5 Effective Muscle-Building Upper Back Exercises for Men

Guide to upper back exercises for men. (Photo via mob alizadeh/Unsplash)
Guide to upper back exercises for men (Photo via Unsplash/mob alizadeh)

To build a strong back, you need to know about upper back exercises that can help you develop a broad appearance.

The lattimus dorsi is the biggest part of the lat muscle that starts below the shoulder blade and extends to the lower part of the back. When you’re trying to become lean and muscular, it’s important to work on the biggest part of a muscle group. That will help you activate the smaller muscles around the part, which is important too.

Fortunately, there are exercises that work on the lats and help you get a broader back.


Upper Back Exercises for Men

The following are five top upper back exercises for men that can help broaden the lat muscles to help you attain a 'V' shaped back.

The only way to have that 'V' shape is to have a tapered waist and a broader upper back. You can focus on the following upper back exercises to get that physical appearance:

1) Pull-up

When you begin a workout routine for a specific body part, it’s great to begin with a bodyweight exercise.

Pull-ups are the go-to bodyweight exercise for the lats. If you’re not being able to do pull-ups, you can use a resistance band to help you. As you become stronger, you can move to clean bodyweight pull-ups.

Here is a guide for doing pull-ups.


2) Bent-over Barbell Row

The bent-over barbell row is an important compound exercise for the upper back. Rows are extremely important, especially barbell and dumbbell rows. They allow you to contract your shoulder blades and squeeze them together for better muscle activation.

You can find a guide for bent-over rows here.

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3) Deadlift

Deadlifts are very useful for building muscle and burning fat. You need to ensure your form is correct when doing deadlifts, otherwise you can end up with serious injuries.

To work on your back, you can do conventional deadlifts, but it’s best to begin with dumbbell deadlifts before moving on to barbells.

You can learn how to do deadlifts here.

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4) Seated Cable Row

Seated cable rows allow you to have a neutral grip for rows. It’s recommended to use different grips for the exercise and not focus on only one variation.

The more variations you add to your workout routine, the better it will be for you. However, you should stay consistent with your workout routine.

You can find a guide for seated cable rows here.

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5) Single Arm Dumbbell Row

Single arm dumbbell rows are an upper back exercise that can be done unilaterally. That means you can work on each side at a time. That will help fix any strength or muscle imbalance between the two sides.

As you move to heavier weights, it’s fine to drop the number of reps, but your form should not be compromised.

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Bottom Line

Upper back exercises for men are important for any back workout routine. However, it's noteworthy to remember that you cannot build your back without working on your middle and lower back.

Moreover, when you want to build muscle, consume enough protein to give the muscle group ample rest for the fibers to become thicker and stronger with time.

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