Tips for growing back (tips for an aesthetic back)
Summary
TLDRIn this fitness-focused video, the host shares expert tips for effectively growing and strengthening the back muscles. Key advice includes mastering the mind-muscle connection for back exercises, emphasizing the contraction phase, and minimizing elbow flexion to prevent bicep dominance. The video also stresses the importance of high-intensity training for the back, suggesting near-failure sets and incorporating intensity techniques like drop sets. Additionally, the host recommends a balanced approach to back training, prioritizing both width and thickness, and suggests using straps or grip-friendly variations to maximize back engagement without grip fatigue.
Takeaways
- 💡 Learning to effectively use your back muscles is crucial for growth, as it requires mind-muscle connection and practice.
- 🏋️♂️ For back exercises, focus on the contraction phase and squeezing the back muscles together for better results.
- 🔄 To emphasize back width, perform exercises that allow you to drop and tuck your shoulder blades, targeting the lats.
- 📉 Minimize elbow flexion during back exercises to reduce bicep involvement and focus on the back muscles.
- 💪 Train your back with high intensity, aiming for near failure in most sets to stimulate growth.
- 🔄 Incorporate intensity techniques like drop sets and forced reps to push your back beyond its comfort zone.
- 🔄 For an aesthetically pleasing back, balance exercises that focus on width (lats) with those that focus on thickness (upper back muscles).
- 🔄 Adjust your back training routine based on your current physique needs, emphasizing either width or thickness as required.
- 👐 Consider using straps or grip-friendly variations in your back training to prevent grip failure and maximize back stimulation.
- 📝 Always train your back with intensity, ensuring that your sets are challenging and close to failure to promote muscle growth.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video?
-The main focus of the video is to provide tips on how to effectively grow and train the back muscles, emphasizing the importance of proper technique and intensity.
Why is it challenging for most people to grow their back muscles?
-Growing back muscles is challenging because it requires a good mind-muscle connection and learning how to properly engage the back, which is not typically taught and is often overshadowed by more visible muscle groups.
What is the first tip given in the video for growing the back?
-The first tip is to fix the way you perform back exercises by focusing on the contraction and learning how to properly use the back muscles.
How does the video suggest focusing on the contraction during back exercises?
-The video suggests focusing on squeezing the back muscles together as you contract them, emphasizing the importance of this contraction over the speed of the movement.
What is the role of lats in back development as discussed in the video?
-Lats play a crucial role in back development, contributing to the width of the back. The video provides tips on how to effectively engage and train the lats during exercises.
How should one adjust their elbow flexion during back exercises according to the video?
-To minimize bicep involvement and focus on the back, one should try to keep their arms extended as much as possible and only flex the elbows when necessary.
What is the second tip for training the back as mentioned in the video?
-The second tip is to train the back harder by incorporating high intensity techniques and ensuring that most sets are near failure.
Why is intensity important when training the back muscles?
-Intensity is important for back training because the back is an active muscle group that is used in almost all daily activities, meaning it can handle a higher level of training without overtraining.
What is the video's advice on the ratio of exercises focusing on back width versus thickness?
-The video suggests a bias towards exercises that focus on back width (lats) over thickness in order to achieve an aesthetically pleasing and well-rounded back.
How does the video recommend incorporating strap training into back workouts?
-The video recommends including strap training or variations that don't heavily tax the grip to allow for more intense back training, as the grip is often the limiting factor before the back muscles are fully fatigued.
What is the final tip provided in the video for growing the back?
-The final tip is to adjust back exercises in a way that doesn't overly tax other muscles, such as using straps or specific grip variations, to ensure that the back is being trained to its full potential.
Outlines
💪 Developing a Powerful Back
The speaker, Jo, introduces the topic of the video, which is about growing one's back muscles. Jo emphasizes the difficulty in growing the back due to the lack of natural engagement of the back muscles in daily activities compared to other muscle groups like the chest or biceps. Jo suggests that learning to use the back muscles effectively requires effort and mind-muscle connection. The video aims to provide tips on how to properly engage the back during exercises to facilitate growth. Jo starts by explaining the importance of contracting the back muscles during exercises and how to focus on the lats for width and the upper back for thickness.
