8 Best Barbell Back Exercises for Strength & Mass

A large, thick, V-tapered back is the true sign of a dedicated lifter. Constructing one takes effort and time. It separates the lads from the boys within the gym. There’s a reason for the saying “shows are won from the back” in bodybuilding circles.

If you wish to construct yourself a barn door back, it’s worthwhile to base your training on a foundation of barbell exercises. They supply the very best bang to your buck and a singular challenge to your back musculature.

In this text, we’ll show you easy methods to do 8 of the very best barbell exercises so you may develop a broad, thick, V-tapered back. As well as, we’ll explain exactly why barbell back exercises are so great and the training variables it’s worthwhile to employ.

Table of Contents:

• 8 Best Barbell Back Exercises
• Back Muscle Anatomy
• Advantages of Doing Barbell Back Exercises
• Back Workouts With Barbell: Key Training Variables
• Sample Back Barbell Workout
• FAQs

8 BEST BARBELL BACK EXERCISES

Let’s get into the star of the show – the 8 best back exercises with barbells! Just stay tuned afterward, as we’ll discuss the back anatomy, the advantages of barbell back exercises, and just a few great back workouts.

The next barbell exercises for back are in no particular order. Although, we’re kicking this off with the king of back exercises. 

We have now categorized the exercises as such:

• Lower Back
• Lats
• Mid and Upper Back

So, they’ll are available in that order, together completing your entire back and providing you with the 8 best back exercises with a bar.

2 Best Barbell Exercises For Lower Back

A powerful lower back plays a serious role in injury prevention and stopping or reducing back pain. So, what moves construct probably the most lower back muscle? Let’s get into the very best lower back barbell exercises.

1. Conventional Deadlifts:

Deadlifts work the entire posterior chain from hamstrings to traps. They predominantly train the back isometrically, placing huge strain on the erectors, lats and upper back to take care of proper form while the lower body provides the movement.

This among the finest bang-for-your-buck exercises and is the muse of many great physiques.

A couple of key notes: It is simple to get carried away, rushing negatives, and bouncing weights. This might feed your ego but just increases injury risk and hinders gains by ramping up fatigue and unneeded loading.

Deadlifts are an exquisite exercise, but they’re very fatiguing – especially as you begin getting stronger. In case you’re taking an hour to warm up and so they leave you too drained for anything, you may have to reconsider in the event that they’re value it. Their cross-over with lower body training can be something value remembering.

Listed here are some set-up and technique points to get probably the most from them:

• Place your feet around shoulder width and the bar over your midfoot.
• Put your hands on the bar outside your knees and push your shins to the bar.
• Neutral spine and neck. I believe “chest up ribs down.”
• Take the slack out of the bar.
• Maintain this position and pick up the bar.
• Slowly lower the bar back down.

2. Barbell Back Extensions: 

The erectors are only like all other muscle, growing best when lengthened and shortened under load. Back extensions do exactly that. Many are scared to let their spines move from neutral positions; nonetheless, it’s an amazing solution to construct muscle and even resilience within the lower back – you’ve gotten joints there for a reason and so they flex and extend on a regular basis in real life.

These generally is a wonderful solution to add volume to the erectors without added leg volume or crazy loads. A cautionary note: A lot of you won’t allow your lower back to deviate from neutral during training, so enter this unfamiliar range with caution. Start light and use pauses, before constructing your way up. 

The right way to do Barbell Back Extensions:

• Set a bar up on the ground in front of a glute-ham raise or 45-degree back extension.
• Within the machine, facing the bar, grab it at around shoulder width.
• Lower back must be barely flexed.
• Slowly extend the lower back, while contracting the glutes. Don’t aggressively hyperextend the back.
• Slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.

3 Best Barbell Lat Exercises

Everyone loves working on their wings. Listed here are three essential barbell exercises for lats.

3. Barbell Pullovers: 

Being certainly one of the one ways to coach full shoulder flexion with a barbell, this variation of an Arnold Schwarzenegger favorite places huge stress in your fully stretched lats.

