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Back Workout at the Gym in 2026: Best Exercises and a Ready-Made Program
In brief: A good back workout at the gym balances vertical pulls (e.g. the lat pulldown and pull-up) with horizontal pulls (e.g. the seated cable row and bent-over row), includes 3–5 back exercises per week, and provides 5–20 working sets for the back muscles each week (Schoenfeld 2017). Training your back twice a week is a good default (Schoenfeld 2016; Baz-Valle 2022). The single most important technique factor is using a full range of motion: let your shoulder blades move naturally instead of locking them in place.
Back training is part of almost every gym program, yet it's often programmed poorly. One of the most common problems is treating the back as a single muscle. In reality, the back contains multiple muscle groups and different muscles that need slightly different types of loading to develop optimally. This matters whether you're a beginner or an experienced lifter — the back is a large, visually prominent part of the upper body.
This guide covers back anatomy from a lifter's perspective, the best back exercises and how to perform them, a ready-made back program, and what the research actually says about effective back training. We also tackle common myths, including claims about posture and the idea that the back is the body's biggest muscle group.
Contents
What muscles does back training work? The major back muscles explained
Important: the back isn't a single muscle — it's a collection of muscles with different jobs. The main muscles of the back include the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, teres major, rear delts and spinal erectors. That's why effective back training takes more than a few random rowing movements; no single exercise trains all the back muscles equally well.
Common back exercises and the primary muscles they target:
Muscle | Latin name | Main function | Exercises that train it |
|---|---|---|---|
Lats (broad back muscle) | Latissimus dorsi | Shoulder extension and adduction | Lat pulldown, pull-up, cable pullover |
Teres major | Teres major | Same as the lats | Same exercises as the lats |
Mid and lower trapezius | Trapezius | Scapular retraction and depression | Rows to the chest, vertical pulls |
Rhomboid major | Rhomboideus major | Scapular retraction | Rows to the chest |
Upper trapezius | Trapezius | Scapular elevation | Shrugs |
Rear deltoid | Deltoideus posterior | Horizontal shoulder abduction | Cable reverse flyes, face pulls |
Spinal erectors | Erector spinae | Spinal extension and lateral flexion | Deadlift, Romanian deadlift |
Anatomy in brief: Anatomy in brief: The latissimus dorsi is the largest shoulder extensor, assisted by the teres major, rear deltoid and long head of the triceps. Scapular retraction is handled mainly by the mid-trapezius and rhomboids. These are the two main movement patterns to consider when choosing back exercises.
The practical takeaway is simple: because the back muscles have different jobs, a program should include both vertical and horizontal pulls in a sensible ratio. These movement patterns train different muscles and complement each other. If you only do vertical pulls, the upper back muscles — especially the mid- and lower trapezius and rhomboids — can end up under-trained. If you only do horizontal pulls, the lats don't get optimal training.
What makes a good back workout?
This is one of the most important parts of the guide. The common cue to "keep your shoulder blades locked" is simply wrong.
1. Let your shoulder blades move
One common cue in rows is to "pull your shoulder blades together and hold them there for the whole rep." Doing so shortens the range of motion at exactly the point that matters most for muscle growth, natural shoulder-blade movement and shoulder health.
In rowing movements such as the seated cable row and bent-over row, the shoulder blades should protract during the lowering phase — in other words, slide forward. At the end of the pull, they retract strongly toward each other. This allows the scapular retractors, including the mid-trapezius and rhomboids, to work through a full range of motion and experience both a good stretch and a strong contraction.
The same principle applies to vertical pulls such as the lat pulldown and pull-up. At the top, let the shoulder blades move naturally upward so the lats can stretch well. As you pull down, the shoulder blades move back toward each other.
There's a clear anatomical basis for this. The latissimus dorsi attaches to the pelvis, the thoracic and lower-back area, partly to the scapula, and to the humerus. Allowing the scapula to move increases the distance between the attachment points and lets the muscle stretch more. The same thing happens at the bottom of a row: letting the shoulder blades protract increases the stretch on both the lats and the scapular retractors. Try it and you'll notice that the movement feels more natural and effective.