🏋️♂️ Training Intensity for Back Growth
Jo discusses the importance of training the back with high intensity, as the back is a part of the upper body posterior chain that is active in almost all daily activities and can handle a significant amount of stress. Jo advises training the back near failure in most sets and incorporating intensity techniques like drop sets or forced reps to push the muscles further. The speaker also emphasizes the need to balance the focus between width and thickness when designing a back workout routine, suggesting a ratio of two exercises for width and one for thickness for most people.
🔄 Adjusting Training for Specific Goals
Jo talks about adjusting back training based on individual goals. If someone wants to emphasize the width of their back, they should focus more on exercises that target the lats, while those looking to increase thickness should prioritize exercises that hit the upper back muscles. Jo shares personal preferences for his own routine, which currently focuses more on width due to his physique. The video also suggests incorporating grip-sparing exercises or using straps to allow for more intense back training without the limitation of grip strength.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Back Training
💡Mind-Muscle Connection
💡Lats
💡Contraction
💡Elbow Flexion
💡Intensity
💡Drop Sets
💡Aesthetic Back
💡Grip Strength
💡Progressive Overload
Highlights
Growing your back can be challenging due to the need for proper mind-muscle connection and technique.
Back muscles are often underutilized because they are not as intuitive to engage as chest or arm muscles.
Learning to effectively use your back requires effort and practice.
Focusing on the contraction phase of back exercises is crucial for growth.
To target the lats, perform exercises with a wide grip and emphasize the squeezing motion.
Minimize elbow flexion during back exercises to reduce bicep involvement.
For upper back thickness, allow a natural flare of the arms and some elbow flexion.
Train your back with high intensity, as it can handle a significant amount of stress.
Incorporate intensity techniques like drop sets to push your back harder.
Structure your back routine to emphasize either width or thickness based on your goals.
A well-rounded back routine should include exercises that target both lat development and upper back thickness.
Adjust your back training focus based on your current physique and desired improvements.
Including strap training can help isolate the back and reduce grip fatigue.
Experiment with different back exercises to find what works best for your body and goals.
Always train your back with the intention of near failure to stimulate growth.
Remember that the back is a large muscle group that requires intense training to see results.
Transcripts
all right what's up guys Jo back with
another video and today we're going to
be talking about tips for growing your
back right um I thought I kind of did
this video already but turns out I
didn't I kind of just briefly mentioned
it in my Vaper video so I'm going to
explain like you know tips how to grow
your back right now right um growing
your back is a little hard for most
people specifically because they don't
kind of don't know how to use it right
learning how to use your back is
something that typically requires a
little bit of effort and you know mind
muscle connection and [ __ ] like that and
we're just never really taught that
right kind of just going how we doing
things right like for example a bench
press you don't really have to try too
hard to uh get your chest to do most of
the work right takes it does take a
little bit of KN how but a lot less than
learning how to use your back right same
with your arms a bicep curl there is no
way you can [ __ ] this up and not have
your biceps doing most of the work
unless you are
literally doing that right
um and the only other muscle that's
really like the back in this way it's
kind of the Cal it's kind of hard to use
but I'm going to teach you how to grow
your back right so tip number one right
is to fix the way you do your back
exercises now if you don't take away
anything else from this video take this
tip away right learn how to use your
back right and I'm going to start off by
explaining the lats right I've already
explained this but I'm going to do it
again and I have to show you from the
side right so say you're doing a seated
cable back you're kind of just going
through the motion and this is not
necessarily a bad movement pattern right
but if you change it you can hit your
lats your upper back a whole lot better
right now a general thing for your back
is kind of going at a decent speed but
really focusing on squeezing your back
together as you come back right as you
contract that is the most important tip
of this video contract focus on the
contraction right
so let's start with lats right with your
lats all right if you want to just bias
your back wideness right you're going to
want to drop it right tuck it to your
sides right so going from flaring like
this to tucking to your side and this
will hit your lats drop and kind of
bring it back right another tip is you
