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| Strong Back Muscles |
 Trina writes, "Strong back muscles will allow you to pick up anything heavy off the floor or ground, working in unison with the legs. Working your back will burn nearly as many calories as you would when training legs. A strong back will help you move your body more easily through space, specifically when pulling yourself up. It will protect you from muscle imbalances that occur from overtraining. It will also protect your core! Yes your core also includes your back. Here's how to get started."
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Start with bent over rows. Your stance should be shoulder width for conventional barbell rows. Now, keeping your knees slightly bent, your head up, and your back straight, bend over until your upper body is lower than 45 degrees to the floor with a slight bend in your knees. My goal is always to get as close to parallel with the floor as possible.
The weight should be hanging straight down from your arms at this point, directly below your chest. Your palms should be facing towards you. Feel free to use a bit of chalk if you are rowing really heavy. To row: to start a row, use your back muscles to pull the bar straight up to touch your chest. The elbows should be tucked in, head up, back straight, and you should NOT bounce. Lower the weight under control and repeat.
Pull ups are a great measure of strength. Pull ups improve so much more than your back - they are also good for your biceps, triceps, abs, and shoulders. To set up: stand on a box or a platform if you need to, or just jump up, so you can reach the bar. Pull ups are typically harder than chin ups. Pull ups use a pronated grip (palms down, or in this case palms facing away), while chin ups use a supinated grip (palms up). Hands should be just wider than shoulder width for a medium grip pull up, or just inside shoulder width for a medium grip chin up.
To pull up: the goal is to pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar. Keep your head up, possibly looking at the ceiling, and get that chin over the bar, pause just long enough to get a full contraction. Lower yourself back down so that your arms are about 99% straight, and don't bounce.
Your back contains the second largest muscle groups, your legs are your first. Most importantly, train your body for Functional Fitness (explained in my previous blog posts), and your back will thank you for it!
resource cited http://www.projectswole.com/weight-training/the-top-5-best-back-exercises/
Trina K Kubitschek, CPT
Owner of CrossFit Station
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Posted on Jun 25, 2012 08:56am.
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