Build Muscle: Tip for Back Training

Arms and chest muscle are referred to as the “mirror” muscles, and for good reason. But the body is an inter connected machine, with all muscle groups having effects on all others, and muscle building for the back can result in massive gains for the chest and arms (not to mention aiding in squats and dead lifts for legs and massive mass building everywhere). I use a little trick to make my back workouts doubly effective.

Weight training for your back really comes down to lat work, and most all the movements involve pulling the weight towards you. Clearly there is much bicep work going on in all back exercises. So much so that sometimes a back workout seems to work arms more than back. It is very difficult to not use “all arms” when doing seated rows, lat pull downs and even chin ups. With that in mind there is a trick, technique, call it what you will, to get more out of the workout for your back.

What I try to do, and this requires complete concentration during the movement, is at the bottom, flair your lats out as much as you can and hold them in this flexed position. As you allow the weight to be released away from you, keep them flared and fight against the negative all the way. This isn’t anything new, fancy or novel. People have used the negative part of the lift as a muscle building technique for ever. What it is though is very, very effective for the back in particular. Making the conscience effort to resist the weight with your lats (the other back muscles will contract naturally as well, but focus on the bat wings) allows for the more natural tendency to use “all arms”.

I also find that when I do this on the negative, by going more “arms” on the pull, I can use more weight than I could otherwise. Don’t jerk, sway or use momentum to pull the weight. Good form matters. Just know that it is easier to focus on the lats on the release than the pull .Try it and see. I find this is a very effective technique on lat pull downs in particular.

Remember, the back is the foundation to almost ALL strength and mass building compound exercises. A strong developed back allows you to build muscle in every muscle group faster.

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