Hanging Leg Raise – Ab Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Abs,grip,
Other Muscles Worked: Back,Biceps
Equipment: Pull up bar
Mechanics Type: Isolation
* Grab a bar and just hang, let the momentum disappear and do nothing until your body is still and the legs are straight.
* Flex all your muscles especially your Lats, Abs, and muscles surrounding your elbows.
* Slowly raise your feet up to the bar, remember to keep your legs straight.
* Lower your Legs and Repeat.
* The duration should be slow so as to use no momentum, try 5 – 8 seconds up, 5 – 8 down.
Categories: Abdominal Exercises, Back Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: abs, back, grip
Behind the Back Shrugs – Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Traps Upper Back
Other Muscles Worked: traps
Equipment:Barbell
Mechanics Type:Isolation
Position the bar on the power rack so that you can easily un-rack it into the starting position. Grip the bar with your palms facing in, slightly narrower than shoulder-width. Place your feet about shoulder-width apart and fully extend your arms. Keeping your abs and lower back tight, shrug the weight up towards your ears as high as you possibly can. Squeeze your traps at the top of the movement, pause briefly, and then lower the bar back into the starting position.
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, shrug
Trap Bar Shugs – Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Upper Back
Other Muscles Worked: traps
Equipment:Trap BAr
Mechanics Type:Compound
Position the bar on the power rack so that you can easily un-rack it into the starting position. Grip the bar with your palms facing in, slightly narrower than shoulder-width. Place your feet about shoulder-width apart and fully extend your arms. Keeping your abs and lower back tight, shrug the weight up towards your ears as high as you possibly can. Squeeze your traps at the top of the movement, pause briefly, and then lower the bar back into the starting position.
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, shrugs, traps
Lat Pulldown – Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Lats
Other Muscles Worked: Traps, Biceps
Equipment: Lat pulldown Machine
Mechanics Type:Isolation
I have never been a big fan of machine training. I do feel they have their purpose in a training program but for the most part I did not like the feel most of them provided.
This is one of those machines I loved the first time I used it. I liked the feel of this so much I bought one. The biangular movement allows the handles to move in two directions allowing you to target whatever part of the back you want.
As with all lat machines, keep your chest high and back arched. Focus on pulling your elbows down. Do not focus on your hands. By focusing on the elbows and you will feel a huge difference.
Taken from Elitefts.com
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, lats, machine
Band Pull Aparts – Upper Back Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Upper Back
Other Muscles Worked: traps,biceps
Equipment: Jump Stretch Band
Mechanics Type:Isolation
This is an excellent exercise that can be done at home for extra upper back work. Grasp a mini-band or light band and hold it out in front of you with a shoulder width grip. Your arms should be straight or just slightly bent. From this point simply pull the band apart until your arms are at your sides. Hold this position for a second and return to the starting position.
Taken from elitefts.com
Categories: Back Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: back, bands, pull apart
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
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