The load gets farther from the shoulder as you stretch, increasing torque on the joint and tension through the lats. A stretch under load is a surefire solution to make gains. It’s great to emphasize the muscle within the lengthened position; nonetheless, that is where the muscle is vulnerable.

Start light and deal with the contraction. Moreover, the torque is comparatively low on the starting position with joints stacked and the bar near the shoulder. It will be a great idea to incorporate an exercise where the lats are challenged in a shorter position. 

The right way to do Barbell Pullovers:

• Arrange on a bench as in case you’re about to bench press, but with a grip around shoulder width.
• Bend your elbows to 70 degrees.
• Maintain this elbow position, bringing the bar back over your head until you are feeling your lats stretch.
• Slowly bring your arms back to the starting position by driving out of your elbows.
• It may well help with the mind-muscle connection in case you take into consideration “breaking the bar” or snapping it outward.

4. Narrow grip barbell rows:

Considered one of my favorite bent over row variations, the narrow grip helps keep the elbows tucked, biasing shoulder extension and adduction, forcing lat recruitment. This variation will be performed either under or overhand, but generally, people state underhand is best for lat activation.

Because the lats are involved in medial rotation, underhand and overhand bias stretched and shorter lats respectively. Fiddling with each can assist determine which provides the very best mind-muscle connection. That is an amazing compound exercise, also hitting the mid, upper, and lower back. Nevertheless, remember adding sets will increase volume for those muscles too – having a knock-on effect on their training.

So, it’s worthwhile to think “big picture” together with your program design and consider the work done by the traps and lower back on barbell rows when choosing the variety of additional exercises and sets performed to specifically goal them.

Generally, you don’t need an excessive amount of extra isolated wok for these in case you’ve trained hard on rows. Using less systemically fatiguing machine or dumbbell work to coach your traps and take the loading off the lower back is usually a great alternative on this scenario.

An additional factor to contemplate with narrow grip barbell rows is that the lats don’t fully stretch on this exercise. For complete lat development, mix these with an exercise that challenges the lengthened range.

The right way to do Narrow Grip Barbell Rows:

• Grab the bar just inside shoulder width, upper body parallel to the ground, and a neutral spine.
• Pull from the elbow, driving them into your side and rowing the bar to your hip.
• Slowly return to the starting position letting your lats stretch.

5. Single Arm Landmine Row:

This single-arm, lower-load variation provides stability and a few respite for the lower back. Although I’ve preached concerning the advantages of barbells, a lighter fixed plane movement can assist reduce global fatigue without limiting the goal muscles volume.

This variation is about as much as attack your lats and mid back, focussing on one arm at a time to iron out any imbalances.

That is an amazing solution to add volume to your back without adding extra volume to your erectors or lower body, making it an amazing exercise to enhance greater compounds. 

The right way to do the Single Arm Landmine Row:

• Pop the bar in a landmine attachment, grab the bar at the top of the grip closest to the sleeve.
• Use a staggered stance, opposite foot forward to the arm rowing.
• Row into your hip, pulling from the elbow, and permit your scapula to protract and retract. This can make sure the lats, rhomboids, and mid and lower traps are hit in a single move.
• Manipulate your foot position to favor the upper back, by moving your feet back, or lats by moving them forward.

3 Best Mid & Upper Back Barbell Exercises

Remember to focus on your mid and upper back muscles with these 3 best barbell back exercises.

6. Standard Grip Barbell Bent Over Rows:

To focus on the mid and upper back with barbell rows, the secret is focussing on scapula movement. This barbell back exercise allows for full protraction and retraction of the shoulder, really specializing in scapula depression and mid-back growth.

The considerations for this exercise are equivalent to the narrow grip barbell row. Large compounds challenge the entire back, so adding sets increases the strain on other muscles, impacting their training and the way much volume they will handle.

Ladies seeking to grow their backs can even find the barbell bent over rows included in women’s back workouts because of its muscle-sculpting abilities.  

