3 Exercises to Strengthen Your Back

3 Exercises to Strengthen Your Back
Written by Bryan Miller

Who could use a stronger back? Answer: EVERYONE. Remember, the back is your base for all your main lifts; if you have a weak back, it will show in everything you do. Here are some different exercises to improve back strength and stability.

Snatch Grip Deadlift Off Podium

This is a great exercise that stimulates the entire body. If you don’t believe me, do a moderate to heavy set of eight and tell me how you feel after! During this exercise, your traps and upper back are doing their best to prevent your arms from being pulled away from your body and the quads are highly stimulated because of the huge increase in range of motion in the lift.

If you have a weak first pull in your Olympic lifts, this is a good exercise for you, as it overloads your starting position.

Stand on a platform that is 2-4 inches in height; straps are a must for this exercise or your thumbs might be in some serious pain.

Back/Hip Extensions

These are probably not high on many peoples list of top back exercises but these have been a staple of many high level athletes training for a long time. There is a great therapeutic effect that this exercise has on the lower back because of the increase of blood flow to the area, as the low back is not a very vascular part of the human body. These are great for a warm up or cool down exercise or even as a loaded exercise for accessory work. They will also give you the benefit of a stronger back arch in your squats if you have the tendency of rounding the back on back squats.

Pendlay Rows

With all the vertical pulling that CrossFit athletes do (think: muscle ups and kipping/butterfly pull-ups), it is important for structural balance that horizontal pulling is included into the training programs.

You should aim for a 1:1 ratio between your vertical pushing (press, push press, push/split jerk) and pulling (pull-ups) and the same ratio between your horizontal pushing (bench press, pushups) and pulling (Pendlay rows, single arm rows). Balancing these opposing exercises will help protect your shoulders.

Additionally, Pendlays rows increases your lat strength, which will help you keep the bar closer to your body during Olympic lifting.

Sources:

1. Bill Hartman Interviewed by Mike Robertson, Testosterone Muscle Articles, “T NATION | Smartest Man in Fitness?”, April 15, 2014,http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_smartest_man_in_fitness