2. Include both vertical and horizontal pulls every week
The back's main functions can be trained through two broad pulling patterns. Vertical pulls emphasize the lats, while horizontal pulls place more load on the mid-trapezius, lower trapezius and rhomboids.
If a program includes only one pulling direction, some of the back muscles receive less training stimulus. That's why every program should include at least one vertical and one horizontal pull each week — and ideally more than one exercise overall.
3. Keep each rep controlled
One of the most common mistakes in back training is cutting the range of motion short and using momentum from the rest of the body to move the weight. If your torso swings during a bent-over row or pull-up, some of the load shifts away from the target muscles.
Keep each rep controlled and use the longest range of motion you can manage with good technique. This keeps more of the load on the back and makes each rep more productive.
Back exercises: which are the best?
Choose exercises based on the target muscle, the resistance curve and the available range of motion. Good options include the lat pulldown, seated cable row and cable pullover. The table below groups some of the best back exercises by their main target.
Best exercises | Main target | Key technique point |
|---|---|---|
Lat pulldown (pronated grip), pull-up, single-arm lat pulldown | Lats, teres major, lower trapezius | Let the shoulder blades rise at the top; pull to the chest |
Seated cable row, chest-supported row, dumbbell row, barbell row, T-bar row | Mid- and lower trapezius, rhomboids, rear delt | Let the shoulder blades move apart as you lower; squeeze them together as you pull. Keep the back straight. |
Cable pullover | Lats, teres major | Arms straight, lean forward in the stretch phase |
Face pull, reverse pec deck, cable reverse flyes | Rear delt | Squeeze the rear delt at the end of the movement |
Wide-grip shrug | Upper trapezius | Raise the shoulders straight up |
Deadlift, Romanian deadlift, back extension | Spinal erectors | Keep the back extended throughout the movement |
Notes on the exercises
Rows, such as the seated cable row, are not good exercises for the lats. In a rowing movement, the elbow doesn't travel above the line of the shoulder, so the lats work through a relatively short range of motion — roughly half of their available range. For this reason, lat growth and "back width" come primarily from vertical pulls such as the lat pulldown.
The rear delts easily get overlooked. If rear-delt growth is a goal, choose an exercise that loads the muscle in the stretched position. Face pulls also train the rotator cuff, while cable reverse flyes let you load the rear delts through a controlled range of motion. Both are better suited to this goal than a standing dumbbell version, where resistance peaks only near the end of the movement.
The cable pullover is worth doing. It's a less common but excellent exercise that loads the lats without the biceps limiting the set. On a cable, leaning forward during the stretch phase lets you load the back through a longer range of motion. As you pull down, stand upright again — alternate between these two positions throughout the movement to make the most of the range.
How to do the key back exercises correctly
Lat pulldown — build the latissimus dorsi
Take an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width. A very wide grip isn't necessary, as it shortens the range of motion.
In the starting position, sit tall with your feet flat and your thighs firmly under the pad.
Start from a full stretch with your arms extended and your shoulder blades up.
Drive your elbows down and imagine pulling them in toward your sides. Bring the bar toward your upper chest as your shoulder blades move down.
Return the bar all the way up under control and let your shoulder blades rise again.
The most common mistakes are cutting the range of motion short at the top and leaning back too far at the bottom. Keep your rib cage controlled rather than leaning back to meet the bar. If your torso tilts clearly backward, the exercise starts to resemble a horizontal row. A slight backward lean is fine.
Seated cable row — build the upper back
Keep your upper body upright with your feet flat and knees slightly bent. A slight forward and backward lean during the movement is fine, but maintain a neutral spine.
Pull your elbows toward your sides and the handle toward your navel. With a neutral-grip handle, keep your palms facing each other.
As you reach forward, let your shoulder blades protract.
Pull your elbows back and squeeze your shoulder blades tightly together at the end.
