8Of all the fitness questions, back training is one of the most frequently asked:
"How to train your back effectively?"
"I can't feel my back muscles when I row, what should I do?"
"How to practice a real inverted triangle?"
"How to widen the back?"
. . .
Today we will take a look at why back training is so important? What muscles are in the back? How to feel the contraction of the back muscles? and more.
Why do we need to train our backs?
Many people may ask: "Why is back training so important?"
A well-developed back is very, very, absolutely important to the overall aesthetics, because there are many muscles in the back, and compared with the muscles in front of the body, the muscles in the back are all larger, occupy more area, and have more lines, so the whole visual effect. More shocking than other parts. No matter how strong your chest, shoulders, arms, and legs are, without a strong back, the overall look is not good enough.
Of course, the back muscles are not only for visual effects, but the back muscles can also help improve the strength of the whole body. Some of the most famous athletes in powerlifting agree that their back training is very important.
Back muscle anatomy
The back contains a large number of muscles, but there is no need to worry about every muscle when training (at least not for beginners), because the back training is very overlapping, so only focus on the training of three muscles: the latissimus dorsi, Trapezius and erector spinae.
Why only use these three muscles?
Because when you train these three muscles, other muscles will also be trained:
When training the latissimus dorsi, the teres major, trapezius, rhomboid, and rear deltoid muscles will also be trained to a certain extent.
When training the trapezius, the rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, teres major, and rear deltoid will also be trained to a certain extent.
When training the erector spinae, the latissimus dorsi is also trained.
Erector spinae
The erector spinae include the iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinous muscles. These muscle groups can also be subdivided into 2-3 different muscles. So the erector spinae refers to a large group of muscles.
These muscles all have similar characteristics. They are all erect, from the tailbone to the back of the head, all around the spine, so their main function is to extend the spine. More simply, it helps to "straighten" our back, a muscle that controls body posture. The chest and waist arch are the result of the contraction of these muscles.
Trapezius
The trapezius muscle starts from the back of the head, the cervical spine, and the thoracic spine, and ends on the spine of the scapula. Due to the different directions of muscle fibers, they can be divided into upper, middle and lower bundles.
The main function of the upper beam is the lifting of the scapula, the main function of the middle beam is the contraction of the scapula, and the main function of the lower beam is the depression of the scapula.
The development of the trapezius will make the back appear thicker.
Latissimus dorsi
The latissimus dorsi starts from the thoracic spine, lumbar spine, sacrum, and pelvis, passes through the lower angle of the scapula, and ends at the front of the humerus.
It's an interesting muscle because it has different functions. First, it abducts the humerus and adducts the humerus, or, more simply, pulls the arm back when it's forward and back when it's raised. It's also a core muscle, and because the lats also surround the core, it protects the lumbar spine and allows for more effective force transmission. When the latissimus dorsi is contracted, our chest will be raised and our waist will be arched.
The development of the lats can make the back appear wider.
How to practice back muscles?
If you want to train a muscle, you must first understand its function, and then apply this function to the training action.
Erector spinae
As mentioned above, the main function of the erector spinae is the extension of the spine, which is a muscle that controls the posture of the body, so it is very similar to the abdominal muscles and cannot be significantly contracted or stretched, but is mainly used for isometric contractions ( Isometric contraction means making a muscle exert force without changing its length). So if you want to train this muscle, just add weight while keeping the spine extended.
Under what circumstances do you have to keep your spine straight and exercise with weights?
Squats, deadlifts, and pushups all require lifting weights with a straight spine. So squats, deadlifts, and pushups can all work the erector spinae.
Trapezius - upper bundle
The function of the upper trapezius muscle is to lift the scapula. If you want to practice the upper beam, the first choice should be a heavy deadlift. Think about it, when we deadlift, especially with heavy weights, why doesn't the weight in our hands break our arms? Because the upper trapezius is working very hard to prevent the shoulder girdle from sinking.
Trapezius - middle bundle
The function of the middle beam of the trapezius is to contract the scapula, so if you want to practice the middle beam, you have to do the movements that make the scapula contract. Rowing is an exercise in the beam movement.
To feel the trapezius contraction while rowing, do the following:
1. Keep your chest high and arch your waist
2. Hold the barbell or dumbbell or the handle of the equipment with the arms straight. Don't think about bending the elbows first, and tighten the shoulder blades with the arms straight.
3. Bend your elbows and pull back while keeping your shoulder blades tight.
Trapezius - lower bundle
The function of the lower beam is the sinking of the scapula, and we only use the sinking of the scapula when doing pull-downs or pull-ups.
So if you want to practice the lower beam, you have to do high pull-downs or pull-ups, and you have to do the following:
1. Keep your chest high and arch your waist
2. Hold the handle straight with your arms straight, don't think about bending your elbows, first sink your shoulder blades with your arms straight.
3. Bend your elbows down/up while keeping your shoulder blades down.
Latissimus dorsi
The function of the latissimus dorsi is shoulder extension and shoulder adduction, so barbell or dumbbell bent over row and pull-downs can train the latissimus dorsi.
If you want to train your lats by rowing, you need to do the following:
1. Keep your chest high and arch your waist
2. Pull the handle of the barbell or dumbbell or machine toward the navel or lower abdomen.
3. Do not bend your elbows too much.
Conclusion
The back is a very important part, whether your goal is bodybuilding or strength. However, not many people can develop a strong back, because the back muscles cannot be seen during training, so back training requires a certain amount of thinking and practice. However, now that you have all the tools, it's time to put them to use.
