute proper form with a full range of motion. Otherwise, get used to that weight you have on there now because it'll be on there for a long time before you can handle more. I see people in the gym that, judging by their form, are using way too much weight. I mean, here they are, at a bodyweight of about 160, doing shrugs with 315 for "reps". I hate that! Doesn't it make more sense to use less weight, so soon you can do with perfect form what you're cheating with now, and then down the road a little more you can do with perfect form weights you can't even cheat reps with now? I guess some people in the gym have different priorities than me…maybe I'm weird for wanting to go there in order to shock my muscles into growth by training effectively. My point is, use a weight that you can handle. If you don't, you're just wasting your time, and even putting yourself at risk.

Exercise Selection

The back will not build evenly by being trained with one exercise like some other muscle groups will. In general, it takes at least two different exercises to hit the back adequately: one for width, and one for thickness, as I just talked about. In addition to this, you'll need an exercise to hit the lower back extensors directly, but I will go over that in the lower back section that follows. While a beginner might get great gains from doing just bent over rows and chins, the deeper you progress the more you'll have to incorporate movements to hit specific weak points you might have built up over the course of your training. So when you start out, don't worry about devising some complex program, with movements you've never even seen anybody do. Just stick to the big, basic compound movements, and build up a solid frame of mass, then, when you're ready, start sculpting out the cuts and striations that define champions. Just to help give you a guide, I'll include a few sample routines for the beginner and intermediate trainer in a section at the end.

Sets and Reps

I like to do whatever works for me when it comes down to sets and reps, and for upper back, I like to go high on both. I generally do about 5 sets of a pulldown type movement, and about 8 sets of rowing exercises. I generally favor thickness over width because at this point, I'm a little thin, and I don't want to make myself seem any…well, flatter than I already am. My plan is to build that "backpack of muscle" look before I really try and widen myself out. But that's not to say I don't want any width, just not as much as I want thickness. To me, you can't go wrong with heavy-ass friggin psycho-style rows. Sometimes, I'll just go into the gym and do set after set of bent over rows til' I can't even think straight. So I actually kind of have to hold myself back as far as rows go, so I made the rule of them consisting of about 66%, or 2/3 of my total sets. And I always finish with the rows, because that's where my real power comes from in my back. I like to keep the reps high because I like to do cheats and partials in addition to what would already have given me a pump, and for me, about 8-12 reps on the rowing motions and 15-25 reps on the pulldown motions accomplishes that perfectly.

The Lower back

The lower back is very unique when compared to the other major muscle groups. It's sole purpose is to act as a stabilizer, holding the body steady rather than contracting through a full range of motion. Therefore, when you do work it through a full range of motion with good mornings or hyperextensions, it can become so overwhelmed that it can take a week to fully recover. Now, on deadlifts you really aren't "isolating" it through the full range of motion like you are on hypers or good mornings, but you're using a hell of a lot more weight, so it still tends to get even more fried from deads than anything else. Aside from that, its also one of the most neglected bodyparts out there. A very wrong move by anyone who dares though because its an absolutely vital area that should definitely not be ignored. The lower back comes into play heavily on key power movements such as squats, cleans, bent over rows, and of course, the deadlift (come to think of it, one of the only big movements it's not involved in is the good ol' bench press, and that figures, because that's anybody cares about it seems…). And I assure you, if you ignore it, these lifts will suffer- no doubt. You gotta train your lower back- its a must.

Training the Lower Back

The best way, and only way for that matter, I've found to train the lower back is hard and heavy. And that means, oh yes- deadlifts. The one and only baby. Second only to squats, these are the most exhausting and grueling exercise out there. They are my primary, and at this point the only, exercise I do specifically for my lower back. For my first 8 months of training, I didn't do deads. This is still haunting me, and will for a long time. It has hurt my squat tremendously. All I did for my lower back during that time was bent over rows, where they aren't even directly hit, just merely involved, and stiff-legged deadlifts, which I thought was a lower back exercise. Oh well, you gotta learn from your mistakes right? They say "smart people learn from their mistakes and geniuses learn from other peoples' mistakes." Very true. Now I want you to be a genius here and learn from me- don't neglect your lower back! Do deadlifts until you can't even stand up straight without leaning on something, a condition I'm becoming accustomed to very rapidly, and will be for years to come, especially for the next year while I'm trying to bring my lower back up to par.