Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Strengthening Back Muscles - 4 Keys To Getting A Massive Back



Having been immersed in physical fitness for nearly 5 years, it always surprises me how totally clueless many people I run into at the gym are. I see people trying desperately to obtain a wide, intimidating back but surprisingly few seem to actually know how to accomplish this. The average new, aspiring lifter usually want to build their chest and arm muscles. After all, these muscle are the ones that drive the opposite sex crazy.

Unfortunately, many of amateur muscle building enthusiasts never really develop the chest and arm muscle gains they are seeking. While muscular chest and arms are a very important part of any physique, they play a comparatively small role when compared to the lats, traps, spinal erectors, rhomboids, and lower back. These muscle groups comprise the entirety of the back.

Many lifters neglect the highly important back muscles because:

1. The back muscles are not particularly flashy and are not easily seen in the mirror
2. Building the back muscles is more tedious than training the chest or biceps muscles
3. The average amateur bodybuilder doesn't understand how important and complex the back muscles really are.

The truth is that if you want to look as muscular, strong, and thick as possible then nothing will allow you to achieve these goals faster than a finely tuned, ripped back. Indeed, nearly 70% of the body's muscles actually reside in the back. So it only makes sense to spend a proportional amount of of your workout time developing your back muscles.

Here are the 4 keys to getting a massive back:

1. Deadlifts - This is the most basic and effective of back exercises. There are few other exercises that offer the extreme effectiveness of the dead lift. The dead lift will exercise many muscles of the body, from your fingers and arms to feet and toes. The deadlift will actually stimulate muscle development throughout all of the back muscles and should therefore be the foundation of any back workout routine.

2. Vertical Pulling - Vertical pulling exercises stimulate the lat muscle group and will likewise help you develop that wide "V" shape.

3. Horizontal Pulling - Horizontal pulling is usually referred to as rows by fitness professionals. This movement targets the upper and middle sections of the back. A wide variety of rowing exercises exist including bent over rows, dumbbell rows, seated rows, cable rows, incline rows, and many others.

4. Shrugs - These movements should be performed at the end of every back workout in order to target the upper back and to better develop the "V" shape. A set of dumbbell or barbell shrugs will do.

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