The upper back muscles make up nearly the entire width of your back, which is an integral part of upper body strength and mass development. As such, you’ll want to do a few upper back exercises in your workout routine to get the biggest, most muscular back possible. But how do you get big and strong back muscles?
These are the 8 best upper back exercises for mass and strength workout that will help you strengthen your entire upper back, including your trapezius, rhomboids, and mid-back muscles. The exercises cover all sorts of variations, from how to do them on the floor to using resistance bands or dumbbells. These best upper back exercises will help you get the most out of every rep!
1. Bent-Over Barbell Row
The bent-over barbell row exercise is a tried and true upper back exercise. Therefore it will give you significant results. It can perform with an underhand or overhand grip which allows you to increase difficulty in form and a range of motion for different muscle fibers. Using an underhand grip, stand straight up with your feet underneath your hips and knees slightly bent. So that if someone were to stretch out their arms, they would touch your head to your toes. Hold a straight bar with both hands so that when gripping it, there are arms lengths of space between the weight plates on either side of it, with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
i. Muscles Trained
The bent-over barbell row is perhaps one of the easiest upper back exercises in existence. It primarily trains your upper and lower back muscles and some smaller ones, such as your biceps and traps.
ii. How to do it
Bent-Over Barbell Row exercises are not just for strength but also mass. To do the Bent Over Barbell Row exercise, you need to stand with your feet flat on the floor and keep a barbell close to your chest. Now bend forward at the waist, keeping your knees straight. The degree of bending depends on you, so try it out until you reach 90 degrees of bending. You can also use a weight bench if that makes it easier for you. In any case, hold onto a handle or attachment with one hand (shoulder width grip) when doing bent-over rows. You may use either an overhand or underhand grip, whichever is more comfortable for you.
iii. The Benefits
Bent-Over Barbell Row is an exercise that targets the upper back muscles. By emphasizing the upper back muscles of the body. Bent-Over Barbell Row benefits us in various ways, including more assertive posture and improved confidence. The bent-over position can help strengthen your lower back, providing better posture and decreasing any strain from a long day at work or school. Bent-Over Barbell Row works best when you perform sets of low repetitions (4-6) with heavyweight for each exercise. If you are interested in gaining lean muscle mass, it is best to do so through compound exercises such as Bent-Over Barbell Row because they focus on multiple muscle groups.
2. Seal Rows
The Seal Row is a mass-building exercise performed with a weight machine (or dumbbells). In the Seal Row, you’ll be pulling the weight upward to your stomach. Use a weight that allows you to lift it only about 6 inches off the ground. The Seal Row focuses on your upper back muscles, particularly the lats (the large muscle on either side of your back). The lower row focuses on your middle traps, while the upper portion targets your rhomboids and teres major muscles. Get in position with both feet flat on the floor and grab a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be straight but not locked at the elbows—you want to feel like you could drop them at any time if needed.
i. Muscles Trained
The Seal Row is a variation of Bent-Over Barbell Rows that also recruits muscles in your upper back and traps extra mass. The slightly wider hand spacing helps train your shoulders and upper back, with additional stress on your lower back to make it one of our favourite exercises for overall back size and strength.
ii. How to do it
Seal Row Exercises is a great exercise that can help you strengthen your upper back muscles and can be performed same as Bent over Barbell. While you don’t need to isolate these muscles. It can be helpful to do so to make sure you are using them properly when doing other exercises like bent-over rows or upright rows. Seal Rows will help increase your core strength, improving your performance during other exercises. It’s also worth mentioning that it is one of those rare few exercises out there where you can use more weight than on most other exercise machines. It means this exercise will have a better effect on your overall muscle mass and strength gains.
iii. The Benefits
Seal Row exercise is also one of the top exercises that nourish your upper back. This exercise can help build a nice v-taper while hitting the traps at the same time. It’s a great compound movement that not only helps you with weight loss. But it’s also a practical assistance exercise when doing chin-ups. Seal row will get your lats burning and open up your thoracic spine. Another benefit is overloading the movement with many plates on each side (make sure to balance it out). This is also great for strength training and building mass.
3. Pull Up
Pull-ups are an upper back exercise that focuses on building lats and biceps. They can be performed at home, outdoors, or in a gym. Pull-ups are among the most popular bodyweight exercises because they build upper-body mass and tone muscles. If you’re aiming to increase your upper body strength and muscle size, look no further than pull-up exercises, as they target nearly every major muscle group in your back, shoulders, and arms. Plus, pull up do not require any equipment. The key to performing effective pull-ups is grip width. If you adopt a grip too wide for your strength level (or use an assisted machine), it will involve less muscle recruitment and allow greater use of momentum from swinging your legs and hips.
i. Muscles Trained
First and foremost, a pull-up is an excellent upper body exercise. Pull-ups hit muscles in your arms, chest, shoulders, and back. Especially when you do them with an overhand grip. If you’re not sure how to do pull-ups yet, start by finding a sturdy bar or other apparatus from which you can hang safely.
ii. How to do it
Pull-ups are an upper-body exercise that works many muscles simultaneously, including your biceps, deltoids, and back. Pull-ups can be done using bodyweight alone or a weighted belt or weight vest for extra resistance. Once you can do 15 reps of standard pull-ups with ease, consider trying weighted pull-ups to challenge yourself further. When doing pull-ups, grip both sides of the bar with each hand so that your palms face away from you. Keep your elbows tucked in close to your body.
