Back Exercises
Lower Back Exercises and more!

I like for people to do a few back exercises in the WLC Program because of the size of your back. It's very hard to work your entire back with only one exercise.

If you're here because you want to strengthen your lower back with specific lower back exercises, nothing is better for that than some of the exercises listed on this page. If you're looking for back strengthening exercises, you've hit the jackpot. I only include the best here on this page! Deadlifts will strengthen your lower back like nothing else.

I love working the back because it is such an impressive muscle! If you want to be huge, a big back will do the trick. I am going to go over back exercises that provide depth and make you look thicker from the side. Width exercises are ones that will build your back width and make you look wider from the front and the back. A wide back will also make your waist look smaller. Everyone wants their waist to look smaller so put some hard work into those back exercises!

If you've found this page because you're looking for lower back exercises because you have lower back pain, please take a look at the program below. Read through the details by clicking the link below, and decide for yourself.

Click Here to cure Lower Back Pain! Click the link above to learn more about curing your back pain. Get 8 free gifts included!

This exercise is for back depth and no exercise is better for back depth than this one. This exercise also works the entire body at once, but you will feel your back working the hardest.

You must get your form correct on this exercise before you start adding much weight to the bar. Spending some time getting your form right is well worth it! The WLC program is designed to start out with light weights and increase over the weeks, so the WLC program is perfect for taking your time and learning the exercises. This exercise will build you a great looking back for many years to come so spend some time getting it right.

You will most likely be able to lift the heaviest weight with this back exercise than any other exercise. This exercise does something special to your body because of all the weight you can lift with it. I have noticed that when my squat and deadlift weights get bigger, my body gets bigger when I'm eating to get bigger.

I like to use wrist straps on the Floor Deadlift after I reach heavy weights. Many people like to work their grip so they don't ever use wrist straps. Lifting heavy weight and not worrying about my grip giving out is more important to me, so I use the wrist straps when needed. I should also mention that I always use an overhand grip on all my deadlift exercises. It just doesn't feel right to me holding the bar with a mixed grip. And when something just doesn't feel right, I've learned that it will most likely lead to injury. A mixed grip might feel good to you, so use whichever grip is most comfortable for you.

Get your barbell loaded with the correct amount of weight. Walk up to the center of the barbell and get your position as shown. Make sure your feet are about shoulder width apart. Point your toes slightly out. Get ready to do some tough reps here.






This is the part that you need to get right to do barbell deadlifts correctly. You want to squat down, but not nearly as deep as a squat. Grab hold of the bar and keep your head forward and your lower back tight. The form shown in the picture is perfect. Your form needs to be perfect on barbell deadlifts because you'll be using heavy weight in the future.


From the bottom position, you're going to want to initiate the movement through your legs by pushing thru your heels. Your back will start to take over as you move upwards. The top is a full upright position as shown with your shoulders slightly pulled back. There's no need to over exaggerate any motion. Lower the weight back to the floor while keeping your lower back tight.

I really like this exercise for back depth. I usually use this exercise as my back depth exercise when I want to improve my legs at the same time. This version of the deadlift works your legs very well along with your back. So, if you're legs are lagging behind and you want to work on your back depth too, you will definitely want to give this exercise a try.

You will need to find you a trap bar without raised handles so you can get an increased range of motion on this exercise. I had some trouble finding a trap bar without raised handles, but you should be able to find one. Raised handles will put less stress on your legs because of the decreased range of motion. I recently noticed that you can simply turn the bar upside down so that the raised handles are on the other side!

You should be able to lift very heavy weight with this exercise also. I lift almost the same amount as I do with the floor deadlift. I do like to use wrist straps with this exercise so I don't worry about having a strong enough grip to hold the weight throughout my sets. I would rather focus on my form than worry about my grip giving out. Choose this as one of your back exercises and you won't be disappointed.

I would rather you set the bar all the way down between each rep. The guy in the video below does not set the bar down. The back exercise is called a dead lift for a reason. The weight should be dead on the floor for each and every rep. The guy's form is good, but set the weight on the floor after each rep.

In order to perform this exercise, you will need a Power Rack or adjustable stands to hold the weight in a higher starting position than the floor. This will be the only exercise in which you'll be able to lift more weight than the floor deadlift or trap bar deadlift. This is why I like this exercise so much. You won't get as much stress on your legs as with other deadlift variations because they will not have to go through a full range of motion to complete the lift. If you really want to work on your back depth and want some good traps work, then these are perfect for you. The amount of weight you will be able to use make this one of the toughest back exercises. I remember praying to God to help me through some of these sets! I couldn't help it at the time.

You can do these rack deadlifts from different heights. You can try below the knee, knee level, or above the knee. The higher the level you try, the more weight you should be able to lift and the less stress on your lower back. But, remember, you have a decreased range of motion as you go higher so your body has to do less work to complete the rep.