Return under control and let your shoulder blades move fully into the stretched position.
The most common mistake is letting the torso rise on every rep. If your upper-body angle changes substantially during the pull, the weight is too heavy.
Pull-ups and chin-ups
Take an underhand or overhand grip and hang from the bar with your arms straight. In the starting position, your shoulder blades can stay active while still raised rather than completely relaxed — this is the stretched position.
Pull yourself upward until your chin passes the bar.
Lower yourself under control until you reach the bottom position and feel a good stretch in the lats.
Pull-ups are a challenging exercise because you have to move your own body weight. If you can't do one yet, good ways to progress include using an assisted pull-up machine, resistance-band assistance, or negative reps, where you jump to the top and lower yourself slowly under control. The lat pulldown is also a good substitute.
How many back exercises and sets should you do?
For most people, a suitable weekly range is 5–20 working sets (Schoenfeld 2017). A muscle group also develops well when it's trained at least twice a week (Schoenfeld 2016; Baz-Valle 2022). The upper end of the set range is not a target in itself. More volume isn't automatically better, and excessive total load reduces set quality and recovery. The right amount is the amount that lets your working weights and reps keep progressing. Read more about what a good gym program takes into account.
Practical recommendations for the back:
3–5 back exercises per week. With fewer exercises, one function is likely to be missed; more are rarely needed unless your weekly volume is already high.
1–3 back exercises in a single session.
Two back sessions per week — in other words, split the week's sets across two days.
Rep ranges follow the same logic as for other muscle groups:
1–6 reps: strength-focused
6–15 reps: muscle growth — a practical range for building muscle and where most of the work fits best
12–20 reps: works well for some isolation exercises and especially for the rear delts.
You don't need to use the same rep range for every exercise. Across the week, it's worth training the back with different rep ranges so that different muscle fibers are recruited. A moderate weight works well for many isolation exercises, while heavier loads are often more practical for the main pulling movements.
Set volume is highly individual and often falls somewhere between 5 and 20 sets per week, depending on the person, their life situation and their training background. You can't simply say, "If you're an intermediate lifter, you should do this many sets per week." Set volume is much more individual than that, and it should be adjusted as your training progresses.
A ready-made back workout you can start today
A practical back program has four parts:
A vertical pull – lat pulldown, pull-up or cable pullover
A horizontal pull – a row variation
Isolation for the rear delts – face pull, reverse pec deck
Enough volume – 5–20 sets per week.
The example back workouts below can be dropped straight into your existing workout routine. They're based on training the back twice a week. Start each session with a 5–10 minute warm-up using light cardio or dynamic upper-body movements, followed by 1–2 lighter warm-up sets.
The back work is split across two sessions. This setup fits a full-body program or an upper/lower split, so these aren't dedicated "back days"; if they were, the exercise count and volume would be higher. If you use a push-pull-legs program, for example, you can add 1–2 more exercises.
Back workout 1 — for a full-body program or upper/lower split:
Exercise and key technique points | Sets × reps | Target muscle |
|---|---|---|
Lat pulldown (pronated grip) | 3×6–10 | Lats |
Seated cable row | 4×7–10 | Mid- and lower trapezius, rhomboids, rear delt |
Face pull | 4×12–15 | Rear delt |
Back workout 2 — for a full-body program or upper/lower split:
Exercise and key technique points | Sets × reps | Target muscle |
|---|---|---|
Chest-supported row | 4×10–12 | Rhomboids, trapezius, rear delt |
Pull-up or underhand-grip lat pulldown | 2×6–10 | Lats, biceps |
Cable pullover | 3×10–15 | Lats |
Rear delts on a machine | 3×10–15 | Rear delt |
That gives you 8 weekly sets for the lats, 8 for the upper back and 7 for the rear delts.
Rest 2–3 minutes between the bigger exercises and 1–2 minutes between isolation exercises; longer rests are also fine if you don't feel sufficiently recovered. The spinal erectors get enough stimulus from deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts in your leg training, so a separate back extension usually isn't necessary. These programs also work as part of a 3-way split routine, though in that case you could add one or two more exercises.
