Most people tend to do exercises that focus mainly the front of the body because that's what they see in the mirror more often. What they don't realize is that when they don't give the time to work on the pulling muscles that work the lower back up to the latissimus dorsi it makes the upper body look far worse than it needs to be. You're big into Bench Press and curls and crunches and the thigh muscles that you don't realize you're developing a hunch back and your chest is caving in as well as the rest of your body. Building strength and power in the pulling muscles help correct the posture in the chain of other muscles needed to be congruent with your body's powerful stance. Chest up, shoulders back and being able to tuck the pelvis.
The wings of your body is your upper back which you can do a lot with when it comes to pulling by doing Pull-ups, hanging as you stretch, Clean & Press which works every muscle in the body and other styles of pulling that give that area the strength it needs. Muscle Control is a great way to open up the back because although you can use it to isolate the muscle, it teaches to use that muscle for particular reasons that can help keep you injury free. Watch guys like Otto Arco and Maxick who are masters of Muscle Control that can open up the back in ways most can't even fathom even today after they were around 100 years ago. They're not big dudes yet they can make the muscles look big and move with such grace and power it's practically majestic. Although small but very built they were still strong as hell and at one time were the strongest of their size. Open up your back and unlock the posterior chain.
Now contrary to popular belief you don't always need weights to build back strength. You can lift other things that work the back like rocks, logs, kegs and other odd objects because they don't isolate the muscles, the whole body has to come into play including the stabilizer muscles that keep the balance flowing even when balancing is difficult. Handstands build incredible back strength because in order to even keep your body in alignment your back and your abdominals need to hold you up, your arms and legs won't get the job done unless everything is working together. Pull-ups in different variations set off a chain reaction to the back muscles needed to get yourself over the bar plus the stretching you get at the same time if you apply it right is in unison with the strength you're developing. Think about it although you need strength to pull yourself up, you still have that stretch in the torso especially the oblique muscles that gives off the power you need to complete the pull-up. Cables work great as well especially the TNT Cables from Lifeline USA because when you use the door attachment in a specific place say the top of the door and you hook the cables around and strap them into the handles you can do pull-downs that are more effective than the machines and go in different directions. Pulling down using your own resistance gives the muscles that energetic feel of actually working those muscles in that area. Picking up weight is great too and not always a barbell or dumbbell, try picking up a heavy boulder; it's not the same and you have to use more than just your back but it hits it awesomely.
A key element that helps develop a super back is the strength of your grip. Grip strength is essential in all kinds of exercise because if you can't hold onto a weight or be able to hold yourself up in the pull-up you're not going anywhere. If you can't do a pull-up yet because you have a weak grip than work on that area until you can, like on a pull-up bar just hang there until you can hold for about a minute. Work your fingers, your wrists and if you have grippers don't just open and close them; close them and hold it for as long as possible, this develops a powerful grip and can help you in other areas. Your back has more strength than your grip obviously because of how the muscles are developed but your grip needs enough juice to even get the back muscles firing even more. Use Sledgehammers, Fat Gripz, Arm Wrestling Isometrics, hang with your fingers, Isometric Pull-ups all these develop an incredible grip. The little muscles can be your biggest ally so use the best you can to build your muscles that are congruent together to work in harmony. Get your back crazy strong and open up your posture.
Have a kick ass Wednesday everybody and keep an eye on for more articles to come. Share, like, comment and be sure to take up my offer as a bonus coaching session if you purchase $50 or more products on this site. Be awesome and have a wonderful day.
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