I use wrist straps on the exercise so I can focus on my form and not my grip. You're going to want to get your form right on this exercise and make sure that you are using your legs to assist you in the lift. You don't want to use your lower back to lift the weight. Keep your lower back tight and your head looking forward the entire time. Practice your form and perfect it before moving on to heavier weights.

Again, the weight should be dead on the rack for each and every rep. Don't try to bounce the weight off the rack. Get your form down and start adding weight to the bar!

Barbell Rows were never a favorite exercise of mine in regards to performing them until I read about doing them explosively and de-loading the weight on each rep. I read about this a long time ago so I'm not even sure who to give credit to. But, I love doing them with an explosive positive, a controlled negative, deloading the weight, and then exploding on the positive again. I also keep my back parallel to the floor, so this is a little extra forward lean than most people do with barbell rows. Just like most of the others on this page, this is one of the best overall back exercises out there.

I always use an overhand grip on these and never use straps because my grip is fine for working with the amount of weight I do on barbell rows. I like to use a slightly wider than shoulder width grip most of the time and vary my grip width every once in a while. I never use an underhand grip like some people like to do because I think there is an increased chance of injury doing them that way. I take no chances. Most people want to do them underhand so they can work on their biceps at the same time. Not me. I would rather not tear a bicep and work on them with safer exerises.

I classify Barbell Rows as a depth exercise, but they will give you some width too. This exercise torches your lats so back width will come with this exercise. I really like to have barbell rows as my depth exercise because my rear shoulder muscles are a little behind and rows hit them very hard. I like to have a version of the deadlift as my hamstring exercise just so I am getting some deadlift work in. I believe Barbell Rows are one of the best overall back exercises that you will ever find. Eventually, you will be able to lift heavy weights with this exercise.

The video below shows the style of Barbell Rows that I prefer. I like to set the weight down between every rep. I love doing them this way! This version of the Barbell Row is sometimes referred to as the Pendlay Row. Great exercise for the back!

I really enjoy doing T Bar rows. The only way that I have ever done them is by taking a barbell and placing it in one of the corners of my basement. I load the end of the barbell opposite the corner with my working weight and use a parallel handle grip to place under the bar and use as my handle. I like to lean back and put the weight on my heels and do my reps. The most weight I ever got to was 255 for 10 reps and that was in one weight lifting cycle only when I was doing 10 reps each time for that exercise. I haven't really concentrated on them much since then, but I did really enjoy doing them. I put my focus back into barbell rows after that.

If you have access to a T Bar Row setup or want to set one up like I did, you should give them a try. If you are are at a tough point with your barbell rows or want to give barbell rows a rest, these are the perfect exercise to try. You don't have to balance the weight as much as you do with barbell rows and you can focus on lifting the weight more instead of worrying so much about form with barbell rows. T Bar rows are one of the good back exercises out there for depth and some back width.

The video below shows you can set a bar in the corner and use it to do T Bar Rows. The form is good in the video below, but I don't want you to hold the weight in the contracted position as she does. This really limits the amount of weight you can use, and we don't want to limit the amount of weight!

One of the only reasons I like cable rows for a back depth exercise is the exaggerated stretch you can get on this exercise. I can feel my back stretching so much on this exercise when I purposely mean to exaggerate the stretch portion of the exercise. Most people do not perform them the way I do, and I would rather those people be doing barbell rows or T Bar rows. Try exaggerating the stretch next time you do cable rows and you will see how great the stretch is. I actually use the cable row to do my back depth stretch and use barbell rows most of the time as my back depth exercise just so I can get the incredible stretch that cable rows give.

If you want to take some stress off your lower back, you can choose cable rows as one of your back exercises. Preferably, your back depth exercise. All you need to do is concentrate more on the stretch and focus on progressing in weight over your WLC program cycle. I have used cable rows in a few cycles when I was doing more exercises that stressed my lower back. They worked just fine and helped me keep the stress off my lower back, which helped me last throughout the cycle. You always have to be careful and not choose too many exercises that stress your lower back because this can bring your progress to a complete stop for an extended period of time.

Please don't pay any attention to the sets and reps recommendations. I hate when people give those out because there is no plan for progression when they give that type of info out! Stay with the WLC Program. Besides that, the form in this video is exactly how I want you to do these cable rows! I couldn't explain it myself any better. Perfect form.

I only like 1-Arm dumbbell rows and have never bothered with the 2 arm style since seeing how they felt. 1-Arm dumbbell rows do take longer to perform, but I think they are worth it if you don't like any of the other back depth exercises I have listed. If you have an uneven back or uneven arms, this exercise will even you right out after a few cycles. I like to pretty much only use it for that reason. My left arm used to be a half inch smaller than my right, but after doing these for a few cycles they were very close to the same size. Amazing.

I love the feel of 1-Arm Dumbbell Rows and I love the stretch and exaggerated range of motion that you can use with these. You can really get a good stretch and a good contraction with this exercise. Give them a try and feel free to use them as one of your back exercises. These are good for both depth and width. You will need some large dumbbells eventually. I got to a point where I liked using wrist straps because the exaggerated range of motion I like to use extended my set for a longer than normal period of time.

