FacePulls – Upperback Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Traps
Other Muscles Worked: Rear delts Biceps
Equipment: lat pulldown machine,or bands
Mechanics Type:Isolation
This is a great exercise to develop your upper back. Using a high pulley or lat pulldown machine, attach a triceps rope and pull towards the face/forehead. Make sure you squeeze your upper back towards the end of the movement and pull the rope apart. This exercise should be done for higher reps (12-20).
Taken from Elitefts.com
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Shoulder Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: facepulls, traps, upperback
Scarecrows – Upper Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Traps, Rear Delts
Other Muscles Worked: Biceps
Equipment: Cable Machine
Mechanics Type:Isolation
Well developed rear delts will help to keep your shoulders balanced and help to prevent a lot of shoulder injuries and rotator cuff problems. Very often the front delts are strong from lots of pressing movements (bench presses, overhead presses, etc.) so they over power the rear delts.
Strong rear delts will also help to improve your strength in exercises such as the bench press. With a strong well developed upper back you will be more solid on the bench and be able to generate more power. They will also help your squat because the bar is placed across your upper back. By having big strong rear delts and traps you will be able to stabilize the bar better and not hunch over in the squat. Just look at anyone who has a big bench press and / or squat and you will see that they also have well developed rear delts and upper back muscles.
Here are are some exercises that will target your rear delts and upper back. You should incorporate these exercises into your workouts. I usually do at least a 3 sets of rear delt work every workout as part of my warm up. I also work my rear delts after chest, shoulder, and back workouts.
Since this is a small muscle group you should train with fairly light weights and do higher reps, between 10-20 reps per set. Focus on feeling the muscles working with each rep.
Lee Hayward.com
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, traps, upperback
Rear Delt Flys – Upper Back/Shoulder Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Upper Back
Other Muscles Worked: traps,biceps
Equipment: Dumbbells
Mechanics Type:Isolation
Well developed rear delts will help to keep your shoulders balanced and help to prevent a lot of shoulder injuries and rotator cuff problems. Very often the front delts are strong from lots of pressing movements (bench presses, overhead presses, etc.) so they over power the rear delts.
Strong rear delts will also help to improve your strength in exercises such as the bench press. With a strong well developed upper back you will be more solid on the bench and be able to generate more power. They will also help your squat because the bar is placed across your upper back. By having big strong rear delts and traps you will be able to stabilize the bar better and not hunch over in the squat. Just look at anyone who has a big bench press and / or squat and you will see that they also have well developed rear delts and upper back muscles.
Here are are some exercises that will target your rear delts and upper back. You should incorporate these exercises into your workouts. I usually do at least a 3 sets of rear delt work every workout as part of my warm up. I also work my rear delts after chest, shoulder, and back workouts.
Since this is a small muscle group you should train with fairly light weights and do higher reps, between 10-20 reps per set. Focus on feeling the muscles working with each rep.
Categories: Back Exercises, Shoulder Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: shoulders, upper back
Seated Cable Rows – Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Back
Other Muscles Worked: Biceps, Grip, Forearms
Equipment: Cable Machine
Mechanics Type:Isolation
Normally this exercise starts with a handle that puts your grip in palms facing toward each other. Take hold of the two separate cable handles, place your feet firmly on the Block in front of you, let your arms extend all the way forward feeling a stretch in the lats, then pull the cables straight back as if you were doing dumbbell rows.
Feel your back contract completely, especially the stress on the center of your back. Then let the weight slowly return to the starting position while fighting all the way. Again these are excellent because of the consistent pressure that the cables maintain on your back. Remember to use your arms as just tools in order to work your back, don’t let them do more work than they have to.
Also, to make sure you are doing them correctly have your partner or someone place there knee in your upper back in-between your shoulder blades to make sure you do not lean back to excessively like many do.
Taken from Bodybuilding.com
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, rows, seated
Chin ups – Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Back
Other Muscles Worked: Biceps, Traps, GRip
Equipment: Pull up bar
Mechanics Type:Compound
Pullups are one of the most beneficial overall muscle and strength developers. A single pullup is often one of the most difficult exercises. Many adults can remember how humiliated they felt in grade school, when they couldn’t do a single repetition. And this experience often led to “throwing in the towel.”
If that person was you, not to worry – there’s still hope … even if you failed high school gym class.
Take a look at monkeys and apes in the wild. They’re in far better shape than human beings. They have greater endurance and flexibility, and they possess far superior strength. The exercises that resemble what these primates do most are pullups (and chinups).
Monkeys and apes that climb trees for a living work with their own bodyweight. They don’t lift weights or use machines. And so, is it any wonder that a 60 pound chimpanzee has triple the strength of an athletic male – while a gorilla has the strength of 10 Olympic weight lifters?
And just how can monkeys be so incredibly strong, you ask? The answer is simple. From doing all those pullup type movements. They’ve mastered their own bodyweight while pulling, hanging, climbing and swinging from limb to branch.
pullups and chinups benefit your strength and power
Matt Furey performing pullup and chinup variations on the monkey bars
Pullups and chinups are one of the hallmarks of an advanced strength athlete. The pullup builds grip strength in its entirety because the fingers, hands and forearms are all used. Pullups also develop the biceps, triceps and shoulders, giving you powerful strength and superior muscularity. Muscles throughout the entire back are bombarded with enough stress to make them grow stronger, especially the latissimus dorsi and trapezius. Additionally, your abdominal muscles are given a good workout due to the stabilization needed through the entire core.
