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What's your favorite back exercise?

Tall Deck

Tall Deck

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I mostly use barbells and dumbells, with the only machines being things like Lat Pulldown, Calf raise, and leg extensions since barbells/dumbells cannot be used for those movements. As far as back exercises, I only do Lat pull downs, bent over barbell rows, back hyper extensions and sometimes one arm dumbell rows.

I must confess that I never tried T-bar rowing. Do any of you guys do those? Am I missing out? BTW, I cannot do deads. Too much strain on my L-5 herniated disc. Back hypers don't bother it though. I do barbell squats, but that's for another thread ofcourse. Let's stick to back exercises.
 
Tbar rows are awesome and affictive. Sucks about not doing deads they are the best imo
 
Lots of row and clean variations for me but one of the biggest accomplishments personally was being able to do strict wide grip pullups for sets and reps at 270lbs. Just getting back to them weekly despite 2 bicep tears within 3 months of each other about a year and a half ago.
 
selfmademonster said:
Lots of row and clean variations for me but one of the biggest accomplishments personally was being able to do strict wide grip pullups for sets and reps at 270lbs. Just getting back to them weekly despite 2 bicep tears within 3 months of each other about a year and a half ago.
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Damn, thats impressive doing pullups at that weight.
 
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Tall Deck said:
I mostly use barbells and dumbells, with the only machines being things like Lat Pulldown, Calf raise, and leg extensions since barbells/dumbells cannot be used for those movements. As far as back exercises, I only do Lat pull downs, bent over barbell rows, back hyper extensions and sometimes one arm dumbell rows.

I must confess that I never tried T-bar rowing. Do any of you guys do those? Am I missing out? BTW, I cannot do deads. Too much strain on my L-5 herniated disc. Back hypers don't bother it though. I do barbell squats, but that's for another thread ofcourse. Let's stick to back exercises.
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Depends on the goal.

I love t bar rows but unless you have a chest supported machine it may bother your back too.

Try rack pulls from at or, slightly above the knee. They are superior to deadlifts for back in my opinion and, it should keep you from aggravating the disc if you keep your spine straight and pull with your upper back and lats.

I've got more tips on back if anyone wants to hear em. Lots of things have helped me this last year that I've experimented with.

Since I started doing rack pulls instead of deads, my back has made major major progress. It's still weak but, much better.
 
Montego1 said:
Depends on the goal.

I love t bar rows but unless you have a chest supported machine it may bother your back too.

Try rack pulls from at or, slightly above the knee. They are superior to deadlifts for back in my opinion and, it should keep you from aggravating the disc if you keep your spine straight and pull with your upper back and lats.

I've got more tips on back if anyone wants to hear em. Lots of things have helped me this last year that I've experimented with.

Since I started doing rack pulls instead of deads, my back has made major major progress. It's still weak but, much better.
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Thanks very much Mont. I never did rack pulls either. I just had to do a net search about that LOL. So basically, rack pulls are simply performing only the top half of the dead lift movement, with the aid of the high pin position on a rack which allows the higher starting point of the movement, correct?

BTW, my personal goal is to get better back pumps at the middle and upper back areas in the gym, and a thicker more developed back overall
 
Tall Deck said:
Thanks very much Mont. I never did rack pulls either. I just had to do a net search about that LOL. So basically, rack pulls are simply performing only the top half of the dead lift movement, with the aid of the high pin position on a rack which allows the higher starting point of the movement, correct?

BTW, my personal goal is to get better back pumps at the middle and upper back areas in the gym, and a thicker more developed back overall
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Yeah. They take the hamstrings and glutes almost completely out of the movement.

If you pull below the knee you'll fry your glutes pretty good.

I would try them for sure if the upper and middle back is the target area. You probably won't get a pump but, it's trashing that muscle group without a doubt.

You can also do a variant of rack pulls called "Viz Deads". Phil Viz (a popular online trainer) does these.

Is basically a rack pull but you use one of those hammer strength shrug machines where you're standing with neutral grip handles. It's the same range of motion, just at the knee but, you round your shoulders forward at the bottom while keeping your spine static. When you "pull" it's not pulling up per say but back and around. You can't load up the weight like a rack pull because you can lose spinal stability with the shoulders rounded but, they will fucking torch you.

I do these in a regular rotation as well.
 
Overall thickness - dealifts.... width - wide grip pull ups (I suck at these lol)
 
I start EVERY workout with weight assisted pull ups, 2 sets of 20 reps as a warm up. On back day, start with 3 sets of dead hang BW pull ups.

I unfortunately had to drop deadlifts due to issues about two years ago, miss them so bad. IMO, nothing matches deads, rack pulls, wide pull ups, close grip pull ups, chins, and one arm DB rows
 
Pullups, deads, back extensions, t-bar rows for upper back.
 
Another vote for pull-ups...They are to the back what the squat is to the upper legs.

I have issues with my lumbar spine also. You may experience discomfort with T-bar rows. Start with a low weight and spot on form and go from there. They are great for middle back thickness. Never sacrifice form when working around a back injury, I'm sure you know this already though...