kind of want to minimize um your elbow
flexion when you're doing your back
exercises right because that will bring
your biceps more into it right going
like this bringing your arm to Elbow
flexion as fast as possible is a perfect
way to just bias your arms but if you
kind of try to keep the most extended
angle possible right kind of like this
right only bringing it when you need to
instead of like this where you're
already starting 25% of the weight into
the lift you can often bias your back a
lot better so for like in all of your
growing movements if you want to buy
your your lats shoulders down arms down
Tuck to your sides drag and keep that
arm angle try not to flex your elbow too
much like I said but it's going to
happen a little bit and it's a similar
thing with your um upper back right
upper back you're thickness muscles
right so your Rh boids your traps Etc
your rear dels kind of the same thing
but you can flare your arms out a little
bit more and there's likely going to be
more elbow flexion here um you should
still minimize it but naturally when you
flare your arms out there's likely just
going to be more elbow flexion it's much
harder to keep this angle right and it's
a little more uncomfortable so like I
said you want to buy your upper
back you can kind of keep it in the
middle flare it out to the middle and
then bring it back and remember focus on
squeezing every muscle in your back as
hard as possible together that's it so
yeah tip number one is just focus on
getting the contraction right and
learning how to do your back movement
tip number two for your back right is
going to be to train it a little harder
right your back is one of the is your
upper body posterior chain right it's
active in everything you do it's active
when you walk when you're holding [ __ ]
it's what holds our posture so naturally
your back is active 24/7 which means it
can probably take a better ass whooping
than the rest of your body this is why
your calves are so hard to grow because
you're walking 24/7 right so they're
naturally already used to volume and
[ __ ] like that um for your back it's not
NE necessarily uh a point of volume but
intensity right you need to train your
back very hard in other words you can
train almost all your back sets near
failure without have to worrying about
overtraining it too much right granted
that you're doing three exercises
anywhere from two to four sets if you're
near failure you're good all almost all
those sets should be close to failure
right um You can also incorporate drop
sets any intensity techniques in general
are just beneficial for your back right
so let's say the majority of your sets
on back are one rep within failure right
on maybe the last set of every exercise
or the last set of your last
exercise incorporate a drop set where
your friend is there to help you get
more reps or unlike a couple of your
sets right you could just have your
friend help you get some Force reps in
um taking it this extra mile is very
beneficial for your back it does kind of
take a lot to grow your back sometimes
um especially with getting your back
stronger sometimes you do need to just
force it out and give it that extra push
so you can be able to progressively
overload right so take into account your
intensity right always train back hard
you should never be more than two within
two reps of failure like from your back
do not do three right two reps within
failure of your back good
um you're doing more sets two reps
within failure is fine if you're doing
less sets like if you're doing only two
sets per exercise like some intensity
people should do every set should be to
failure or it should include an
intensity technique right all right you
say all right I hit nine reps I probably
got another three reps in me let me I'm
going to help I'm going to get my friend
to help me get these three reps so like
I'm still adding that intensely but I'm
not completely killing myself right
sometimes you want to stimulate not
annihilate that makes sense but just
train your back with intensity more than
any other muscle anytime you're doing
back and you want to give up and you're
like five reps away from failure remind
yourself you're not going to gain [ __ ]
from that set it is your back go the
extra three reps you don't have to go
all the way to failure like I said every
set unless you're doing really low
volume but you do need to be close to
fail number three for growing your back
this is a growing your back/ anesthetic
back video is to kind of break up um
your back bias training in a certain way
right so I think the most aesthetic type
of back the best looking complete back
the most well judged back in
competitions is a back that focuses a
little more on its wideness AKA your lat
development just a little bit more than
your thickness AK your Ron voids rear
delts traps Etc right so if you're
someone that has three exercises in your
back routine right which is most people
they have three actual weight
exercises make two of them widen
um focus and then the last one thickness
Focus right and I already showed you how
to bias
wideness versus thickness
right um and this is because in just
