The 30-minute complete home weight training workout to blast fat and shape your muscles

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The back is made up of four distinct muscle groups. Here's how to focus on each of them.

The back is not only one of the largest and strongest parts of the body, it's also the most complicated in terms of its series of interconnected muscle groups. For the purposes of this feature, we divide the back into four main regions:

1. Upper and outer lats
2. Lower lats
3. Middle back
4. Lower back

Each area requires specific stimulation via the exercises and angles of attack used, and we will show you the two best back exercises for each.

With this menu, you can customize your own back workout by choosing an exercise from each category to create a complete program. Or if one area is lagging behind, you can choose additional movements that only hit that area. Either way, understanding which back exercises hit which parts of your back will help you build form (especially the V-taper), thickness and width.

Note: Many of the exercises we include here do not isolate, but rather emphasize, certain areas of the back musculature.

ZONE 1: UPPER/OUTER LATS

Use movements in which you use a wide grip, usually on the outside of your shoulders, that develop the area that makes up your C-Conic. You usually pull from an angle over your head or perpendicular to your body.

Best exercises: Pullup (wide grip), Bentover Barbell Row (wide grip)

Pullup (wide grip)

• Grab the bar with a hand grip. Fully extend your arms and relax your shoulders to stretch your lats to the bottom position.
• As you stand up, visualize keeping your elbows at your sides and pulling them down to stand up while contracting your lats.
• Pull yourself up as high as possible to fully stimulate your lats.
• If you can't go all the way, consider using a spotter or use an assisted pulling machine.

Target Tip: To really stress the upper/outer lats and major teres in the lower position, squeeze your shoulder blades together as you hang with your arms fully extended.

Bentover Barbell Row (wide grip)

• Don't stand on a bench or flat platform to increase your range of motion; you are more likely to round your lower back down. If you need a greater range of motion, use smaller plates to allow you to clear the floor rather than trying to balance on a flat bench.
• Using a handle wider than shoulder width allows you to keep your elbows at your sides and pull them back as high as possible for a full contraction.
• Keep your knees bent and stay in the bent position throughout. It's easy to get up from this position when using heavy weights, but it recruits other muscle groups to help with the movement.

Target tip: To target those outer lats and major teres, pull the bar high toward your upper abs.

per bernal

ZONE 2: LOWER LATS

Use reverse-grip movements and pull-ups/close-ups to put more emphasis on the lower lats area. One of the few single-joint lat movements, the straight-arm pulldown, does this as well.

Best exercises: Reverse-Grip Pulldown, Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown

Reverse-Grip Pulldown

• Grab a handle underneath your hand at shoulder width. This allows you to pull your elbows back as far as possible, stimulating your back muscles to the max.
• Keep your torso straight and a slight arch in your back as you fully extend your arms up. Keep your chest out and flexed throughout the movement; this helps focus more stress on the back muscles.
• Pull your elbows down and back as far as you can until the bar comes close to your upper pecs. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the point of maximum contraction.

Target Tip: To focus on these lower fibers, keep your chest up and your back arched. As you pull the bar down, bring it toward your lower chest for a better contraction.

Straight arm lat pull

• Grab an overhead lat bar and stand back enough from the station to keep your arms almost straight (with just a slight bend in your elbows) throughout the movement.
• Pull the bar down in an arc with your straight arms until it touches your upper thighs. Focus on the feel of the movement in your lats; your arms should only act as levers.
• The movement should only take place at the shoulder joints.

Target tip: For optimal stimulation of the lower lats, don't just stop when the bar touches your thighs at the bottom, push the bar back into your thighs and squeeze your lats as hard as possible.

lan logan

ZONE 3: MID-BACK

Use close and medium grip rowing movements in which you pull the bar, dumbbell or handle into your midsection or sides to best rebuild thickness.

Best Exercises: One-Arm Dumbbell Row, Close Grip Seated Cable Row

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

• Bend forward at the waist and place your right knee and hand on a flat bench.
• Keep your left foot flat on the floor and hold a dumbbell in your left hand. Let the weight hang straight down and slightly forward with your arm fully extended.
• Pull the dumbbell toward your hip, keeping your elbow close to your side.
• Keeping your back flat and your abs tight, pull your elbow as high as you can. At the top, squeeze your shoulder blades together, then lower the weight along the same path.
• Repeat for reps, then switch arms.

Target Tip: In the lower position, hold the dumbbell slightly in front of your shoulder; as you go through the rep, pull it up and back.

Close-grip seated cable row

• Keep a slight bend in your knees to reduce pressure on them and maintain better balance.
• While you may think that leaning forward allows for a greater range of motion, keeping your torso straight hits the mid-back more while minimizing stress on the lumbar region.
• Keep a slight arch in your lower back at all times.
• Pull your shoulders and elbows back as far as possible so that the bar touches your abdomen.

Target tip: Hold the peak contraction for a second or two and squeeze your shoulder blades together for optimal stimulation.

per bernal 

ZONE 4: LOWER BACK

Use moves in which you bend at the waist (not the hips, which work the glutes and hams) to work the lower back muscles, a critical area to strengthen to prevent lower back pain.

Best exercises: Back Extension, Deadlift

Back Extension

• Once you're on the bench, cross your arms over your chest or behind your head (this is harder); alternatively, you can hold a weight plate close to your chest to increase the intensity.
• Slowly bend at the waist as far as you can, rounding your back as you go.
• Contract your lumbar muscles to raise your torso until you reach the starting position. Don't use a ballistic movement and avoid going too high; Contrary to what some people call this movement, hypertension of the back is not a good idea.

Target tip: Set up the back extension bench so that your hips are fully supported. This prevents movement at the hips and focuses force on the lower back muscles.

Stiff-legged deadlift

• The bar comes closer to the ground in the stiff-legged version than the Romanian deadlift, a range of motion that works the lower back more.
• As you bend at the waist, push your glutes back and let the bar hang freely directly from your shoulders. Your legs should be straight.
• Keep your lower back muscles contracted throughout your resistance to lowering the weight.
• Push your hips forward as you stand up. Stand straight without leaning back at the top. The bar should rest on top of your thighs.
• Focus on pulling with your back and hip muscles, not your arms, as you lift your torso.

Target tip: Unlike the Romanian deadlift, allow your lower back to round out slightly in the bottom position.

Dustin Snipes / Pavel Ythjall / M+F Magazine

BUILD YOUR BACK WORKOUT

• Include an exercise that targets each area of your back in your routine.
• To train for mass, after your warm-up sets, do 2-3 sets in the 8-12 rep range.
• For strength, go heavy with low-rep sets (4-7 reps).
• For muscle definition and endurance, go lighter and do high-rep sets (15-25 reps).

A mass workout that focuses on building the outer width of the lat but still hits all areas of the back would look something like the chart below (not including the warm-up sets). Rest 1-2 minutes between each set.