Build Better Backs By Developing Strong Back Muscles

You might be surprised to learn that every year 5 million work days are lost to back pain or injury. Back pain can hurt your lifestyle and your finances so isn’t it time to build better backs by developing strong back muscles?

Back muscles are an intricate group of muscles and probably the most fascinating in the entire body. Although everyone’s back muscles are different stooped shoulders and a flat appearance to the back are more common than you would think. Neither are good signs. Both indicate poor back health. Well developed back muscles will actually cause a cavity from the base of the neck towards the hip. This is a good sign that you have developed strong back muscles. But most of us don’t and that is the number one reason for back pain.

The latissimus dorsi muscle will develop as a result of constant pulling from overhead. Any exercise or movement that brings the arms downward will strengthen the latissimus dorsi. It can be a resistance exercise above the head or it can be entail lifting a heavy weight from the floor while you are bent forward and then placing yourself in an erect position.

The trapezius muscle covers the entire upper back on each side of the neck. It’s the muscle group that gives the slant from the neck to the shoulders and it’s also very important in developing a strong back. If you still aren’t sure what muscle group we’re talking about, it’s the group you see move when you shrug your shoulders.

Constantly lifting heavy object from the floor while you stand erect with your arms at your sides will very quickly develop this muscle group. When properly developed if you tense your muscles you’ll see a W in the center of your back. You can also train this muscle group with resistance training.

The center of your nervous energy lives in the small of your back. So if you want to acquire a powerful back constantly bend and stoop forward, backward or to the sides. This will stimulate the nervous center and reduce back pain and increase your overall energy.

Here’s some excellent exercise choices for developing your upper, middle, and lower back. It’s important that you build all three parts of your back to strengthen your overall back, help your posture, and give you even muscle definition.

The lateral pull down works very well for upper back development. Pull the bar down behind your neck and then pull it down on the front of your chest. Grip the bar with a wide stance and pull down slowly repeating 8 to 10 times. You can increase the weight as your fitness level increases. Never swing when you are pulling down. This doesn’t work the muscles and it can cause injury.

Bent over lateral raises are also very good for developing the upper back as well as the rear deltoids. This exercise is best done at the end of your workout. Use lighter weights and pay attention to your form.

The middle back muscles are the biggest and most prominent. The seated cable row is an excellent exercise for this muscle group. Leaning forward a little is okay but make sure you are not leaning too far forward. Dumbbell rows are also good choices for middle back development but beginners should start with the cable row and then gradually move to the dumbbell rows.

Hyperextensions work well for developing your lower back muscles. They can be performed on a flat bench or 45 degree bench although the flat bench is preferred.

It’s time we began building better backs by developing back muscles so less people suffer from such a painful condition. Everyone wants to get back to the life they had without continuous back pain. So are you ready to give it a try?

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.