The right way to do Standard Grip Barbell Bent Over Rows:

• Grip the bar just outside shoulder width, maintaining neutral spine and upper body parallel to the ground.
• Start with the shoulder protracted and the scapula wide on the ribcage.
• Row the bar into the underside of the ribs, squeezing your shoulder blades and keep elbows at 45 degrees.
• Slowly lower the burden back down, letting your shoulder blades move wide in your ribcage again. 

7. Wide Grip Bent Over Barbell Row:

The flared elbows encouraged by the wide grip help reduce lat involvement, letting you goal the rhomboids, traps, and rear delts (not discussed in this text but trust me, it’s a great thing). 

The minimization of lat involvement means you’ll give you the chance to make use of significantly less weight than with other variations. It’s a great idea to aim for 12-20 reps with this exercise – to make sure good shoulder and elbow position.

Considering more information on different grips utilized in barbell rows? Head to our article that covers the Different Barbell Row Grips!

The right way to do the Wide Grip Barbell Bent Over Row:

• Set-up such as you do for the barbell row, with feet shoulder width apart and an overhand grip. Nevertheless, place your pinkies just contained in the rings on the bar.
• Starting together with your shoulder protracted, row the bar into the center of your chest with elbows flared to about 80 degrees and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
• Slowly lower the bar back down, maintaining the elbow position and letting shoulders protract.

8. Meadows Rows: 

Popularized by the late John Meadows is one other single-arm landmine barbell exercise: Meadows Rows. With all the identical fatigue-limiting and physique balancing advantages as single arm landmine rows, these can complement your back training while limiting global fatigue. 

The right way to do Meadows Rows:

• Pop the bar into the landmine attachment and stand on the far end, perpendicular to the bar.
• Stagger your stance with the alternative foot forward to the arm rowing.
• Bend over with a neutral spine and parallel to the bottom grabbing the bar on the very end of the sleeve (it’s thick so you may need straps).
• Start with the scapula protracted, keeping flared elbows to around 80 degrees, row the burden up, and retract your shoulder.
• Lower the burden all the way down to the starting position. 

BONUS BACK BARBELL EXERCISES:

Variety keeps your workouts fresh. so, in case you’re searching for just a few extra moves to incorporate in your back arsenal, look no further.

Rack Pulls:

Shrugs:

T-Bar Rows:

Pendlay Rows:

Back Muscle Anatomy & Functions

The back is a posh network of inter-connected muscles. To totally develop your back, it’s essential to know the muscles involved and the way best to coach them.

I’m going to provide you a fast overview of the anatomy and functions of the muscles of the back. This information will show you how to to create a training program that completely trains your back and allows for maximal development.

Erector Spinae:

Sitting beneath the lats, the erector spinae muscles appear as two bulges running parallel to the spine before being covered by the trapezius.

The Iliocostalis is the lateral most muscle, then the longissimus, and at last the spinalis is the closest to the spine. These will be broken further into regions and sections.

Briefly, they originate along the vertebrae and ribs, ranging from the sacrum and iliac crest. They insert on higher vertebrae and ribs, extending to the mastoid process on the jaw and occipital bone on the back of the skull. Contracting these muscles ends in back extension.

Latissimus Dorsi:

The lats are the bodies widest muscle covering the entire back (excluding the trapezius). The lats have multiple origins. The vertebral origin attaches to the bony projections on T7-L5, spanning from the mid to lower back. The costal, iliac and scapula origins are from the underside 3-4 ribs, the iliac crest and inferior angle of the scapula (the underside inside corner), respectively.

The lat has one insertion: the ground of the intertubercular groove of the humerus. Between the pectoralis major and teres major, the lat goes under the arm to connect at this groove – which is an indentation running vertically down the front of the humerus. 

Their primary functions are shoulder extension, medial rotation, and adduction of the upper arm. Shortening the lat brings the upper arm to your side, meaning pull-ups, pull-downs, and rows really goal the lats.

Trapezius:

The trapezius is a broad and flat muscle. The trapezius muscles are shaped like a pair of triangles: with corners at the bottom of the skull and mid-back and furthest tips about each shoulder. The trapezius has 3 distinct regions: superior, middle, and inferior. 

