| Have you ever wondered what the most effective | | | | out on the foundational exercises.Hopefully you know |
| ways to build back muscles are? There's so many | | | | that if you want the best leg development possible, |
| exercises to choose from that it can be confusing to | | | | then you cannot beat squats. Just like squats hit all the |
| know exactly which ones will make your back | | | | muscle of the leg, pull ups will work all the muscles of |
| stronger.Over the last 16 years, I've done just about | | | | the back.Between the exercises listed above, you will |
| every back exercise. Granted, not all the variations, | | | | be doing the top notch, fundamental exercises for |
| heck, I thought I knew them all but I'm continually | | | | overall back development and growth by doing pull |
| shocked to learn a few new movements that make | | | | movements and row movements. Your muscles will |
| me sore again like a teenager who hits the weights for | | | | be forced to grow!If anybody has ever told you that |
| the very first time (breaks into Top 80's song by | | | | you 'have a hole in your back.' They won't after you |
| Madonna)....After doing many back exercises myself, | | | | start including these in your weekly line up.And if you |
| the most effective back exercises you can do are the | | | | think you can only do one style of pull up it only takes |
| following:* Assisted wide-arm chin up (or regular pull | | | | a little imagination to realize that even pull ups can be |
| ups) | | | | varied quite a lot to hit the muscle from different |
| * Assisted chin up ( or regular pull ups) | | | | angles. Even with rowing movements, you can row to |
| * Barbell rows | | | | the stomach for a completely different focus on |
| * Wide-arm lat pull downs | | | | muscle then if you row to the chest or row to the |
| * Close-grip lat pull downs | | | | chin.It's all back but the variety will really stimulate the |
| * Dumbbell rows | | | | area. Next time you do any rowing movements, think |
| * Wide-arm cable rows | | | | about where the bar is going. Lower, middle or higher. |
| * Close-grip cable rowsMore important than that...In | | | | Each variation will help with development and keep |
| that order! That's right. Not only are those a list of the | | | | you from hitting that dreaded plateau!Not only will your |
| most effective back exercise but they are in order of | | | | back become stronger but you'll experience full |
| overall back development importance. Re-read this | | | | development. That's exactly what you want to do. |
| section again until it soaks in. While you might have | | | | Variety and sticking with the basics.Sound familiar? It |
| 10,000 exercises to choose from, not all of them will be | | | | is.If you want the best back development, you'll include |
| as effective in making your lats so wide it will be hard | | | | pull ups. And then pick and choose from the list above |
| to walk thru the door.Listen...If you want big barndoor | | | | in terms of effectiveness after that. You can do any |
| lats, then pull ups are the king. Followed by barbell | | | | number of additional back exercises for variety and |
| rows. You'll get a thick, strong back just with pull ups. | | | | variation.The truth is...Many people cannot or will not do |
| Add in the barbell rows and you are doing the | | | | pull ups. But they will spend their time on every other |
| exercises most professionals do.You will probably see | | | | machine or use all kinds of isolation exercises to work |
| a lot of males/females on the cable row machine. And | | | | the back muscles. They are simply missing the point. |
| much like squats, you'll only see a handful of people | | | | Make sure you include pull ups and the other most |
| who can or will do pull ups on a regular basis.Those | | | | effective exercises in your arsenal and you are almost |
| are the ones who will have bigger and better | | | | guaranteed to boost your back development by a |
| developed backs then the cable rowers or the people | | | | notch or two.If you really want a challenge, see how |
| who use those machines week after week. There's | | | | many high quality pull ups you can do or add weight. |
| absolutely nothing wrong at all with variety but a | | | | You'll bring yourself to the next level.Copyright 2005 |
| common mistake so many people make is sticking | | | | Marc DavidMarc David is a bodybuilder and author of |
| with lesser known exercises and completely missing | | | | the, Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding. |