THE BEGINNERS GUIDE TO TRAINING pt3: THE BACK

Part 1: Intro
Part 2: The chest

Compared to the chest, the back is a far more highly complex set of muscles and can be worked from many different angles. So for the sake of the reader and not wanting to confuse them, we’ll look at the the major muscle groups:

a) Latissimus Dorsi (Lats)
b) the Trapezius
c) We’ll also throw in the Erector Spinae* 

To make it simple, the muscles of the back are triggered by performing variations of PULLING MOVEMENTS. 

We’ll have a look at one muscle group before looking at the other so as to not have a novel on our hands. 

NOTE: We’re skipping all the smaller muscles and concentrate on the major movers. I’ve never heard someone say “Oke, I’m gonna go train my Rhomboids and my Teres Minor”.

THE LATS
The Latissimus Dorsi, are the muscles that are situated underneath the under arm and extend to above the waist - Depending on your genetics and the mapping of your muscles, some people might have Lats that connect higher up on the torso. Just like some people have calves that attach higher up (have smaller muscle bellies)

The Lats are primarily responsible for:

- Shoulder adduction (see picture below)
- Shoulder extension (the opposite of a front raise - arm goes behind you)

(along with Medial rotation of the arm)

Shoulder Adduction

Like I said previously, the lats and muscles of the back function and are activated as primary movers when PULLING movements are being performed - Pull ups, Pull downs, Bent Over Rows...again, see where I'm coming from with this. 

Now we could get carried away with how to perform the worlds greatest pull up or how to maximally recruit the muscle fibers when performing different variations of the pull up, but that's not what this is about. 

Pull ups (and the 10000+ Variations). Bent Over Rows. Straight Arm Pull Downs. Pull downs - These are all exercises that will help attack your Lats. Of course, some are more effective than others, but we all have to start off somewhere and not everyone will be able to perform a pull up on their first session in the gym - But that's where equipment such as TRX and rubber bands come in. 

Just like the chest, other muscles work in synergy with your main movers (in this case, the lats and the muscles of the back) to help you move the weight (or body).

When it comes to pulling movements, your biceps are indirectly activated along with your posterior deltoids. Remember with chest press, our Anterior Deltoid was functioning to help with stabilization and in moving the weight, well, flip the movement around and you've got the opposite muscle working for an opposite movement. 

Now the amount of recruitment will vary from exercise to exercise.For instance, look at a chin up where you do a pull up with a supinated grip (hands facing you). During this pull up, your arms are performing a movement similar to that of a bicep curl - you've increased the amount of recruitment from your biceps to help with the exercise and this is why you will find Chin-ups to be easier than conventional pull ups. 

In level of difficulty of the 3 standard pull up variations, it would look like this

• Chin up
• Neutral grip pull up
• Pull up

So now, we've tackled the Lats and how to attack them when training. Just remember, PULLING MOVEMENTS for the back. No pushing movement or leg extension is going to help you achieve those bat wings that you've always wanted.

Next up. THE TRAPS.

Tambe "doc" Joesha

Sources
http://musom.marshall.edu/anatomy/grosshom/allppt/pdf/Muscles%20of%20Back%20Lectureff.pdf
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/shouldersanatomy1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latissimus_dorsi_muscle
http://www.simplyshredded.com/muscle-specific-hypertrophy-biceps-back-and-legs-by-menno-henselmans.html