getting a good-looking physique right um
your back wideness shows from the front
and the back whereas your back thickness
only shows from the back and I kind of
makes sense that it's this way right um
there's more reward to having better
look looking lats but it's harder to
acquire them right it's a little harder
to bias your lats than it is to bias
like I said your upper back we naturally
do bias our upper back because it's more
comfortable but we do have to learn how
to train our lats right so you can have
something and this is my routine right
um you can have something
like uh a dumbbell chest supported row
right where you're on a
bench um I'm me kind of try to
demonstrate this on my chair right
imagine this is the bench and you know
it's not the same obviously
right but you're kind of up against it
and you're doing this right that's like
the first exercise that I do um you can
do that and then like a lat pull down
right um You can do any type of lat pull
down you want I like super lat pull
Downs you could do the neutral grip ones
which are really good for biasing your
lats but yeah you could do a lat by a
slat pull down right and then you can do
a cable row where cable rolls are
honestly you could switch the C right
the coll is a little better at hitting
your lats than a lat pull down to be
honest but if you do want to hit your
coll up and bias your upper back it's
probably the easiest way to do it
without even having to think too much
just do a row have your arms flare just
a little bit a little bit tucked not too
much not too flared just in the middle
and go back and this is going to allow
you to get a back that is wide but it
also does have the detailing and
whatever part of your back I mean you
can break it up however you want right
you can do more thickness if you want
right it also depends on where you're at
if you know you don't if you have a
really wide back but you're lacking in
thickness change the ratio to two back
thickness exercises and one back widness
exercise right um but yeah you can do it
however you want right it's just what
you need at that point in time for me I
kind of just want to work on my wideness
to focus on my Vaper right like my Vaper
is pretty solid considering I'm kind of
chunky right now but I still do want to
get my lats up more
so I'm doing a routine that focuses more
on my wideness right so you just you
just change how you're doing things and
whatever you choose to um hit less like
for me I'm hitting my thickness less
just make sure you train it in intensely
includ an intensity technique like a
drop set or a four stps as I already
said before in addition to you taking it
near failure this will just allow
everything to kind of even out you
should Al be having periods where you're
biasing one thing and the other thing
but like I said knowing what you need
you just got to know what you need so
yeah learn how to break up your training
based on what you need now tip number
four this is not a tip that I personally
follow or like but I can't deny the
validity of it right that would be just
to include strap training or in any of
your back training make sure you do a
variation of it that doesn't tax your
grip so hard because your forearms and
your grip is not going to is never going
to be for most people as strong as your
back so it's almost always going to tap
out first depending on the exercise that
you're doing so if you invest in
something like straps or do a variation
that doesn't tax your grip you can often
take your back a lot harder which I said
is important because your back needs
that intensity right so changing
something like for me I do this which I
it's not beneficial for biasing my lats
completely but I do it an underhand grip
pull down
problem is it taxes my grip a lot and
over time my grip is equivalent become
equivalent to my back but for the
typical person you should probably
change the variation or include straps
simply because your form is going to
give out a lot faster than your back and
you're not going to be able to take your
back as far as you might want to right
there are several studies shown I can
throw them up I probably will that show
when people do train with straps they
were able to take their back a little
bit farther and get a little more result
results um I would say have one exercise
where you do this right and the other
two you do want to allow your forms to
kind of get stronger over time like
through those compound movements but
have one exercise where it's just
completely back focused right so the
bench supported rope and then you get
straps boom you cluster [ __ ] your lats
pure lats your form is not going to [ __ ]
you up your posterior chain is not going
to take over and you're forced to only
hit your lats with just some proper cues
so adjusting how you do your back
exercises in a way that doesn't tax your
other your
muscles is going to help you grow your
back a lot more because you do need to
take it that much farther like I said
because it's your
back and there you have it guys those
are your tips for growing your back um
try these on your next back day right
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