The superior (upper) trapezius originates on the medial third of the superior nuchal line and external occipital protuberance of the occipital bone and inserts on the lateral third of the clavicle – a protracted solution to say it runs downwards from the skull’s base to the skin of the collarbone. Contraction causes a shrugging motion.

The center portion originates on various spinous processes and ligaments from C1-T3 within the neck and upper back. It then inserts on the acromion and superior crest of the scapula spine, which is the furthest tip and the highest border of the scapula. Contracting this region retracts the shoulder blade, pulling the shoulder blades together. 

Finally, the inferior (lower) traps originate from lower down vertebrae, T4-T12, and insert on the scapula spine. These fibers run up from the mid-back to the highest of the scapula. Their contraction brings the scapula down and toward the midline, called scapula depression.

Rhomboids: 

Finally, we’ve got the Rhomboids, made up of the minor and major muscles – originating on the spinous processes at C7-T1 and T2-T5, respectively. The minor inserts on the medial end of the scapula and the foremost inserts on the scapula’s medial border.

In brief, they originate on the spine and insert on the within border of the scapula, running at a slight downward angle. Their contraction retracts the shoulder bringing the scapula toward the spine, and their angle causes slight elevation. By inserting on the within border, they assist prevent scapula winging.

BENEFITS OF DOING BARBELL BACK EXERCISES

While training your back with dumbbells and machines is effective (each for beginners who need lighter loads and help with form and advanced trainees who need more exercise variety and volume) there are some unique advantages only barbell exercises can provide (again, for each beginners and more advanced trainees)…

1) More bang to your buck:

Free weights are inherently less stable than machines, requiring significant contribution from stabilizing muscles. A chest-supported machine row might help you really deal with one muscle, but a barbell row will provide stimulus to the erectors and traps to carry the bar and remain bent-over while the lats and rhomboids do the majority of the work to maneuver the bar.

Using barbells means you don’t need to train every muscle from every angle every session. That is great for newbies, those with time constraints, or those that want to maximise time efficiency within the gym. 

2) Lift larger loads and progress endlessly:

Dumbbells are a superb muscle-building tool but have some pitfalls – especially as you begin to get strong. Heavy dumbbells will be comically large, forcing technique adjustments to accommodate them. This will impact and impede the standardization of execution.

Dimensions aside, greater weights on dumbbells can present a practical challenge to set-up for a set. Your ability to succeed in the starting position safely can sometimes turn into reliant on a team of gym buddies to return to the rescue. Finally, many gyms don’t have overly heavy dumbbells.

On this scenario, you might be forced to make use of technique and tempo strategies to make these weights genuinely difficult. It’d feel good to max out the rack, but the thought of a lifetime of paused reps and painfully slow eccentrics is enough to provide anyone nightmares.

In contrast to dumbbells, a barbell’s instability is contained predominantly throughout the exercise itself, not the set-up, aided by the very fact most gyms have dedicated spotter arms or racks. This is an element of the rationale greater loads will be lifted with a barbell. Whatever the variety of plates, the grip and set-up remain the identical. The bar doesn’t get thicker, and your range of motion isn’t impeded. You may progress endlessly – if only your body would permit it. 

3) Barbell training is fun:

Okay, that is subjective but, in case you’ve ever been to a deadlift party on a Sunday morning, you recognize what I mean. The movements are so versatile you may train with others without having an excessive amount of accommodation.

There’s also something enjoyable about feeling like you may visualize your progress by the variety of plates on the bar. Moving the pin down on a cable stack doesn’t feel the identical. 

IMPORTANT TRAINING VARIABLES FOR A BARBELL BACK WORKOUT

There are some essential training variables that you will need to follow on the subject of back training. Listed here are 6 things it’s worthwhile to listen to and employ into your workouts over time.

1. Technique:

Like with any muscle, you wish to facilitate the best range of motion safely possible. For back training, this implies allowing shoulder flexion to stretch the lats, and protraction to stretch the traps and rhomboids. Specific to barbells, the range of motion of the lats, traps and rhomboids is increased while you’re parallel to the bottom, accommodating greater protraction and flexion. 

