Your back, quite literally, holds you up. The muscles that cover your back, from the tops of your shoulders down to your backside, are responsible for supporting your spine and making sure you can complete all the movements that you need on a daily basis. From standing up out of bed in the morning, to loading groceries into your car, to bending over to tie your sneakers before a workout, your back muscles are constantly firing and working hard. That’s why it’s critical that you keep them strong. Here, we’re sharing all the perks you can get from working your back, plus the key muscles to know and the seven best dumbbell back exercises to incorporate into your fitness regimen.
Benefits of Strong Back Muscles
Apart from being able to repeatedly stand and sit with minimal effort each and every day, there are other study-proven benefits you can get from keeping your back muscles strong and powerful.
Better Posture
With so many people sitting at a computer for hours on end, it’s become critical to take steps to keep your posture healthy and maintain the natural curve of the spine or risk pain, injury, and limited mobility. A recent review published in Sports Medicine - Open confirmed that programs focused on strengthening the back can improve posture and the muscle imbalances associated with poor posture.
Less Back Pain
According to the CDC, 39% of adults in the US experience back pain on a regular basis. The good news: Exercise, with a focus on strengthening the muscles in the back, may be the key to ensuring you don’t wind up in this group. A review published in Clinical Rehabilitation found strength training to be more effective than other treatments at providing relief from chronic back pain.
Improved Mobility and Balance
One of the most important markers of healthy aging is the ability to maintain the range of motion and balance needed to complete your daily activities. Exercise programs that target the back muscles and emphasize spinal stabilization are key to achieving this, per research in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy.
Key Muscles of the Back
Now that you know why it’s so important to keep your back strong, let’s get to know the muscles working together to keep you mobile, powerful and pain-free.
Upper Back Muscles
The first section of the back is the upper back, the muscles of which control the movements of your neck and shoulders. The most important ones include:
-
Trapezius: This is the muscle that starts at the base of the neck, covers the top of the shoulder and runs down toward the spine.
-
Rhomboid minor and major: The rhomboids, minor and major, are located between the shoulder blade and spine on each side of your upper back.
-
Infraspinatus: This muscle is found on the outer part of the upper back and is the primary rotator for the shoulder joint.
Middle Back Muscles
Move a bit further down and you’ll come to the middle back. When you think about the middle back, there are two large muscles that come to mind. They are:
-
Latissimus dorsi: The largest muscles of the back, the lats are large, flat muscles found below the shoulder blades on either side of the spine.
Lower Back Muscles
Finally we come to the lower back, which is responsible for supporting the spine as well as helping you lift things. The muscles you need to know down here include:
-
Erector spinae: After the lats, these are the second largest muscles in the back. They run along the spine and are at their widest in the lower back.
-
External and internal obliques: Located above the hips, the obliques essentially connect the rectus abdominis in the front of your abdomen to the lower back muscles.
-
Multifidus: These long, thin muscles run down the lower spine to help stabilize the lower back.
Best Dumbbell Back Exercises
Ready to start building a stronger back? Incorporate these seven powerful dumbbell back exercises into your next workout.
Bent Over Rows
-
Weights to use: Medium to heavy
-
Back muscles working: Lats, rhomboids, and infraspinatus
-
How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hinged at the hips, with your back flat and weights extended down, palms facing each other. Pull the weights straight up into your armpits, then lower back down.
Reverse Flys
-
Weights to use: Light to medium
-
Back muscles working: Rhomboids, multifidus, lats and erector spinae
-
How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hinged at the hips, with your back flat and weights extended down, palms facing each other. Raise the weights out to the sides, keeping your elbows slightly bent and squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top, then lower back down.
Wide Rows
-
Weights to use: Medium to heavy
-
Back muscles working: Trapezius, lats, and infraspinatus
-
How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hinged at the hips, with your back flat and weights extended down, palms facing your legs. Pull the weights up and bend your elbows so that your arms form an upside down goal post with your upper arms parallel to the floor, then lower back down.
Renegade Rows
-
Weights to use: Medium to heavy
-
Back muscles working: Lats, rhomboids, erector spinae, and obliques
-
How to do it: Come into a plank position with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands on your dumbbells. Keeping your body parallel to the floor, pull one weight up into your armpit, then lower back down. Alternate arms.
Shoulder Shrugs
-
Weights to use: Heavy
-
Back muscles working: Trapezius and rhomboids
-
How to do it: Hold the weights at your sides. Lift and shrug your shoulders up to your ears, then lower back down.
Supermans
-
Weights to use: Light to medium
-
Back muscles working: Erector spinae, multifidus, and lats
-
How to do it: Lie on your stomach on the floor and extend your arms overhead and legs back. Keeping your biceps by your ears, press your hips into the floor and lift your chest up, then lower it back down.
Good mornings
-
Weights to use: Light to medium
-
Back muscles working: Erector spinae and multifidus
-
How to do it: Stand with your feet wide and knees slightly bent and hold the weights at your shoulders. Hinge at the hips, keeping your back flat, until your back is parallel to the floor, then lift back up.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Doing Dumbbell Back Exercises
As beneficial as dumbbell back exercises can be for your posture, balance, mobility, and preventing pain, doing them incorrectly can do the opposite, opening you up to potential injuries. Here are the three most common mistakes to avoid when doing dumbbell back exercises.
Arching or Rounding
You want to keep your back as straight as possible when doing back exercises, which means not arching your lower back or rounding your upper back. The easiest way to do this is to think about keeping your abs pulled in throughout the movement; it will naturally straighten your back.
Yanking the Weights
Whenever you are working with dumbbells, you need to be careful to use proper form as opposed to using your entire body or your momentum to lift the weight. If you’re not focused on form, you are much more likely to injure yourself and you won’t get as much out of your workout.
Using the Wrong Weight
There are some large muscles in your back and some very small ones. Depending on the exercise you are doing, make sure you are using an appropriate weight and not lifting more than you can handle.
Ready To Get Stronger?
Your back is just one of the powerful muscle groups that you should be working on a regular basis to crush your fitness goals and more effortlessly move through your everyday life. If you’re looking for a new and exciting way to get stronger, consider the amp fitness device. With a sleek, versatile design and hundreds of engaging and personalized workouts, it will transform the way you exercise forever.