Note: These are examples, not programs tailored to you. The right number of sets and exercises depends on your total training load and recovery, and the same program can be too easy for one person and too demanding for another.
How do you progress in back training?
Without progression, your back won't develop no matter how good the exercises are. Progressive overload can be as simple as rep progression: keep the weight the same and add reps until you reach the top of the target range in every set. Then increase the weight and start again at the lower end of the range.
Pull-up progression works a little differently. First, build reps with your own bodyweight. Once you can complete, say, 3 sets of 10 reps, add weight with a belt or vest. With assisted pull-ups, do the opposite and gradually reduce the amount of assistance.
Different machines and small changes in technique can affect your numbers. Compare your performance on the same exercise, using the same machine and grip.
If your loads stop increasing, first check whether your training volume is appropriate, your recovery is in order, and your exercise selection suits your goals.
Back training at the gym for women — is it any different?
No. The basic physiology of muscle growth and strength is very similar regardless of sex, so exercise selection, rep ranges and set volume follow the same principles. Women often tolerate more training volume than men and may be able to do more work per session, which is explained, for example, by differences in muscle-fiber distribution. There is no separate "women's back workout."
In practice, the main differences come down to three things.
Starting level in upper-body movements. On average, women have lower relative upper body strength, so a bodyweight pull-up may not be possible at first. That's neither a problem nor an obstacle. Lat pulldowns, assisted pull-ups and negative reps are all effective options, and you can add unassisted pull-ups later. Being able to do pull-ups is also a useful training goal for many women. Upper body strength can develop relatively quickly in the early stages of training.
Goals. Common back-training goals among women include better posture, endurance, neck and shoulder health, a stronger-looking shoulder line, muscle growth and a more athletic appearance. These goals are trained with the same exercises used for muscle growth and strength more generally.
The worry about "getting wide." Gaining muscle is slow in both men and women, and the back muscles grow at the same pace as other muscles. Back training won't accidentally make anyone massive. In practice, a well-trained upper back creates a stronger, more athletic look.
If the goal is a more defined look, energy balance matters more than exercise selection. More on the topic: a toning gym program.
Back training and posture — what do we actually know?
Back training is often justified with a familiar posture story: desk work tightens the chest, the upper back weakens, the shoulders roll forward, and neck and shoulder pain follows. Back training is then presented as the fix.
There's some truth to this, but the evidence is thinner than the usual explanation suggests. Prolonged sitting can increase the risk of lower-back pain, among other things, while regular movement and strength training can reduce it. The relationship between posture and pain appears to be weak. Posture varies widely from person to person, and much of that variation causes no symptoms at all.
That doesn't make back training any less useful — and good posture can look good, too. Strength training for the upper back and neck and shoulder region reduces pain in office workers, and there is reasonably good research evidence for this (Andersen et al. 2008). The benefit comes from the muscles becoming stronger and better able to tolerate load.
The practical conclusion is the same either way: train your back regularly and, if posture is a priority, emphasize horizontal rows. Back training doesn't mechanically "fix" posture, though. Posture also reflects habits and motor control, so changing it requires more than simply strengthening one muscle group.
If your upper back has been under-trained for a long time, a row performed through a full range of motion plus a rear-delt exercise is a sensible addition to your program. Both are already included in the programs above.
Back training at home
The back is one of the hardest upper-body muscle groups to train without equipment because almost every effective exercise involves pulling against resistance. At home, these options work best.
Exercise | Equipment | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|
Pull-up or negative pull-up | Pull-up bar | 3–4 × max |
Bodyweight row against a table | Sturdy table | 3–4 × 8–20 |
Single-arm bent-over row | Dumbbell or water canister | 3 × 8–15/arm |
Resistance-band row | Band anchored in place | 3 × 12–20 |
Home training comes with a few limitations.
