Baby's Got Back! :

One of my clients once asked me for a workout that focused on his back muscles. I get this request once every five years from someone. Why? Because no one seems to care about the back muscles since they aren't visible from the front.

I get hundreds of requests for improving the abs, hips, chest, arms, etc., but hardly ever one for the back. When someone begins to realize the importance of the back muscles from a strength and cosmetic standpoint, in my estimation, they have advanced to the next level with their fitness thought process.

I've been told that my back is one of my best muscle groups when I compete, and I take that as a supreme complement! When properly developed, it is absolutely amazing to see the beauty and artistic perfection of the multitude of back muscles.I'll give you a practical appreciation and understanding of the specific back muscles you’re working. First I’ll briefly describe each major area of the back, and then I’ll give you a list of back exercises that target each of these areas.

Let’s take a closer look with my Idiot's Guide to Understanding the Back.

The major areas of the back and corresponding exercises are the following:

1. Lattisumus Dorsi -- The Latissumus Dorsi muscles (also known as the Lats) are the largest muscles of the back. They're large, fan-shaped muscles. If you spread your back and touch the outer end of each side, you’re touching your Lats. The function of the lats is to pull the arm down toward the pelvis.

Exercises that target the Latissumus Dorsi: close grip pulldowns, wide grip pulldowns, chin-ups, one arm dumbbell row, seated cable row, stiff arm cable pushdowns.

2. Trapezius -- The Trapezius muscle (also known as the traps) is a long, trapezoid-shaped muscle that runs down the upper section of the spinal cord, originating at the base of the skull and attaching down in the middle to lower back. If you touch the muscle by the sides of the neck, you are touching your traps.

Most people think the traps are part of the shoulder, but technically they are part of the back. The functions of the traps are shrugging up, drawing the shoulder blades together and pulling the shoulder blades down.

Exercises that work the Trapezius: dumbbell shrugs, barbell shrugs and smith machine shrugs.

Continue reading »