It doesn’t matter if you are exercising without weights by choice or if you are forced to adapt to your environment. To really challenge your muscles and build strength without weights, you need to practice proper muscle use while using strength. body weight.
These 7 bodyweight exercises to strengthen your back don’t require dumbbells, weightlifting kettlebells, barbells, or gym machines; they’re just a smart exercise. These back exercises are functional and use plenty of pulling force and controlled movements to work as many muscles as possible and load them hard, whether you’re at the gym, at home, or on the go.
If you’re traveling or short on space or equipment, try these out yourself. We also offer 7 bodyweight back workouts that can be completed in just 20 minutes, no matter where you are or what your ability is. Let’s get addicted.
What are the 7 best bodyweight back exercises?
When choosing the best back exercises without weights, focus on efficiency and maximum effort. Bodyweight back exercises (at least in our opinion) work the upper, middle, and lower back, provide a balanced program, and can be performed for strength and conditioning purposes whenever equipment is lacking. can.
Pushing exercises like push-ups and burpees are probably more likely to fatigue your pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids. So be smart about how to build muscle without lifting heavier weights so that pulling forces have the same effect on your back. A strong back helps pull your shoulders back and forth, protects and stabilizes your shoulders and spine, improves your posture, reduces the chance of injury, and offsets the effects of overtraining your chest.
Your back has large, powerful muscles such as the latissimus dorsi (also known as the latissimus dorsi) and the trapezius (trapezius), so it’s often difficult to hit them hard without weights. You can also use a TRX suspension trainer or pull-up bar to assist with some of these movements, but be careful not to rely on them.
Here are seven bodyweight back exercises for beginners and scaling options for advanced users.
7 Bodyweight Back Exercises to Build Strength and Muscles
1. Inverted column
Bodyweight row training requires a stable bar. We recommend placing the barbell on a rack low to the floor with enough space to lie underneath, but you can get creative if you don’t have a barbell.
how:
- Lift the barbell at thigh height and lie underneath it with your chest aligned with the bar.
- Grip the bar with an overhand grip and wrap your thumbs around the bar.
- Extend your arms shoulder-width apart and engage your core.
- Start with your knees bent. Or, to make the movement more difficult, extend your knees away from your body.
- Pull your chest toward the bar and squeeze your shoulder blades together
- Pause, maintaining a straight line from head to toe, then lower your body back to the starting position.
2. Plank single arm reverse fly
Counter-rotation exercises load your core and hips, allowing you to stay stable and perpendicular to the mat while training on one side. Planks engage your core, while flyes work your back and rear deltoids. In the video above I use dumbbells, but this time remember to work without weights.
how:
- Start in a high plank, tightening your stomach, quads, and glutes to create a solid foundation
- Lift your right arm off the floor with a slight bend in your elbow and raise your arm to your side.
- Tighten your shoulder and back muscles and keep your hips square
- Lower your arm and repeat with your left arm.
3. Prone back extension
Back extensions activate the posterior chain, or muscles on the back of your body, including your back, glutes, hamstrings, and calf muscles.
how:
- Lie on your stomach and place your hands lightly behind your head
- As you exhale, lift your chest off the ground and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
- Squeeze your glutes and press your feet into the mat below.
- Pause and lower yourself to the floor in a controlled manner
- You can also add pulses to the beginning of the movement to make it more difficult.
4. Pull-ups
This is the ultimate in bodyweight strength training and can take some people a lifetime to master. Please use a bar etc. If you need extra help, wrap a resistance band around the bar and loop it through your feet. Otherwise, work with your own body weight.
If you’re still learning how to do pull-ups, practice a quirky variation in which you jump toward the bar and slowly lower yourself until you’re hanging from the bar at the bottom. This technique helps you develop basic strength while practicing the upward pull phase. If you think you might have gone wrong somewhere, here’s how to fix it.
how:
- Grip the bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than your shoulders, and wrap your thumbs around it.
- Pull your shoulders back and down and hang from the bar.Concentrate on contracting as many muscles as possible
- Tighten your lats, shrug your shoulders, and pull your body up so that your chin is above the bar.
- Avoid kipping for strict pull-ups. Pause and slowly return to the starting position.
5. Yoga push-ups
Despite being a push-up, this variation also puts strain on your back muscles, so you need to stabilize your shoulders as you move. All you need is an exercise mat. Practice using your knees until you feel comfortable moving on your toes.
how:
- If you have tight hamstrings, start in a downward facing dog position with your knees slightly bent.
- Engage your core and slowly bend your elbows, keeping your arms close to your ribs.
- Begin lowering your chest through your arms, scooping your weight forward and lifting your chest into a gentle backbend.This is also known as the upward facing dog
- Keep your toes closed and lift your hips slightly to engage your stomach, buttocks, and thighs.
- Raise your hips and push back into downward dog.
6. Renegade Law and Twist
Rotational movements move your entire torso and test your core strength and stability. Your back muscles are worked during the low phase of the exercise, and the plank position also works your shoulders, legs, arms, and lower back. Follow the steps in the video above and add a twist if you can. Here’s how to properly do Renegade Row.
how:
- Start in a high plank position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists and your abdominal muscles engaged.
- Keeping your hips square, chest toward the mat, bend your right elbow, and row your arms toward your hips so your elbows are up above your back.
- Pause and tighten your lats, twist your arms outward toward the ceiling, and extend your arms toward the sky.
- Reverse this movement back down and repeat on the other side.
- Start on your knees until you get used to the movement. For more of a challenge, move slower.
7. Lateral raise superman with dead stop
This movement activates your back, core, and rear deltoids, and uses pushing power to create a balanced upper body exercise that ticks all the boxes. A dead stop simply means pushing your weight up off the ground, lifting your entire body weight at once.
Focus on lifting your body as a unit, pushing upwards while keeping your hips and chest in a straight line. You can also raise one leg in the air to make the movement more difficult, or lower both legs and keep your toes closed to reduce weight.
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- Start lying on your stomach with your arms out to the sides
- Engage your core and focus your eyes on the top of the mat
- Squeeze your shoulder blades and lift your arms into the air.
- Squeeze your glutes and press your legs down.Pause and lower your arms, bending your elbows and placing your hands near your ribs
- Pull your toes to push off the ground and extend your arms into a high plank position
- Lower to the ground in a controlled manner in one repetition.
Benefits of bodyweight back training
We know that the best compound exercises will help you cut V-shaped back muscles. That’s why we focus on targeting multiple muscle groups at once, rather than isolating back muscles.
We also understand that bodyweight training alone will not give you the feeling that you have worked hard to strengthen your back muscles. So we’ve put together his easy-to-do 21-minute workout that combines the exercises listed above with some of our favorite tools when working without weights. here it is.
7 move back training without weights
emom 7 (every minute)
7 x inverted columns
7 x Plank Single Arm Reverse Fly
7 x back extensions
Pull-ups x 7
7 yoga push-ups
7 x Renegade Low and Twist
7 x Lateral Raise Superman with Dead Stop
Repeat the first exercise seven times within one minute, then start the next exercise in the next minute. For unilateral back exercises, aim to complete 7 reps per side. The first round takes him 7 minutes. Repeat for 3 rounds. After the first round, evaluate whether you need to increase or decrease your reps. Make sure to take a 10-15 second break before starting your next exercise.
The number of repetitions is a guideline, but it is important to move at a slower tempo than usual. Time under tension techniques help you move your muscles through a longer range of motion, allowing you to feel more intensity in even the most basic exercises.