Adjusting the load is harder. With bodyweight exercises, you can't increase the load in small increments, so progression comes from adding reps, increasing the range of motion, or changing leverage. In a bodyweight row, keeping your legs straight and making your body more horizontal increases the difficulty continuously.
A band's resistance curve is unfavorable for back training. A band provides the least resistance when it's shortest, at the start of the movement, and the most when it's stretched furthest, at the end. In back exercises, this means resistance is lowest when the target muscle is at its longest. Bands can still work, but over the long term they don't replace cables or free weights.
If muscle growth is the goal, the gym is clearly a more effective environment for back training than home unless you have enough equipment to load the muscles progressively. Here's a more detailed comparison: home training vs the gym.
Why don't you feel your back working during back training?
This is one of the most common — and unnecessary — frustrations in back training.
How strongly you feel a muscle working isn't directly tied to muscle growth or results. Growth comes from loading the muscle effectively. That's the key point. It seems intuitive that you should clearly feel a muscle for it to grow, but especially with the back, that often isn't possible or necessary.
Technique and back anatomy. The back muscles are harder to feel than the biceps or quads because you can't see them and their movement is harder to perceive. With good technique, you don't need to focus much on the sensation.
Your grip gives out first. If your forearms burn before your back tires, your grip may limit the set before the target muscle does. Lifting straps can shift the limiting factor from your grip to your back.
Too short a range of motion. If you keep the shoulder blades locked, the range of motion stays short and the muscles don't move fully into a stretched position. The exercise, the sensation and the growth stimulus can all suffer.
Unilateral exercises can help here too. With a single-arm lat pulldown or single-arm dumbbell row, it's often easier to focus on technique and reach a deeper stretch. These single-arm exercises also make it easier to address muscular imbalances and build strength evenly from side to side.
The most common mistakes in back training
Mistake 1: Locking the shoulder blades for the whole movement. This is both the most common mistake and one of the most consequential. It shortens the range of motion at exactly the point where the stretch occurs.
Mistake 2: A limited exercise selection, or treating the back as a single muscle. Doing only vertical pulls, for example, leaves some of the upper back muscles under-trained and can contribute to muscular imbalances.
Mistake 3: Too wide a grip on the lat pulldown. A common belief is that a wide grip builds a wider back. Research has found no difference in latissimus dorsi activity between grip widths (Lusk et al. 2010). An excessively wide grip shortens the range of motion and places unnecessary stress on the shoulder joint. A grip slightly wider than shoulder width works well for most people because it allows a long range of motion. The same principle applies to a wide-grip pull-up: wider isn't automatically better.
Mistake 4: Pulling behind the neck. Muscle activity is no higher than when pulling to the front, while the movement places more stress on the shoulder joint. People with long forearms and short collarbones in particular should avoid this variation.
Mistake 5: Swinging and a shortened range of motion. If your torso rises on every rep of a bent-over row, or your pull-up doesn't start with straight arms, you're not getting as much from the exercise as you could.
Mistake 6: All back exercises in the same session. Grip fatigue can make the later exercises in the session much less productive.
Mistake 7: Progression isn't tracked. Using the same weight for the same number of reps month after month won't lead to progress, even with perfect technique.
Mistake 8: Back exercises at the end of the session. If you want to prioritize your back, place back exercises earlier in the session. Big, demanding movements such as pull-ups are especially well suited to the start of a workout. Pull-ups may also require slightly longer rests than other exercises, so give yourself enough time to recover between hard sets.
What does the research say about back training and lat-pulldown grip width?
There is plenty of research on muscle growth, but most of it focuses on the biceps, triceps and quads. Long-term research specifically on back-muscle growth is scarce because the muscles are difficult to measure: deeper back muscles are hard to image reliably with ultrasound, while MRI is expensive and time-consuming, so many laboratories don't use it routinely.
As a result, back-training recommendations draw on three main sources: anatomy and biomechanics, training studies on other muscles, and muscle-activity measurements (EMG). Direct long-term studies comparing, for example, the effects of lat pulldowns and pull-ups on back-muscle growth have not been published so far.
