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on 06 January, 2013

Workout of the Week, Focusing On The Back and Traps

Here is a workout which targets the Back muscles and, the upper part of the shoulders behind your neck, the Trapezius Muscles.  For this workout we will start with the back, and then finish off with Traps.

The Back is one of the largest muscles we have and thus it’s essential to hit it from a lot of different angles with a wide array of exercises.  The exercise selection will depend on which parts of YOUR back need more development than the rest.  For instance, some people may require more width on their back and others may already be wide enough, but want to work on the thickness and density of their back muscles.

By knowing what you want to achieve you can choose the right exercises to target the specific areas you want to build up.

In the following workout we will start with exercises focusing on widening the back, and then as we go on we will get to exercises which will help with adding some thickness to the back.

It is very easy when training your back to just go through the motions on each rep, and to allow other muscle groups such as the biceps and shoulders to do the work.  You really need to focus on using your back to pull the weight and on squeezing your back with each rep to get the maximum results out of your workout.  And always try to avoid slouching your back over in any exercise, maintain a slight arch in your lower back throughout.

This workout can be done by pretty much anyone, male or female who has a bit of experience in the gym.  For the beginners, you can also do it, just maybe scale back on two or three of the exercises or decrease the amount of sets you do per exercise.  The rep ranges are all between 6 and 20, so nothing too heavy, but you need to choose a weight which will suit you.  Do not try to go too heavy too quickly.  Make sure to use proper form and FULL range of motion in all exercises.  If your range suffers then reduce the weight!

Download a printable workout log of the Back And Traps Workout here:

Back & Traps Workout

5 minutes cycling/walking on an incline to warm up.

Back Workout

Exercise 1:

  • Wide grip pull ups

Sets: 4
Reps: 10, 10, 10, 10

Exercise 2:

  • Wide Lat Pull Downs (Palms facing each other)

Sets: 3
Reps: 15, 12, 10
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 3:

  • Wide Lat Pull Downs Behind Neck

Sets: 3
Reps: 15, 12, 10
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 4:

  • Shoulder Width Pull Downs Palms Facing You

Sets: 4
Reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 5:

  • Seated Machine Rows

Sets: 5
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 6:

  • One arm dumbbell rows

Sets: 4
Reps:  12, 10, 8, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 7:

  • Bent over barbell rows with an underhand grip

Sets: 4
Reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Superset with

Exercise 7.1:

  • Dumbbell Pullovers

Sets: 4
Reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Increasing weight each set.

What is a superset?  A superset is where you perform two exercises back to back, one after the other taking no rest in between them.

Exercise 8:

  • Dead lifts

Sets: 5
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Trapezius Workout

When training the traps, and performing shrugs, be sure to pull the weight up AND BACKWARDS pushing your shoulders back while you do it.  Do not just shrug it up and down or round wards.

Exercise 1:

  • Barbell Shrugs

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 2:

  • Dumbbell Shrugs

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Superset with

Exercise 2.1:

  • Seated Machine Reverse Flyes (Palms facing down)

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

 

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