I love the video below! Very strong guy there. I've only gotten up to 130 pounds or so for around 10 reps when I focused on them. There's nothing wrong with the form the guy has. He is using everything he has to get the weight up, which is absolutely fine once you know how to lift weights. Get your form down first and then start increasing the weight.

For back width, chin ups are one of the best back exercises out there! The only problem there is with chin ups is that many people have trouble doing very many of them. The reason why is that chin ups have you starting out with a very heavy weight, which is your body weight. Imagine starting out with squats or bench press as a beginner and having to use your body weight on the barbell. Another problem with chin ups is that it is very hard to progress in weight because you're already using a heavy weight even when you are only doing your body weight.

For example, with squats you can start out with 135 pounds at the beginning of a WLC cycle and end with 315 pounds. That's 180 pounds in weight progression. With Chin Ups, you can start out at Body Weight and finish at 90 pounds or so if you are a strong person. That's only 90 pounds and that's for someone who is very strong. But that is most likely a weight lifter with at least a few years of experience. Most beginners won't be able to get even close to target rep ranges in the WLC program. 12 reps is tough for beginners and is probably very tough even for some advanced weight lifters.

I have a method of increasing the number of chin ups or pull ups you can do and along with the back stretch I have you do, you will be performing more reps in no time. If you want to work on increasing the number of reps you can do throughout a WLC cycle, I simply want you to use jump up chin ups and control the negative on the way down. And instead of doing 12 reps at the beginning of the WLC cycles, I want you to start at 6 reps and end at 12 reps. Only use the jump up chin ups if you need to. When I say jump up chin up, I mean grip the bar first and then help yourself get to the top by jumping up. To get the benefit out of these, you must lower yourself under control. When I first started weight lifting around 8 years ago, I couldn't do one chin up. I used this method in my Mom and Dad's basement with a pipe strapped to the ceiling joists to quickly do chin ups for reps. You will have the same success.

You can do chin ups with many different grips and changing these give you different back exercises you can use throughout the years. You can do them with your palms facing away, neutral, or facing towards you. You can do them with a wide grip, medium grip, close grip, or very close grip. There are also tons of variations of pull ups, but I like just the normal variation. If you want to work solely on your back width, try palms facing away and a slightly wider than shoulder width grip. I DO NOT like to perform Pull Ups with a very wide grip. I think they are dangerous that way or at least they feel dangerous to me and hurt. If you want some extra bicep work, try them with a closer grip and your palms facing you. Talk about a great bicep and back exercise combined into one!

This is a video of strong man Jesse Marunde doing Pull Ups. He weighs over 300 pounds and does 20 plus Pull Ups! Great video to watch. Enjoy.

This is one of the extreme back exercises! When I say extreme, I mean that this is like the holy grail of back width exercises. If you want width, choose this as one of your back exercises. For some of the reasons I mentioned in the Chin Ups section above, I like Rack Chins and believe them to be one of the best back exercises for back width just because they are easier to progress in weight. Even beginners should be able to do these for reps. If not, you will need to work on increasing your chin ups as explained in the chin ups section above.

To perform these, you will need to have a bar placed in the power rack at around just above waist level. Then set you up an adjustable bench with the head end closest to the bar in the power rack. You'll want the bench to be at an incline and may need to experiment with the incline to get it just right. I usually have mine at around a 45 degree incline. Then sit down under the bar and push the bench back as far as you need so that your heels will rest right on the edge of the bench. Use a very wide grip on these.

Next perform a chin up. Your hips should be lower than your feet even at the top of the rep. If not, you will need to raise the incline. At the bottom, you need to exaggerate the stretch and really feel your lats stretching. Then explode back up to the top. That's it. One of the best back exercises you will ever do. You can add weight by either putting plates, dumbbells, and/or a loaded barbell in your lap. You may want a partner for these. Be careful performing these by yourself when using heavy weights.

The video below is a great video showing you how rack chin ups should be done. Perfect form and execution.

Lat pulldowns are useless in my book compared to the other exercises I listed above. Lat Pulldowns will never help you get better at Chin Ups. If you want to get better at Chin Ups, use the method I explained above for your WLC program. Choose yourself one of the better back exercises. If you really like Lat Pulldowns and get good results from them, then go ahead. Beginners should choose other back exercises. Really work on your chin ups, deadlifts, and rows before this inferior exercise. They will build you a great back. Much better than any lat pulldown could!

Remember, I don't recommend lat pulldowns or the set and rep recommendations in the video below. I am including this as a back exercise just in case you need to use it as one of your back exercises.

These are all the back exercises you should ever need to build that big back muscle of yours! Build a strong back and you'll be rewarded as you live your life. No more back pains. If you need any help with your weight lifting efforts, please join me on the free WLC Space! I provide personalized help as a service to you because I want to see you succeed. All I ask is that you share this website with your friends and family. I provided easy links to add this page on back exercises to your favorite pages.

Stumble It!

Click & Add:
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y! MyWeb