Huge Back Muscle Building for Your Lats, Traps, and Spinal Erectors
Building up your back is important because it promotes stability in your spine and is actually one of the most powerful muscle groups in the body. In order to effectively work the back, you’ll need to identify the four main muscle groups in it and how they work. Exercise, however, isn’t the only important thing when it comes to building muscle. You’ll also need to follow a good diet and make sure to get plenty of rest.
The main muscles in the back are the lats, traps, shoulders, and spinal erectors. I include the shoulders with the back because they do make up a large portion of it and they are also worked in many of the same ways that the lats are, so can be mentioned in the same sentence.
The largest muscles are the lats, which are on the sides of your back, under the arm. They are primarily involved with shoulder movement and can be worked a variety of ways. The best way to work the lats, generally, is to do pull ups or a type of row. I prefer doing both, since they hit them at different angles and utilize different synergists.
The next largest muscles are the traps, which are really only used to support the arm and move the scapula. The traps are the large muscles that appear around your neck. The best way to work these is to do upright rows or shrugs. Deadlifts will also put a significant amount of stress on your traps and will build them up nicely. Having strong traps is important because they promote spinal health and will help you maintain good posture.
Finally, you have spinal erectors. These are the muscles at the base of your back and are very commonly injured. When working your spinal erectors, you’ll want to take care not to bend your back or you’ll throw it out. You should bend at the waist, not at the spine. These muscles are very fragile and it’s very easy to throw your back out if you don’t know what you’re doing. Some good exercises for the spinal erectors are the deadlift, good mornings, and hyper extensions. I only recommend that you do good mornings if you’re very particular about your form and take care not to hurt yourself – it is an intermediate exercise and should be treated with respect.