There are still a few useful findings. In muscle-activity studies, a pronated grip on the lat pulldown produced greater latissimus dorsi activity than a supinated grip (Lusk et al. 2010; Signorile et al. 2002), while no such grip difference was found in the pull-up (Youdas et al. 2010). In the underhand pull-up, the biceps and, perhaps surprisingly, the pecs also did more work. Rowing movements also aren't particularly good biceps exercises: in an eight-week study, the biceps curl produced roughly twice as much biceps growth as rowing (Mannarino et al. 2021).
Keep in mind that muscle activity and muscle growth are not the same thing. EMG measures momentary electrical activity; it doesn't tell you how much a muscle will grow over months of training. These findings are therefore best treated as suggestive rather than definitive.
In practice, the differences between individual exercise variations are small. What matters more is getting enough vertical and horizontal pulling, using a full range of motion, and progressing over time. There's little value in obsessing over one grip variation.
How AITOFIT builds your back workout for you
A good back workout depends not only on exercise selection, but also on how many exercises and sets you do, where they fall in the week, and how the program develops over time. Too many sets in one session can reduce quality, while too few can slow progress. Keeping the same exercises for months without any changes can also make training one-dimensional.
AITOFIT sets a weekly volume that fits your experience level, recovery and progress. It divides the work across sessions, makes sure your program includes both vertical and horizontal pulls, and changes exercises when there's a good reason to do so. The app also adjusts the training load as your performance develops.
For more on how this works in practice, read how AI builds a gym program.
Try the AITOFIT app free for 9 days and see what kind of back workout it builds for you.Frequently asked questions about back training
How often should you train your back? Twice a week is a practical default. Research supports training a muscle group in two weekly sessions (Schoenfeld 2016; Baz-Valle 2022), although newer research suggests that once a week can also work well when the session includes up to around 10 sets. For the back, splitting the work is especially useful because grip fatigue can limit performance if you do every back exercise in one session.
Are the lat pulldown and seated cable row enough for a good back workout? For most people, pretty much. Together they cover both main pulling directions and most of the back muscles. For a more complete setup, add another variation such as a pullover, an exercise for the rear delts, and, if needed, a shrug for the upper trapezius.
Which is better, pull-ups or the lat pulldown? Both are effective, and you don't have to choose only one. Pull-ups and chin-ups demand more from the muscles that stabilize the torso, while the lat pulldown allows more precise load adjustments and makes it easier to use a full range of motion. If you can't do a pull-up yet, the lat pulldown is an excellent alternative.
Should you use an overhand or underhand grip on the lat pulldown? Based on muscle-activation studies, an overhand grip produces greater latissimus dorsi activity in the lat pulldown (Lusk et al. 2010; Signorile et al. 2002). No such difference was found in pull-ups (Youdas et al. 2010). Other options include a narrow grip or a palms-facing neutral grip, but you don't need to overthink them.
Does a wide grip make the back wider? No more than a narrower grip. In Lusk et al. (2010), grip width didn't affect latissimus dorsi activity during the lat pulldown. A very wide grip shortens the range of motion and can place more stress on the shoulders. A grip slightly wider than shoulder width is the best choice for most people.
Is the deadlift a back exercise? Partly. The deadlift is a compound exercise that trains multiple muscle groups across the entire body. It loads the spinal erectors and trapezius to some degree, but it isn't an effective lat exercise and doesn't build back width. It's usually better treated as a leg exercise rather than counted as a back-training exercise.
Do you need lifting straps for back training? They're useful when grip strength is the limiting factor. If your grip gives out before your back tires, the target muscles don't receive the full stimulus. Straps help shift the limiting factor from your grip to your back.
Should you pull your shoulder blades together before the pull? No — this is a common myth. You shouldn't keep the shoulder blades locked for the whole movement. Let them move during the lowering phase of the seated cable row and return toward the spine in the bottom position of the row. That way the range of motion and stretch are full. Keeping the spine neutral is a different matter, and is worth maintaining.
