Muscular-Fitness

Of course most bodybuilders want to build a thick back but I thought I would write an article on how to get a big wide muscular back without mentioning the usual thickness exercises like deadlifts and bent over rows. To get a big wide muscular back you need to concentrate of a number of different movements that specifically target the upper and outer latimus dorsi commonly called the lats. Back training along with leg training is probably the highest intensity and physically demanding of all the necessary workouts for each particular muscle group. The good news is that there are quite a lot of different back exercises to choose from so you can have a slightly different back workout each week and avoid getting bored with the same routines.

How to get a big wide muscular back requires choosing exercises from the following list of width movements.

Wide grip chin ups are one of the most beneficial exercises in relation to how to get a big wide muscular back but to build your back with this exercise you need to do them correctly. Yes, you guessed it, doing them the correct way is doing them the hard way. Performing wide grip chin ups requires you to start the movement by gripping the overhead bar with a grip wider than shoulder width. Start with your arms fully straightened and then bring your bodyweight up to the point where your chin just reaches the bar and then slowly lower yourself to the starting position and repeat for 8-10 reps if you can do that many. If you are new to training don’t worry if you can’t perform this exercise with good form in the beginning, it is quite difficult to lift your entire bodyweight until you build up your strength. In time, as your strength builds, you will find this a great way to build width in the lats. You can also get a spot from your training partner or use the assisted chin up machine if your gym has one.

Another favorite to get a big wide muscular back is the wide grip lat pulldown. Start by grabbing the bar at the widest point possible or at the ends of the bar with your arms straight and bring the bar down slowly to your upper chest or just under your chin. The key to performing this exercise correctly is to not swing your back but keep your spine as perfectly upright as possible. When you swing your back you end up taking the resistance off the lats and placing it on the lower back. This is cheating and not an effective way to build width in the back. Some people like to bring the bar behind the neck but I find this stresses my rotor cuffs too much so I always bring the bar in front of my face.

You can also use a close grip for the lat pulldown to build a big wide muscular back. Choose a grip like the small bar you would use for a seated long pulley row and attach it to the upper cable of the lat pulldown. Once again start with the arms straight and bring the bar just under the chin and then slowly straighten your arms upwards back to the start position.

Another effective exercise that works to get a wide muscular back is the wide grip long pulley row. Using the same bar as you would use for the wide grip lat pulldown, attach the bar to the seated long pulley row machine and grip the bar at the widest point and pull back keeping your spine in the upright position. You can actually bend forward slightly with your arms stretched forward but as you bring the bar into your midsection your back should be as straight as possible to keep as much of the tension on the wide parts of the back and not on the lower back.

If your gym has them, another sure fire way to get a big wide muscular back is to use the upright back machines like the Hammer Strength iso lateral lat pulldown where you crunch each rep with your hands out wide. This way you will specifically isolate the width areas of the back muscles. There are numerous machines available to blast the wide parts of the lats, ask the other bodybuilders in your gym what back machines in your gym hit the lats out wide.

Combined with a selection of thickness exercises as well you can add any of these width exercises I have mentioned in this article or slight variations of these movements to build a big thick and wide muscular back for bodybuilding competition or simply for your own satisfaction as a weight trainer. Training your back with high intensity and heavy weights is hard work but the results look amazing combined with all the other muscles of a built physique.