Bodyweight Back Exercises

You'll be shocked at how effective these bodyweight back exercises are. Great for building muscle in your upper and lower back.

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Bench Front Neck Bridge

• Kneel in front of a weight bench, resting your forehead on the pad.
• Lift your knees off the floor, balancing on your fingers and toes.
• Hold this position as long as you can before lowering.

WHY IT WORKS: A neck bridge will increase your neck extension strength, useful if you tend to hunch in front of a computer.

From: Exercises For Office Workers

Horizontal Climb

• Set up a peg board horizontally.
• Hold onto two dowels, one placed on the far left side.
• Move the dowels to the right, one hole at a time.

VARIATION: You can do a horizontal climb with both pegs level, or do the staggered version shown in the image.

From: Best Bicep Exercises Using a Climbing Peg Board

Inverted Row

• Grab onto a parallette bar and get your body into a straight line underneath it, with your arms extended and only your heels touching the floor.
• Retract your shoulder blades, bend your elbows, and pull your chest up to the bar.

GET GOOD FORM: Squeeze your glutes to ensure you don’t sag at the hips.

From: How To Do Inverted Rows

Jefferson Curl

• Stand on a plyo box, with your toes against the edge.
• Tuck your chin and round the top of your spine, lowering your fingers towards the ground.
• Once you’ve flexed your whole spine, pause and slowly roll up to standing.

LEVEL UP: Hold a kettlebell in both hands to really strengthen your lower back.

From: How To Perform a Jefferson Curl

Scapula Wall Slide

• Stand against a wall.
• Bend your arms at the elbow, bringing the backs of your fingers to the wall.
• Slide them up and down.

GET GOOD FORM: Focus on retracting your scapula muscles throughout the exercise.

From: Scapula Exercises for a Stronger Back

Superman

• Lay face down on an exercise mat, arms stretched in front and legs together.
• Raise your arms and legs off the floor, keeping them as straight as possible.
• Hold this pose for 10-20 seconds per rep.

PROGRESSION: You can increase the workload by holding a light dumbbell between your feet.

From: Strong Posterior Chain = Better Deadlift

Vertical Climb

• Attach a vertical peg board to a wall.
• Place two dowels at the lowest level.
• Supporting your bodyweight, move one hand up at a time, until you reach the top of the peg board.

WHY IT WORKS: Climbing is one of the best exercises to build stronger arms, as you must support your whole bodyweight.

From: Best Bicep Exercises Using a Climbing Peg Board

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