Lower yourself as far as possible and then raise yourself as high as possible without swinging—your goal is 12 complete repetitions per set. They’ll help you work all three sections of the back. The lats (the broadest part), middle traps (the meaty muscle between them), and rhomboids (the muscles along either side). As well as other essential areas such as the chest, arms, and core. While there are several types of pull-ups, beginners should try a standard overhand grip rather than an underhand or neutral grip because it allows more weight to be lifted and provides a better range of motion on each rep.
iii. The Benefits
The benefits pull-up exercise is beneficial for a wide variety of reasons. Solid and best upper back exercises for mass and strength workout can help reduce the risk of injury in other exercises and help improve overall posture and muscular balance in the body. Pull-ups require a lot of grip strength, which helps build forearm strength for deadlifts and rows. One of the people’s favorite aspects of pull-up exercises is how easy they add to any workout program. The versatility and simplicity make them perfect for when you need an extra rep or two added in at any point during your training week.
4. Wide Grip Pull Up
The wide grip pull-up is one of the great exercises for strengthening your upper back and muscles. That’s because it targets a broader range of muscle fibers than regular pull-ups and underhand grip pull-ups. Which are more suited for targeting only one specific area of your upper back. By using a wider grip on your pull-up bar, you’ll be able to contract multiple areas of your upper back at once. This will allow you to lift heavier weights than using a close or underhand grip. In turn, that means you’ll put on some serious size as well as increase overall strength in your entire upper body.
i. Muscles Trained
- Trapezius Muscle 2. Rhomboids Muscle 3. Middle and Lower Trapezius Muscle 4. Latissimus Dorsi Muscle 5. Deltoids Muscle
ii. How to do it
Begin by grasping a pull-up bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Your palms should be facing away from you as you grip the bar. Keeping your abs tight and back straight, lift yourself off of the ground until your head is above or at least parallel to where it was when you first started. Slowly lower yourself back down to starting position. Do 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps 3 times per week to see results!
How to do wide-grip pull-up exercise Correctly: Start standing up straight, holding a heavyweight in each hand (you can hold dumbbells if you want). Be sure that your arms are bent at about 90 degrees so that your hands are gripping just below your elbows. Slowly bring both arms back towards your body (as though you were going to hit yourself in the stomach).
iii. The Benefits
Why it’s one of the greatest and doable exercises to strengthen the upper back. The wide grip pull-up exercise is a great tool for developing mass and strength in your upper back. When done correctly, it allows you to target both your upper and lower traps along with your lats. The wider grip also allows you to use more weight, making it more challenging than other similar exercises like standard pull-ups or chin-ups. If you have issues with elbows that prevent you from doing traditional variations, try using an underhand grip to lessen stress on your joints. Don’t worry – underhand variations still work just as well!
5. Seated Cable Row
When it comes to building strength and size, the seated cable row exercise is a great upper back workout. To do this exercise, grab a barbell with an overhand grip at shoulder width and sit on a bench with your feet flat on the floor, knees bent at about 90 degrees. Keeping your torso still, pull hard and squeeze your shoulder blades together to move through an arc from straight out in front of you to mid-torso. Don’t round your shoulders or lift them as you pull; focus on contracting just your upper back muscles and return slowly to starting position.
i. Muscles Trained
Rhomboids, Teres Major, and Latissimus Dorsi. The seated cable row is a great exercise for strengthening your upper back because it targets each muscle group in your back differently.
ii. How to do it
While seated at a cable machine, begin by attaching a rope to your low pulley. Sit on an incline bench with your feet flat on the floor, and your knees bent. Grasp handle firmly with both hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart (A). Bend over so the upper body is nearly parallel to the floor and the torso is bent slightly forward at the waist (B). Slowly pull the handle back toward the waistline until it reaches the lower abdominal area. Repeat for specified reps or time.
Hold a weighted plate against the chest during exercise to make exercise more challenging. To focus attention on upper back muscles, bend elbows as far out as possible away from you and squeeze shoulder blades together throughout the exercise. You should feel your upper back muscles contract; don’t allow arms to extend fully straightened or shoulders to rise upward too much during the row.
iii. The Benefits
The seated cable row exercise provides enough strength for your upper back, including your rhomboids, trapezius, and rear deltoids. This exercise is one of the best upper back exercises that allow you to target each muscle independently by changing your hand and arm position. You can also perform it with a high weight to feel it in your upper back muscles. Include 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps on each side (perform 10 total reps) or 3 sets of 8-12 reps per side (for a total of 24 total reps). The seated cable row is very effective because it uses an isometric contraction which helps recruit more fast-twitch fibers for mass gain.
