Those Wide Lats...
Back muscles are essential to a good looking body but because of there size and number, they take a while to develope. But ofcourse with compound exercises, you can atleast develope enough bulk to make it look heavy!! For a back like professionals, I mean all chiselled up look, you'll have to wait for some time. Although this is not true for experienced bodybuilders, but for amateurs like us this is more or less true. The reason behind improperly developed back is that for most people back means lats!! But as you probably know, back constitutes too many muscles (like lats, traps, rhomboids, teres major/minor etc) many of which are almost impossible to isolate. And to top it, the tons of required back exercises don't attract us as much as biceps or chest exercises do. But anyway, doing compound exercises, really does the job. I divide back as upper, middle and lower back.
The main compound exercises are :
The isolation exercises are :
Pull-ups : This is a very cool compound exercise and I've seen guys with good enough backs (compared to normal persons and even those lats only people) doing mostly this. This is very good for your forearms and grip too. For maximum lats development use overgrip (much more than shoulder width, as much as as makes your arms parallel to floor when your head is almost as high as the bar is). For inner back, use inner grip. By doing them in undergrip, you work your forearms and delts more. To get full stretch, go all the way down. Doing them behind the neck and in front as a single set will really blast your lats into ultimate progress.These are injury free exercises (as far as I've seen) so be cool and be ready to beat the hell out of your friends in arms wrestling (or any thing that requires grip) after a few months.
Pull Downs : This is the exercise that developes the show-part of back. I mean by doing lots of pull downs you can develope that wide at back and narrow at hips look. In this, you use a pulley arrangement (Lat machine) so that you don't have to pull yourself up. Instead, you pull something down. The benefits are immense. First of all, its quite easy to do. Secondly you can easily adjust the weight to get your 8 reps set done and thirdly you gonna like it!! This works mainly on upper back. Your grip should be wide enough to properly perform the exercise. Pull the bar down to your collar bone or lower neck. Let it go all the way up for proper stretch. And ofcourse, do both negatives and positives in a controlled and slow manner.
Seated Pulley Rows : This again is a must for a back routine and is much much safer then any rows you can do with free weights. And it gives pretty good results too. Doing it is quite simple. Grip the bar and go all the way forward by bending your knees. This will give your back a proper stretch. Now pull it back to your stomach and then release in a controlled manner again giving some stretch to your lats.
Dumbell Bent Rowing (or one arm bent rows) : This too is a compound exercise and if you do it properly will give you very cool results. The only problem is that you have to bend while doing it making it relatively unsafe for the people with weak lower backs. But ofcourse thats the way with almost all the exercises done with free weights. To perform the exercise, hold the dumbell (palm facing in not your legs)and bend down at waist until you are almost parallel to the floor (use our free hand as a support at some bench etc). The dumbell should be hanging down giving your back good stretch. Now pull it up at a steady pace until your upper arm is parallel to the floor. Hold for a second and release slowely. If you don't want any strain on your back better stick to pulley rows (above). And ofcousre, wear a belt.
Shrugs : This again is a compound one and works on middle and upper back, ie, your traps. The idea is to lift your shoulders up by working your trapezius muscles. You can use dumbells or barbells. Just maintain your posture to keep your lower back from the harm's way. To do them, just hold the bar with your arms straight with a shoulder width grip. Now pull your shoulders up as much as you can, hold and release slowely. Quite simple, ism't it? Just remember to wear a belt.
Pull overs : This is one of the best free weight isolation exercise for upper/middle back. Its a little clumsy to do with free weights if you don't have the pulley stuff. You can use dumbells, barbells or cable/pulley (its called cable pullovers if you do). To do, lie down on your back on a bench with your feet firmly put on the floor. Now be in the position of nose crushers, your hands should be bend with your wrists behind the neck. Pull the weight toward your chest in a little arc. Remember that the angle between your lower and upper arms (elbow) should not change as in that case you'll be working your triceps. If you do them correctly, you'll feel the tighting of your back muscles instantly. If you use your lower arms too much, you work your triceps.For proper and balanced back developement, you need to work the upper, middle and lower back. A minimal back routine would consist of pulldowns, rows and some exercise for lower back. I suggest you do pull downs instead of pullups as they are easier to manage and give good results. Ofcourse, you should do pullups, but as a beginner, you won' be able to do 3-5 in one go, so better do what you CAN do better. Seated Cable rowing is what I suggest as rows as unlike barbell or dumbell rows, it is quite injury free. Still one arm dumbell bent rows is a good compound exercise if your back is strong enough to take it. For lowerback you may do deadlifts, if you have proper supervision. In all these, you may pyramid from 50-80 and do 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps each.
Deadlifts : This is a very good isolation exercise for lower back but at the same time it is the deadliest exercises that may even do a damage that may take years to fix if not done correctly and in proper supervision. I always keep clear of it so even if I know how it is done I don't intend to give directions so that if you don't know anything about it you may not attempt it at home. Still whenever you do it, ALWAYS wear a lifting belt. Keep your head up and back straight and do in proper supervision.
Hyperextensions : This is an isolation lower back exercise. This is somewhat opposite to sit-ups and looks something really awkward to me. You lie down on your stomach on a hyperexetension bench, fix you legs and move your torso upwards from a bent position to a straighter one. Its funny, I never do it but I hope its safer then the deadlifts. I never do it and mentioned it here just to complete the list.
Good Morning : This is again for lower back. Although it doesn't help you build muscles, but it is very very good for strenghting purposes provided that you don't already suffer from lower back problems. What you need to do is, hold a barbell behind your neck, stand straight and keeping the back straight lean forward until you are parallel to floor (or at your comfortable level). Your legs should be shoulder width wide. Ofcourse, you need to use very very very low weights (if any) for this exercise. And you needn't include it in your standard back routine.
