How to Really Build a Bigger Back
Experienced lifters know that pulling exercises require more attention to detail than pushing exercises. Even once you get past the beginner stage, there’s a level of mind-muscle connection and neuromuscular awareness that needs to go into back training for it to even “take.” Logic is too often thrown out the window for the sake of another grip-and-rip set
The Dumbbell Row is a Good Lat Builder
Don’t get me wrong. Rowing movements will hit the muscles of the upper back surrounding the scapulae, but you’ll get more bang for your back by using other rowing exercises instead of the one-arm row. This is because of the body’s position relative to the dumbbell
However, if you’re going to do dumbbell rows, you can easily optimize the movement pattern to better hit the lats. Use more of an arcing motion that “drags” the weight towards the hip and it’ll hit the lats hard. It doesn’t take a 160-pound dumbbell and a contortionist twist at the torso to make an exercise like this do its job
If You’re Pulling, You’re Training Your Back
It’s rare to see a lifter properly initiate a pull by first retracting his scapulae. Many lifters may understand this concept, but still not properly put it into practice. If this is done, most upper back-dominant movements won’t need a lot of weight to elicit a good stimulation and hit a target rep range
Furthermore, compensatory motions, like the classic torso “jerk” pattern people use to bring the arms towards the body, usually negate any back involvement whatsoever. When we take out excessive body English, momentum, and ego from the picture, it’s worth asking if it’s even possible for 90% of lifters to get a properly isolated back pump when using heavy resistance on the lat pulldown or seated row for reps
Even those who know how to retract the scapulae first often make the mistake of setting the shoulders “once and for all.” In other words, they keep them depressed and retracted for the entire duration of the set. That’s a recipe for technical disaster. Having good control of the shoulder blades means both making them stay put and allowing them to move. That translates to setting them and then releasing them
The benefit of “releasing” the shoulder blades between reps is simple: You’re no longer holding an isometric and you give your body the opportunity to reset into a stronger position and allow for greater circulation to the muscles in the process
If you’re not good at doing this, a smarter alternative would be to break things down to their derivatives. Powerlifters who are weak at their lockout practice lockouts. Take a page out of their book by practicing scapular initiations from various angles