Is back training different for women? No, it isn't. The exercises, rep ranges and set numbers are the same. The difference is mainly in the starting level: the pull-up often requires more training, and an assisted version or the lat pulldown works well instead.
Does back training improve posture? Upper-back training has been shown to reduce neck and shoulder pain (Andersen et al. 2008), but the link between posture and pain is weaker than is often claimed. Back training is worth doing, but it doesn't mechanically "fix" your posture. Simple claims like "the lat pulldown strengthens the back muscles and improves posture" don't hold up on their own when it comes to posture — posture is more complex than that. A strong back supports the spine and can make it easier to maintain good posture and controlled movement. Back training through a full range of motion can also help maintain or improve mobility.
Is the back the body's biggest muscle group? No — that's a myth. It likely comes from the lats sometimes being described as the body's largest muscle by surface area. Surface area, however, isn't the same as muscle mass: the quads and glutes are considerably larger muscle groups. The back is the largest muscle group in the upper body, but not in the body as a whole. This myth is sometimes used to justify unnecessarily high back-training volumes.
Can you train your back at home? Yes, but your exercise options are more limited. Pull-ups, bodyweight rows and band exercises can all work. Adjusting load and optimizing range of motion are simply easier at the gym.
Summary
A good back workout doesn't need to be complicated. It comes down to three things: include both vertical and horizontal pulls over the week, use a full range of motion that allows the shoulder blades to move naturally, and do enough — but not excessive — training volume.
Choose back exercises and set volume based on anatomy and biomechanics rather than at random or by overthinking grip variations and the mind-muscle connection. What matters most is the overall program: enough resistance training, good technique, full range of motion and progressive loading will take you further than chasing the perfect feeling or grip. Consistency matters more than complicated programming.
Try the AITOFIT app free for 9 days: you'll get a back workout and program tailored to your training volume and recovery.
Sources Andersen, L.L. et al. 2008. Effect of two contrasting types of physical exercise on chronic neck muscle pain. Arthritis & Rheumatism 59 (1), 84–91. Baz-Valle, E. et al. 2022. A Systematic Review of the Effects of Different Resistance Training Volumes on Muscle Hypertrophy. Journal of Human Kinetics 81, 199–210. Lusk, S.J., Hale, B.D. & Russell, D.M. 2010. Grip Width and Forearm Orientation Effects on Muscle Activity During the Lat Pull-Down. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24 (7), 1895–1900. Mannarino, P. et al. 2021. Analysis of the Effects of Dumbbell Row and Dumbbell Curl on Elbow Flexor Hypertrophy. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Marchetti, P.H. & Uchida, M.C. 2011. Effects of the Pullover Exercise on the Pectoralis Major and Latissimus Dorsi Muscles as Evaluated by EMG. Journal of Applied Biomechanics 27, 380–384. Schoenfeld, B.J. et al. 2016. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine 46 (11), 1689–1697. Schoenfeld, B.J. et al. 2017. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass. Journal of Sports Sciences 35 (11), 1073–1082. Signorile, J.F., Zink, A.J. & Szwed, S.P. 2002. A Comparative Electromyographical Investigation of Muscle Utilization Patterns Using Various Hand Positions During the Lat Pull Down. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 16 (4), 539–546. Snyder, B.J. & Leech, J.R. 2009. Voluntary Increase in Latissimus Dorsi Muscle Activity During the Lat Pull-Down Following Expert Instruction. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23 (8), 2204–2209. Youdas, J.W. et al. 2010. Surface Electromyographic Activation Patterns and Elbow Joint Motion During a Pull-Up, Chin-Up, or Perfect-Pullup Rotational Exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24 (12), 3404–3414.
Author: Julius Granlund, M.Sc. in Exercise Science (Exercise Physiology), University of Jyväskylä | Reviewed by: Tapio Tulenheimo, M.Sc. in Exercise Science (Exercise Physiology), University of Jyväskylä
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