Best Back Exercises for Hardgainers

Best Back Exercises for Hardgainers

Oct 2, 2024 mindpump

Packing on muscle can be tough for anyone. Hardgainers already struggle adding size. When it comes to hitting the back, because it is not a muscle we can easily see in the mirror and therefore cue, it can be hard to know if what you’re doing is working. In this article, we’ll get into the best back exercises for hardgainers to maximize putting on size.

Deadlifts

Not only are deadlifts great for building overall strength and a strong posterior chain, they can be a great staple for building a thick back. While you may not be taking it through a full range of motion like a row, the load you can build up to is so great, that the stimulus it places on the back isometrically can produce great gains. It engages your lats, traps, and erector spinae. The biggest thing to focus on here is keeping your chest up, brace your core, and drive the hips forward. At the bottom, when you are setting up for the deadlift, pull your elbows in tight like you are trying to break the bar over your shins. This will effectively engage the lats.

Pull-Ups

Pull-ups have long been touted as a staple back exercise for building the lats. You can just start with bodyweight and eventually wear a dip belt to add more weight. You can also play around with grip width (wide, medium, narrow, and close grip). These will all slightly change the way your back is engaged and somewhat target more specific areas of the back. This movement is great for building that overall V-taper.

Barbell Rows

Rows are a great exercise for building back thickness. Particularly in the mid to low back and get what bodybuilders call that “Christmas Tree look”. The trick here is to make sure you are as parallel with the floor as possible. If you are too upright, your back is no longer what is opposing gravity and the weight, and it becomes more of a shrug. This is a common reason why people don’t see gains from this exercise. Pull the barbell towards the lower part of your ribcage. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and get a nice stretch at the bottom without losing tension in the back.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows

You want to make sure with any muscle group, to throw in unilateral work. This will allow you to really focus on getting a good range of motion and also a stretch at the bottom. There is research coming out now showing the muscle building benefits of keeping tension in the stretch position of the muscle that’s being worked. Get as deep of a stretch as you can and then pull it close until you get a full contraction in the back. Try not to rotate your body.

Lat Pulldowns

Lat pulldowns are a great alternative or addition to pull-ups. They allow you to focus more on form, and feeling the back muscles working. You want to make sure you are keeping the bar as close to your face as possible and pulling it to your upper chest. Common mistakes I see people make are that they curl their body inward instead of keeping the chest tall. Make sure your back is doing the work by retracting the shoulder blades as if you were trying to touch your elbows together behind your back. Like pull-ups, you can change the grip around.

T-Bar Rows

A great alternative to regular rows. If you struggle with staying horizontal on the barbell row then I would suggest switching to this. Having a chest supported T-bar row will further help keep your back in the right position and allow you to focus on keeping all the tension in the back.