You need to also make sure the goal muscle is the limiting factor of the exercise. By focussing on pulling from the elbow – not the hand – you may stop the bicep from fatiguing prematurely, focussing more on back recruitment.

The direction of the elbow dictates what region of the back is used. Rowing to your chest with flared elbows will stress the mid and upper back, while rowing to your hip crease, driving your elbows into your side, will probably be more lat focussed. 

Finally, it will be important to standardize your technique to permit for an accurate assessment of progress. Doing so will show you how to to know in case you’re actually getting stronger or simply getting more upright from session to session help you add load.

2. Strategic Variation:

This implies using multiple exercise variations will yield higher results than using one single exercise. The variations can provide a rather different stimulus, ensuring all bases are covered.

This might mean including exercises that challenge the identical muscle at different ranges – like pullovers and rows for the lats, difficult the lats at stretched and shortened positions.

These variations don’t need to occur in the identical session, and a few variations don’t even need to be in the identical mesocycle. But it will be important to incorporate variation in your training (provided there may be a great a reason behind it).

3. Targeting various regions of the back:

It’s crucial to be certain you are not neglecting an area of the back. Your workout must contain exercises that his the lower back, the lats, and the upper and mid back. This implies you would like exercises from each of the sections I listed above.

To interrupt this down further, let’s briefly run through each section of the back. The lower back is trained anytime you might be flexing or extending the spine. It’s also often used as a supporting muscle during exercises, working isometrically. Exercises like deadlifts, barbell rows, and good mornings place an enormous challenge on the erectors and will be very fatiguing. 

Any exercise where you might be pulling your arm in toward your body will train the lats, including going from flexed to prolonged or abducted to adducted. Barbell rows, pull-overs, and pull-downs all hit the lats, and in case you take into consideration driving your elbow into your side and keeping them tucked, you’ll be certain you’re training them.

As for the upper and middle back, upper back training relies on scapula movement. In case you want your upper back to grow, you would like your scapula to protract and retract. Select exercises that lend themselves more to elevation, resembling an incline dumbbell row, and a few centered around depression, like high to low cable rows.

Letting the elbows flare and pulling weights to higher in your torso when rowing will help focus more on the upper back and mid-back. 

4. Volume: 

People generally require 12-20 sets per muscle per week for maximal hypertrophic gains. Nevertheless, I like to recommend starting with 6-8 sets per week for every region (lats, upper/mid and lower) for 2 reasons. Firstly, you may make good progress on 6 sets per week, making gains without wasting time.

Secondly, you may at all times add more sets in. It is best to be cautious and check out to get probably the most from the least after which incrementally increase training volume if needed. Doing more volume than you really need is literally and exercise in getting drained for the sake of it.

In case you finish your first microcycle and you actually feel such as you didn’t do enough, you may add a set to just a few exercises. You’ll be up at 12-14 sets per week for back very quickly. When a specific amount of volume stops being effective and your progress stalls you may add sets to extend volume and use that as a driver of renewed progress. 

As a word of caution, there may be a number of overlap with back exercises – especially free weight ones. In case you can’t add in additional free weight rows because of lower back fatigue, it’s a great idea to begin including some machines and cables to create the additional volume.  

5. Frequency:

You need to aim to coach your back 2-4 times per week. The frequency you select can largely be dictated by personal preference. There isn’t any significant difference in outcomes between the 2, three, or 4 back sessions per week provided the per session volume doesn’t turn into so overwhelming that the standard of labor subsides.

This normally occurs around 8-10 sets per muscle group per session point. Nevertheless, bear in mind this could be lower with heavy barbell compounds. That is certainly one of the explanations many veteran lifters complement a most important barbell back exercise with some dumbbell, machine, or cable work to maintain training volume high, provide a muscle-building stimulus, but manage fatigue. 

6. Rep ranges and intensity:

Most back training should fall within the 5-20 rep range, letting practicality dictate where specific exercises fall on this continuum. Performing sets of 15-20 rep deadlifts aren’t probably the most practical alternative as your cardiovascular system is prone to turn into the limiting factor.