Back when bodybuilders were strong (hint: most today are NOT), the pullup was a staple in their workouts. They knew that pulling one’s entire bodyweight through space builds phenomenal strength. They also knew it would give them a thick, wide upper back – the kind that the bodybuilding enthusiasts supposedly train for.
In the olden days, bodybuilders got many of their exercises from gymnastics. This meant that instead of dangerous exercises like deadlifts and mediocre movements like lat pulldowns, pullups and chinups reigned supreme.
All of the above helps explain why primates are so powerful. Ever see a monkey on a lat pulldown machine? Neither have I. But I have seen some big, dumb steroid-freak gorillas in the gym yannking off on them. You know the bodybuilding fools of which I speak, don’t you? They are the ones who use momentum to cheat their way through their repetitions, only to ultimately injure themselves, tearing muscles in their shoulders and backs.
Taken from Matt Furey
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, chin ups, pullups
Dumbbell Rows – Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Lats
Other Muscles Worked:Biceps, Traps, Grip
Equipment: Dumbbells
Mechanics Type: Compound
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One-arm dumbbell rows personally are one of my favorite back exercises. And for a big thick back you need to use heavy dumbbells. But, if you have a tendency on each rep to get that old lawn mower started then you are not doing this movement right. Doing them that way will make you a point of discussion on how not to do things in the gym, and of course they will not increase size or strength if done in that manner. So, are you a lawn mower starter when it comes to dumbbell rows?
Remember, to keep your back parallel with the floor resting one arm and a knee on a bench. Grasp the dumbbell with the free arm, raise the dumbbell right up to your side squeezing the lats then lower the dumbbell to the starting position about an inch off the floor. Do 6 to 8 reps for 3 to 4 sets with each arm. Always start with your weaker side or weaker arm.
Taken from Bodybuilding.com
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: biceps, dumbells, row
Lay Back Chin Ups: Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Lats
Other Muscles Worked: Biceps, Middle Back
Equipment: Other
Mechanics Type: Compound
Tips: Many have dubbed this the single best lat exercise ever invented! This involves leaning back throughout the entire movement. In this variation, the lower portion of the chest should touch the bar. Begin by grasping the pull-up bar with an underhand grip, approximately shoulder width apart. Now hang with your arms fully extended. As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far away from the bar as possible and arch your spine throughout the movement. At the upper end of the movement, your hips and legs will be at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your collarbone passes the bar and your lower chest or sternum area touches it. By the time you’ve completed the concentric portion of the movement; your head will be parallel to the floor.
Exercise Definition Credits To:
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: lay back chin ups, upper back exercises
Face Pulls: Upper Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Lats
Other Muscles Worked: Middle Back
Equipment: Machine
Mechanics Type: Compound
Tips: There are many options for stimulating the front and side delts, but it seems so many people can’t bring up their rear delts at the same speed. I have found an exercise called cable, rope, rear-delt rows which does. For some reason people use bent-over laterals raises, and as they involve minimal weight, it encourages people to turn them into compound. As a result, all the tension is transferred onto the muscles of the upper back, and little rear-delt stimulation. Then others either just rely on compounds, or use upright rows, which actually target the traps, biceps and back just as much if not more so than the rear delts. So I discovered an exercise called the rear-delt cable row that stimulate this area better. Rear-delt rows also allow you to use a weight that is not possible on the only other isolation exercise for the rear-delt. To perform these rows, sit in the same position on a cable-row station as you would doing seated cable rows. Attach a rope to the pulley and grasp it with an overhand grip. Stretch your lats if you wish, stand upright and bring the weight in and upwards towards your neck. The trick is to extend your forearms upwards as you pull the weight to your neck, and at the end of the movement, your arms will finish in a bicep-pose with your lower arms parallel to the floor. By doing this, it activates the rear delts and allows for a peak contraction.
Exercise Definition Credits To:
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: face pulls, upper back exercise
Chin Up Variations
I once heard that chin ups are the squats of the upper body! This basically means that its and essential exercise for upper body development. It is also that best indicator for realtive strength capacity, and relative strength is the best indicator for speed. So do these if you want to be strong and fast!
1. is band chin ups for those of you who cant do regular chins yet.
2. is towel chin ups for developing back and grip strength.
3. is one arm towel chin ups
4. is close grip chin ups with triangle grip thing
5. is me sighing cuz I need to get stronger too!!
Tip: As I mentioned earlier, chin ups are a great indicator for relative strength. Well, some of you are thinking “what the hell is relative strength?”. Hulse Answer: its the strength that is displayed in relation to your bodyweight or how well you can manage your own bodyweight. So, if you can lift 1000 pound but can’t do a single chin up… your relative body strength sticks. If you can do 1000 chin ups… your relative strength is great!
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back exercise, chin ups
