Health and Fitness

A wide back, along with well developed
shoulders is one of those impressive body
parts that you can’t hide no matter what
you are wearing. Discover the most effective back training exercise you can use to build a thick, powerful back.

Your shoulders and lats
create that impressive v-taper and make
your physique look powerful and strong.
Your back is also the biggest muscle group
in the body. Thus, effective back routines
are an extremely important part of your weight
training routine.

Solid back routines for weightlifting should
center around one exercise: the deadlift.
Walk into any gym and count how many people
perform the deadlift in their back routine.
I bet you can count the number on one hand.

In fact, I bet you don’t even need to know
how to count because the number of people
you see using the deadlift in their back
routines will most likely be zero. This
is usually true with the squat as well.

And how many trainees have well developed
legs or a powerful well developed back?
Not many. Sadly, these two exerices are also
the best choices to develop the muscles people
do spend a lot of time working – the chest and
the arms.

Most of the time, the deadlift should be
the centerpiece of any back routine. I say most of the
time, because it’s an exercise that can very easily lead to
overtraining and you need to take breaks from
time to time.

The back is a very complex muscle
group and you can benefit from having a variety
of back routines in your bodybuilding program that allow
you to switch up your routine every 4 to 8 weeks.

You can center your back weight training program
around the deadlift for 4 to 8 weeks and then
put together a weight lifting routine for your
back without the deadlift.

Effective back routines should include
the deadlift for another important reason. Like
the squat, the deadlift seems to increase muscle
mass throughout the whole body, not just the back.

Your body will not develop smaller body parts like
your biceps and triceps too far out of proportion
to your larger muscle groups. So working your legs
with squats and your back with deadlifts will help
your smaller body parts grow as well.

In addition, the deadlift is an exercise that will
help you become as strong and powerful as you look.
Your muscles will not just be for show, like so
many pump artists that look good but can barely squat
or deadlift their own bodyweight.

Following are a couple of good back routines for
weightlifting that you can use to develope a thick,
wide, powerful back. The first one centers around
the deadlift.

The following routine includes four quality sets on
the deadlift. First, perform three light sets with
increasing weight to allow your body to warm up and
for you to get into a groove with proper technique.

Back Routines #1

Deadlift 4 x 6 – 8

Curl grip Chins 3 x 8 – 12

Perform this routine twice per week. It doesn’t seem
like much but believe me, if you put in the necessary
intensity to those deadlifts you will not want to do
any more work than this.

Back Routines #2

Curl grip Pulldowns 3 x 8 – 12

V-Bar Seated Rows 3 x 8 – 12

One arm dumbbell rows 3 x 8 – 12

In order to design effective back routines for weightlifting or practical weight training routines in general, it’s important to understand
the fundamentals of weight lifting.

Gregg Gillies is the founder of Build Lean Muscle.com. His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine. He has written two books and is a regular contributor to Body Talk Magazine. He publishes a free fitness newsletter available at his site that includes lots of weight training tips, fat loss, nutrition and exercise program information to help you build your best body as quickly as possible. check it out at Build Muscle and see how you can get a customized muscle building nutrition plan at http://www.mynutritionjournal.com.