Give rack pulls a try as Monte mentioned. I can't do deadlifts, but I can do rack pulls.
 
Montego1 said:
Yeah. They take the hamstrings and glutes almost completely out of the movement.

If you pull below the knee you'll fry your glutes pretty good.

I would try them for sure if the upper and middle back is the target area. You probably won't get a pump but, it's trashing that muscle group without a doubt.

You can also do a variant of rack pulls called "Viz Deads". Phil Viz (a popular online trainer) does these.

Is basically a rack pull but you use one of those hammer strength shrug machines where you're standing with neutral grip handles. It's the same range of motion, just at the knee but, you round your shoulders forward at the bottom while keeping your spine static. When you "pull" it's not pulling up per say but back and around. You can't load up the weight like a rack pull because you can lose spinal stability with the shoulders rounded but, they will fucking torch you.

I do these in a regular rotation as well.
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Phil Viz used train at my gym like 4 years ago... what a dick. Big ego and bigger attitude as well. No reason you can't be friendly. In fact he was like Jekyl and Hide to guys I knew. Talking with them like buddy then ignoring them the next. IDK. Came off like a dick.

As far as back? Knew this one guy who started off doing multiple sets of wide grip pull ups followed with bent over rows. Must have been genetics bc that was like all he did and his back was super wide (not much thickness tho). Hard to remember bc that was when I was in the Army first getting serious in the gym and about 30 years ago.
 
easiest thing in the world to do is bang out a few quality pull ups in between sets for other body parts, every workout. switch the grip to neutral/reverse and you'll notice some nice bicep growth. before you know if you're doing an extra 50 pull-ups a day without any extra soreness.
 
jerseydevil said:
I start EVERY workout with weight assisted pull ups, 2 sets of 20 reps as a warm up. On back day, start with 3 sets of dead hang BW pull ups.

I unfortunately had to drop deadlifts due to issues about two years ago, miss them so bad. IMO, nothing matches deads, rack pulls, wide pull ups, close grip pull ups, chins, and one arm DB rows
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My post was retarded. To be clear I had to drop deads.... but my back day usually consists of wide pull ups, close grip pull ups, chins, and one arm DB rows. Warming up with assisted pull ups before every training session is probably the best thing I ever did.





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jerseydevil said:
My post was retarded. To be clear I had to drop deads.... but my back day usually consists of wide pull ups, close grip pull ups, chins, and one arm DB rows. Warming up with assisted pull ups before every training session is probably the best thing I ever did.





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OK, the only thing I wasn't sure about concerning what you said in both of your posts, is the "assisted" pull ups. What goes through my mind when I read that is this: "Assisted" makes me think that you're somehow not using your entire body weight, no? Or are you talking about performing warm-ups with barbell plates hanging off your belt? If it's the former, then the Lat pull down machine can be used for that too, correct? I'm not questioning you to criticize your routine, but rather to learn, so that I can decide what's the best way to use these things in my own routine. Thanks.
 
Tall Deck said:
OK, the only thing I wasn't sure about concerning what you said in both of your posts, is the "assisted" pull ups. What goes through my mind when I read that is this: "Assisted" makes me think that you're somehow not using your entire body weight, no? Or are you talking about performing warm-ups with barbell plates hanging off your belt? If it's the former, then the Lat pull down machine can be used for that too, correct? I'm not questioning you to criticize your routine, but rather to learn, so that I can decide what's the best way to use these things in my own routine. Thanks.
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Bet it's one of those pullup stations with the thing that goes under your feet so you're basically standing and it lifts you up.
 
Montego1 said:
Bet it's one of those pullup stations with the thing that goes under your feet so you're basically standing and it lifts you up.
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Yes. Used as a warm up. On back day strictly dead hang BW pull ups. Pause at the bottom with full extension, and a short pause at the top. Not the 1/4-1/2 reps pull ups you see the 160 lb guys do for 30 reps.
 
Montego1 said:
Bet it's one of those pullup stations with the thing that goes under your feet so you're basically standing and it lifts you up.
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Actually the 'thing' goes under your knees
 
Bro! Your missing out on the T-bar. I love that damn thing. Meadow Rows and single arm tbar is the shit. Lots of rows. Also been enjoying the lat pull downs lately.

Whatever I am doing for my back is clearly working. That ma fucker is getting nice and big. V taper aesthetic here I come


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ResistingNut said:
Bro! Your missing out on the T-bar. I love that damn thing. Meadow Rows and single arm tbar is the shit. Lots of rows. Also been enjoying the lat pull downs lately.

Whatever I am doing for my back is clearly working. That ma fucker is getting nice and big. V taper aesthetic here I come


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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That's kinda what I've been wondering about lately, because although I've included Lat pull downs and chin-ups for years, the only two rowing movements I've ever done are one arm DB rows, and bent over barbell rows, and the latter is the only rowing movement that I perform on a regular basis. So it might be time for me to expand my back routine. Thanks
 
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