Back exercises for the gym and home

Home › Exercises › Back

These are the 18 back exercises in our library. Each one includes the correct technique, the muscles it works and alternatives if you lack the equipment. You can generate a free routine that includes them based on your level and goal.

Muscles you work when training your back

The back groups several muscles with different jobs: the latissimus dorsi (shoulder adduction and extension, the star of pull-ups and pulldowns), the teres major, and the rhomboids and mid-trapezius, responsible for scapular retraction in rows. That is why a complete back needs at least one vertical movement (pull-up or pulldown) and one horizontal (row). It is the group that most balances posture against pushing work.

How to train your back: sets, reps and frequency

For muscle growth, the meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger (2017), covering 15 studies, found a dose-response relationship: more weekly sets per muscle lead to more hypertrophy, and the practical benchmark usually drawn from it is around 10 or more sets a week. Splitting them over two sessions works better than doing them in one (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2016), and light or heavy loads give similar hypertrophy when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2017).

Combine vertical pulls (pull-ups, pulldowns) and horizontal pulls (rows) in similar amounts: the first bias the lats and the second the mid-back. Deadlifts add work too, but mostly for the posterior chain. If you are starting out, stay at the low end of the sets and build up gradually. We explain it in how many sets per muscle you need.

A wide grip for the lats? What was measured

“Grip wide to build a wide back” is the most repeated cue on the lat pulldown. Andersen and colleagues (2014) measured it with 15 men who did lat pulldowns at 6RM with three pronated grip widths: one, one and a half, and two times the distance between their shoulders. Latissimus dorsi activation was similar with all three, as was trapezius and infraspinatus activation.

The only thing that changed was the load: the narrow and medium grips moved about 3 kilos more than the wide one. Pick the width that lets you pull the most weight and feel your back best, rather than the widest grip possible.

Blog guides: Back

• The best back exercises: a zone-by-zone guide — The best back exercises by zone: lats, traps, rhomboids and lower back. Which ones give the best stimulus-to-fatigue ratio and how to combine them.
• Pull-ups from zero: how to do your first pull-up — Pull-ups from zero: the step-by-step progression with negatives, bands and pulldowns to do your first pull-up. It is not about talent, but method.
• Deadlift: correct technique, variations and safety — Deadlift: correct technique step by step, which variation suits you (conventional, sumo, Romanian) and the truth about whether it is bad for your back.

The 18 back exercises

Compound exercises (16)

Isolation exercises (2)

Generate my free routine

See all muscle groups

• Abs
• Biceps
• Quads
• Glutes
• Shoulders
• Hamstrings
• Lower back
• Calves
• Chest
• Traps
• Triceps

Create my free routine