Exercise List

Back Training Overview

Getting the most out of every movement allows you to have the fastest transformation, minimize injury risk, and enjoy training more. Here are the foundational exercises to build a sculpted, strong back. We’ve categorized the exercises by movement and region of the back that gets worked the most.

When examining the region of the back that gets targeted the most, please keep in mind when a muscle contracts, part or parts of the muscle do not contract. Instead, when a muscle contracts, the entire muscle contracts. This means when you perform a movement targeting your lats, all of the contracting muscle proteins in your lats will shorten and lengthen to facilitate the movement rather than just the proteins in your upper lats or lower lats.

When a muscle contracts, the sarcomeres shorten. Thin filaments (actin) will be pulled inward by the thick filaments (myosin) and slide past the thick filaments. When you relax, the sarcomeres will return to their starting position.

During muscle contraction (shortening), it’s not like some sarcomeres shorten while the others next to it on the same muscle fiber just chill and remain motionless.

Therefore, even if the exercise targets your upper lats a little more, your lower lats still get worked and vice versa. The back is also unique in that you can determine which region gets emphasized more by using the mind muscle connection and manipulating the angle at which you pull. For example, we listed Dumbbell Rows as a lower back targeted row but if you pull towards your mid chest area, it will stress the upper back much more. There’s leeway in the areas that get targeted more and you can modify the demand in a specific area based on how you perform the exercise. The ultimate takeaway from this brief intro is you can’t fully isolate a specific part of a muscle, but you can use angles to place more stress and demand on a specific region to trigger accelerated growth in that region more than others. Strategic programming, proper exercise selection, and damage management in the various areas of your back is The Science of Sculpting.

When you perform a lat pulldown or row, it’s not like just the proteins in the red box facilitate the movement while the proteins in the white box remain motionless. There is no such thing as completely isolating part of a muscle while training.

Complete Back Builders

Rack Pulls

The Deadlift

Extensions

Lower Back Extensions

Machine Lower Back Extensions

Supermans

Lat Pulldowns (Upper Back Targeted)

Assisted Pull-Ups

Hammer Grip Lat Pulldowns

Lat Pulldowns

Machine Lat Pulldowns

Single Arm Cable Lat Pulldowns (Neutral Grip)

Single Arm Cable Lat Pulldowns (Overhand Grip)

Wide Grip Cable Lat Pulldowns (Facing Cable)

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns

Lat Pulldowns (Low Back Targeted)

Single Arm Cable Lat Pulldowns (Underhand Grip)

Underhand Grip Lat Pulldowns

Underhand Grip Machine Lat Pulldowns

V Bar Lat Pulldowns

Wide Grip Cable Lat Pulldowns (Facing Away from Cables)

Lat Pushdowns

eZ Bar Lat Pushdowns

Machine Lat Pushdowns

Rope Lat Pushdowns

Straight Bar Lat Pushdowns

Rows (Lower Back Targeted)

Barbell Rows (Underhand Grip)

Cable Rows

Dumbbell Rows

Neutral Grip Machine Rows (Single and Two Arms)

Single Arm Cable Rows (Neutral Grip)

Single Arm Cable Rows (Underhand Grip)

Smith Machine Rows (Underhand Grip)

Square Stance Dumbbell Rows

T Bar Row

Underhand Grip Dumbbell Rows

Underhand Grip Machine Rows (Single and Two Arms)

Underhand Grip Square Stance Dumbbell Rows

Wide Grip Cable Rows (Underhand Grip)

Rows (Upper Back Targeted)

Barbell Rows (Overhand Grip)

Hammer Grip Cable Rows

Overhand Grip Machine Rows (Single and Two Arms)

Single Arm Cable Rows (Overhand Grip)

Smith Machine Rows (Overhand Grip)

Upper Back Barbell Rows

Upper Back Dumbbell Rows (Neutral and Overhand Grip)

Upper Back Machine Rows

Wide Grip Cable Rows (Grip at the Edges of the Bar)

Wide Grip Cable Rows (Overhand Grip)

Scapula Targeted Exercises

Rotator Cuff Warm Up

Scapula Rope Pulls

Limited Equipment Go-To’s

Here we have exercises that use light dumbbells and cables only. We’ll use various forms of cable rows because you can sit on the floor and place your feet against a surface to help anchor yourself in place. We won’t include overhead 2 arm pull exercises because more than likely you’ll have to lift heavy and there will be nothing to secure your legs. Single arm overhead pull exercises are still fair game because you can sit on the floor and you don’t have to go too heavy using just one arm (certainly not heavy enough to fling your entire bodyweight up in the air when you try to pull down).