Effective back Workout for beginners
If you are just starting in the gym, this is a beginner’s back workout that’ll help you hit the correct form for safe and effective muscle building.
We Working on both width and a broad wide back and thickness to build mass across the whole back. The back is made up of lots of different muscles, all working at different angles.
So we’ll show you the six most important exercises to hit the whole back over time. You’ll also move on to different variations with alternative grips and angles.
let’s get the basics right with the correct form for each of the six key exercises.
1- Wide Grip pullup
That is an exercise that uses body weight so you may find it tough to start with, but that’s the idea. To get the whole back fired up, and ready for the rest of the workout.
Chin comes up level with the bar coming down slowly, working the muscles on the way down as well as on the way up.
It’s called time under tension. The key muscle here is the lats, working on the width of the back. Three sets each time, doing as many reps as you can.
Don’t worry if you can only manage a few reps at first, you’ll build up over time. Control is key. No swinging or jerking the body. Okay, so now you’ve got the whole back ready. Time to target specific muscles.
2- Seated row
knees bent, keeping the back straight, shoulder blades pinned together. Hinging at the hips, pulling back with the elbows as you come up. Chest up, chin up. Focus on the squeeze at the top of the movement, then slowly back with control again.
There are more gains on the negative part of the movement. Using a wide grip here to work across the whole of the back as you progress, you’ll vary the grip to work different angles.
3- The cable pulls down again
Chest up, back straight. Bring the elbows down. Bar to the chin. Hold at the bottom, then up with control again, and focus on that time under tension.
This time the negative part of the movement is on the way up, using a weight you can control. Working on the lats. This is the same sort of movement as the body weight pull-up we started with, but here it’s lighter weight, letting you concentrate on control.
Constant movement, slow and steady. Good stretch at the top and a full squeeze at the bottom.
4- Dumbbell row
This exercise adds thickness to the lats and middle back. Give yourself a solid frame.
1ft forward, the other leg behind you, fairly wide apart, one hand supported by a rack or a bench. Back straight, head up. Bring the weight up towards your chest. Elbow close to the body.
The dumbbell movement should be at a slight angle. Top position next to your chest. Bottom position under your chin. maximum stretch at the bottom, and squeeze at the top.
Over time, you can use that stability to build up to heavy weights on this exercise, increasing your gains.
5- Bent over barbell row
sticking with thickness for the middle back. This is a bent-over barbell row, knees slightly bent. Lock the lower body. No bouncing or swinging at the hips.
Back straight, head up, elbows at an angle to the body, not straight out to the sides, moving the weight by bringing the elbows up and slowly down.
That exercise is about feeling the muscle working, setting the body at the perfect angle for getting that full squeeze on the muscle, and helping fill out the back with extra muscle mass.
6- Cable pullover
Finally, using a different range of movement to work those wide lat muscles.
Arms straight, bring the handle down towards your waist. Slight bend in the knees, straight back, lower body locked.
Full squeeze when you hit the bottom, not too heavy, keeping control. Maintaining tension across the whole movement. Up and down.
The muscles are working hardest on the way up, so focus on keeping control as you come up.
You’ll find a whole range of variations on all these exercises with different angles of the body and different grips.
Using the correct form shows you progress in your back workout to build a thick and wide back.
For more on how to fix the most common mistakes people make in their back workout,