In the gym it’s tempting to focus our attention on the muscles on the front of our body. Those that we can see when we look in the mirror. But the muscles on the back of our body, like the upper back muscles, play a major role in our health and fitness.
The upper back is made up of lot of muscles and muscle groups. But the largest muscles of the upper back are the lats and the traps. Their main function is upper body pulling.
Benefits of a Strong Upper Back
• Reduced Chances of Injury – Strengthening the muscles of your upper back will reduce the chances of injuring the area in day-to-day life.
• Improved Performance on Lower Body Exercises – Lower body dominant exercises, like back squats, deadlifts, or clean and jerks all benefit from the support of the upper back. Having an overall strong posterior chain means you’ll get the most out of your leg training.
• Better Day-to-Day Function – the upper back is at work during manual handling tasks like carrying boxes, picking up furniture, or even just carrying shopping bags. The stronger your upper back, the easier these tasks become.
• Safety in Old Age – as we get older, a major risk to our health and independence is falling over and hurting ourselves. A stronger upper body is more likely to protect us in the event of a fall by breaking the fall or grabbing onto a support. Stronger bones and muscles will also help recover from injuries quicker.
Exercises That Strengthen Your Upper Back
• Pull Ups - a Pull Up Bar builds upper body pulling relative strength. That is strength relative to your bodyweight, which is great for helping with activities like climbing, or gymnastics.
• Dumbbell Rows - dumbbell rows are a great way to build your upper body with a unilateral focus, reducing side to side imbalances. Check out our Weights for Sale or perform a bent over cable row.
• Kneeling Single Arm Lat Pulldown - this exercise also reduces side to side imbalances, but with more load at the lengthened pat of the movement, which is great for improving mobility and building muscle.
• Cable Straight Arm Pulldown - the straight arm pulldown is a great way to isolate the lats by keeping the elbows straight to minimise the contribution of the triceps.
• Barbell Upright Row - this 20kg Barbell row variation helps build your upper traps, the big muscles on either side of your neck. A great exercise for anyone struggling with neck pain, just be sure to progress and regress the weight accordingly.
Building a strong upper back is very beneficial for performance and the longevity of your health and fitness. Make sure that you incorporate upper back exercises into your weekly training schedule.
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Tags: Exercise Type > Strength