6. T-Bar Row
To keep your back healthy, you should incorporate a rowing exercise for your upper back into your workout routine. Because it is one of the 8 best upper back exercises, that builds your upper back muscles via a barbell T-bar row. This is one of my favorite exercises because it targets nearly every muscle in your upper back, and it looks cool (in a manly way). Here’s how to do it: Place an Olympic barbell in a squat rack at chest height. Grab two medium-weight dumbbells with an overhand grip and stand facing away from the squat rack so that you can reach over and grab each side of the bar with one hand. Raise both arms to shoulder height to be in line with your torso.
i. Muscles Trained
The muscles targeted by the best upper back exercises are the trapezius and rhomboids, which lie underneath your shoulder blades. The secondary muscle groups in focus for strengthening the upper back are levator scapula, posterior deltoids, teres major, and latissimus dorsi.
ii. How to do it
The T-Bar Row exercise primarily targets your upper back and secondarily targets your traps, biceps, forearms, and abs. This is an excellent exercise to include in your workout routine if you want to gain mass in these areas. However, it’s a challenging movement, so be sure to use proper form during each rep. You can do it place yourself on a weight bench set at shoulder height with a barbell attached to its end. Place your feet flat on the floor for support and squeeze your shoulder blades together tightly.
iii. The Benefits
While it’s true that there are many different ways to build a strong upper dack. The T-Bar Row exercise is especially effective when it comes to developing superior muscle bulk. It may be one of the easy upper back exercises. You can do it at home (using a dumbbell or TRX suspension system). Since it puts much less strain on your lower back than traditional barbell rows would. So with all these benefits in mind, try adding T-bar rows into your next workout routine and see how they can help you become stronger!
7. One-Arm Dumbbell Row
The one-arm dumbbell row is an effortless upper back dumbbell exercise that promotes mass and strength-building exercises for your upper back. This exercise can perform in a variety of ways. However, it should always perform in a slow and controlled manner. Try to get at least 15 repetitions on each side before switching so that you can properly isolate those muscles. Experts recommend starting with a lighter weight (around 40 percent of your one-rep max) as well as doing fewer repetitions. Advanced lifters may handle a heavier weight.
i. Muscles Trained
This upper back exercise targets different regions of your upper back, including your traps, rear delts, and middle/lower trapezius.
ii. How to do it
Because One Arm Dumbbell Row is a good workout technique. This exercise strengthens your upper and lower back and develops a wider V-taper look from your shoulders to hips. It’s an excellent variation for individuals who cannot perform barbell rows due to injury or for those looking for extra variation in their training regimen.
iii. The Benefits
The One-Arm Dumbbell Row is an amazing exercise. It works both your upper and lower back, strengthens your grip and forearms, as well as builds muscle in your biceps and lats. By increasing your range of motion on each rep, you’ll work more muscle fibers than with a standard dumbbell row. And It targets all of these muscles simultaneously, increasing my strength quickly while also building mass.
8. Hammer Strength Machine Row
Hammer Strength Machine Row exercise is also one of the best ways to build mass in your upper back is to perform machine row exercise. Many people avoid doing these, but I think they’re awesome for stimulating growth in your upper traps and teres major. If you have access to a Hammer Strength row machine. It’s worth incorporating into your training program. If not, you can still perform rows using dumbbells or cables.
i. Muscles Trained
Deltoids (shoulders), trapezius (upper back). This main exercise targets to Upper back, and secondary targets Deltoids, trapezius
ii. How to do it
Hold a hammer curl bar in your hands and position your feet hip-width apart with your knees slightly bent. Push your hips back as if you’re about to sit down in a chair behind you, then bend forward at the waist until your torso is about 45 degrees to the floor. Keep your chest up, abs tight, and back flat, push off from the floor, and straighten out your arms until they’re fully extended.
iii. The Benefits
The Hammer strength machine row is a great exercise that can provide you with some great benefits and advantages. These include, but are not limited to, training your upper back, strengthening your upper back muscles, and also working your biceps muscles at different ranges of motion.
These are the 8 Best Upper Back Exercises for Mass and Strength Workout that you need!
The Takeaway!
Our upper back holds many useful muscles that enable us to perform many daily routine tasks like rows, shrugs, pull-ups and pull-downs. Our upper back is connected with shoulders, head and neck, upper and lower trunks, and even the chest — so proper exercise does great to its strength. These upper back exercises will aid you in building mass and strength to a great extent.
