Best Back Exercises

Your back is a group of muscles: the lats pull your arms down and back, the traps and rhomboids move and stabilize the shoulder blades, and the spinal erectors keep your torso straight under load. A complete back routine therefore needs two kinds of pulling — vertical (pull-ups, lat pulldowns) for width and horizontal (rows) for thickness — plus a hinge such as a deadlift or back extension for the lower back. Start each rep by setting the shoulder blades rather than yanking with the arms, and avoid swinging the torso to move more weight. Aim for roughly as many pulling sets as pressing sets each week; it keeps the shoulders healthy and posture balanced.

Pick exercises from this list, log your sets and weights in ForceIndex and track your progress — free, start right away.

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Wide-Grip Pull-Up

Reverse-Grip Dumbbell Row

Bent-Over Dumbbell Row

Reverse-Grip Bent-Over Dumbbell Row

Reverse-Grip Barbell Row

Resistance Band Row

Kettlebell Shrug

Seated Row Machine

Assisted Pull-Up Machine

Back Extension Machine (Hyperextension)

Snatch-Grip Deadlift

Smith Machine Row

Smith Machine Deadlift

Commando Pull-Up

Trap Bar Deadlift

Straight-Arm Cable Pulldown

Lat Pulldown Machine

Deficit Deadlift

Chest-Supported Row Machine

Suitcase Deadlift

Scapular Pull-Up

Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row

Kettlebell Gorilla Row

Negative Pull-Up

Single-Arm Cable Lat Pulldown

Close-Grip Lat Pulldown

Resistance Band Lat Pulldown

Prone Y-T-W Raise

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