Similarly, sets of 5 on a barbell pullover aren’t clever, as they place a big stretch on the lats. Failure using a heavyweight in a completely stretched position is dangerous. Letting the exercise guide the intensity of efforts can be smart. Most sets of barbell exercises must be terminated with 1-3 repetitions in reserve (RIR).

These create a stimulus but, manage technique breakdown and injury risk. Exercises like deadlifts or squats are riskier to take to 0 reps in reserve (RIR), whereas a bicep curl or reverse fly will be taken all of the solution to failure with low risk.

Barbell back exercises are likely to fall somewhere in between these two extremes. Taking a set to total failure can put your lower back in danger. It’s a great idea to stop a rep shy of failure in case you’re concerned about form breakdowns.

SAMPLE BARBELL BACK WORKOUTS

This workout includes a comparatively low volume for the beginning of a mesocycle in someone recent to training. Volume could possibly be added to this back workout with bar by increasing sets on one or multiple exercises over a mesocycle. Lower back volume is lower than the opposite regions because of usage during bent-row variations. 

Volume (weekly):

• Lower Back: 6 set
• Lats: 8 set
• Mid and Upper Back: 8 set

Barbell Only Back Workout: 

Ideal for beginners, those pushed for time or facilities, or those that wish to deal with barbell training. Perform each session (two sessions total) twice weekly.

Multi-Equipment Back Workout:

Now, in case you wish to incorporate barbell exercises right into a multi-equipment back workout, below is a great workout routine…

This is right for more seasoned lifters seeking to incorporate barbells into their regular routine. 

FAQs ABOUT BARBELL TRAINING & BACK WORKOUTS 

Remaining questions on barbell back exercises? Let’s answer them here.

What are some drawbacks of barbell training? 

The stronger you get, the more fatiguing the movement is. That is true of all exercises. Nevertheless, the compound nature of virtually all barbell movements means as you get stronger, the harder they’re to get better from.

Training with just barbells might limit your ability so as to add volume to muscles which can be lagging because other muscles can’t take care of any more volume, at the same time as stabilizers.

Not all exercises will fit your needs and techniques will be difficult. For instance, although barbell squatting can grow enormous quads, some people will profit more from the soundness of a hack squat. For a lot of machines provide great stimulus without years of honing technique.

In our opinion, a great back day workout will include a combination of kit for the very best hypertrophy results.

Do you have to use only a barbell? 

You’ll be able to make great progress using only a barbell, but in some unspecified time in the future, you’ll wish to take muscles to lengths impractical with a barbell – it’s challenging to completely shorten your quads with only a bar.

A part of the magic of the bar is its simplicity. As a beginner, you may get almost all the things you would like from the bar. Nevertheless, as you advance your training needs to maneuver forward too. Barbells are heavily compounds focussed and its likely different regions will fatigue at different points so more specific and fewer fatiguing exercises are required.

Finally, machines and dumbbells have their very own qualities. Stability, ease of single arm movements, and freedom of movement can pose different challenges for the muscles helping to maximise your gains. 

Back Exercises With Barbell: Key Takeaways

Barbell exercises are an amazing solution to construct the muse of a physique and will be utilized by anyone, from beginners to advanced bodybuilders. Back exercises using a barbell force you to learn the right technique, while hitting multiple muscles without delay through quite a lot of ranges.

Nevertheless, as you turn into more advanced their compound and unforgiving nature generally is a downside. The stronger you get and the more volume you require to progress, relying solely on barbells may end up in excessive global fatigue. Be smart. Don’t feel restricted to only using barbell exercises.

Get the advantages barbell exercises offer and complement them when needed with other back exercises. Barbells can easily be incorporated into any training program and will be particularly effective alongside dumbbells, machines, and cables to construct the most important, strongest back you most likely can.

Ready to search out the proper back program for you? Take a look at these 5 Best Back Workouts for Constructing Muscle & Strength! Considering adding a barbell to your property gym so you may do back exercises anytime, anywhere? Listed here are the 15 Best Barbells For Home Gyms.