The Best Back Exercises You Should Do

The back is one of those often neglected places on the body despite its extreme importance to your overall fitness and physical well-being. Keeping your back strong and limber is essential to keeping your body strong and agile, too no matter your age or your level of fitness.

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How The Back Is Neglected

First of all, none of us ever see our back. It’s that forgotten muscle group behind us, never getting the proper attention it needs. And since the squeaky wheel gets the grease, or in this case, the muscle group in the mirror, we often spend more time shaping up what we can see and forgetting about what we can’t always see.

Second, stress seems to find a way to nestle in the muscles of the back, tightening muscles like a winch, twisting tighter and tighter as one experiences higher levels of stress. Regularly exercising the back not only increases the back's ability to handle stress, the exercises themselves help to alleviate tension and stress held so tightly in the back.

Third, age has its role to play. As we get older, our backs fatigue. Like the body’s core muscles, the back bears a lot of responsibility over maintaining stature keeping the rest of the body in line. The older we get, the more conditioning the back needs to maintain its health and avoid painful back injuries.

Best Back Exercises

Luckily you won’t need to do that much to maintain your back health. A few simple exercises done correctly and regularly will go a long way to keeping your back strong.

1) Bridges

Start by lying on the ground on your back with your legs extended. Lift your pelvis as high as you can and hold for a few seconds. Repeat ten times, performing three reps of these. (Note: As your back gets stronger, try increasing the number or holding a weight between your hands.)

2) Pull Ups or Chin Ups

Whether assisted or unassisted, this exercise is excellent for working your upper back muscles. While so many of us hold tension in our upper back and shoulders, pull ups are a great way to help work those tight spots out.

3) Plank with Lateral Arm Raise

This exercise is excellent for both your core and your back. As you raise your hand, your body has to work extra hard at keeping your muscles tight and your body balanced.

4) Twisters

Twisters are excellent for strengthening those back muscles that get the least love.

5) Scap push-up

This is an amazing exercise for fine tuning those small muscle groups in your upper back and shoulders.