Many people wonder how to maximize the effects of hard work in their workouts. Sometimes it can be hard to notice your progress. It is quite normal at some point not to see results from training, to enter a state of stagnation. Such people do not do anything to get excited about sports again. They come up with all sorts of strange things. The most important thing is to know the problem from the inside.
How the back muscles are organized
A big back emphasizes how strong a man is. On the other hand, the V-shaped silhouette is the most desirable for men and is especially appreciated by women. In addition to aesthetics, a large and strong back protects the spine from injury, stabilizes the body, and allows you to straighten up proudly. The size of an inflated back is also an issue when shopping for a shirt. To build a giant back, you need to understand how these muscles work.
The biomechanics of back movement allows the muscles to work in two ways. When the shoulder blades move up and down, the broadest muscles of the back, which are responsible for the size of the figure, are worked. These are the so-called butterfly muscles. The round muscles are also involved. When the shoulder blades move forward and backward, the thickness of the muscles is worked, that is, the trapezius muscles are involved.
The back extensors are most involved in torso lifts, such as superman exercises and, of course, the deadlift.
Stretching exercises
The most important thing in any repetition, in any approach, in any back workout is a strong stretch! The most common reason back muscles don’t grow is because there is a lack of tension in them. This is easy to test. You need to hold the end position in each repetition for up to 1 second, and if you don’t feel any tension in your back while doing this, you are probably training incorrectly and to no avail.
While holding the barbell on your chest, you need to press the barbell with your elbows against your chest. When rowing, it is important to keep the barbell or dumbbell close to your body. The pump or the feeling of fullness in the muscles that the exerciser feels while working out is a good sign. It means that his back muscles are working properly.
The harder you squeeze the barbell, the better! In every repetition, in every approach, in every workout, you should squeeze the barbell as hard as possible. This will allow you to better feel the work of your back muscles and increase their tension. This turns into extra momentum used for development. It’s definitely worth checking out how this little trick works – it actually increases forearm strength.
Visualization
In strength training, the mind is just as important as the muscles. Since it’s impossible to watch your back during a workout, you need to visualize it. Before starting a workout, it is helpful to vividly visualize each exercise as if you are looking at your back.
You can close your eyes when doing exercises such as bar pulls or rowing. In your imagination, you should see each of your movements. This will give you a better feel for the muscles in your body.
Use of belts
Many people demonize grip strengthening straps. On one hand, straps take the load off the shoulder, but on the other hand, they allow you to carry a heavier load. Often the trainee feels that the back muscles could do another movement or carry a heavier load, but the arms can’t take it anymore.
It’s worth getting straps and using them when the arms can no longer support the weight. This way, the back will get an extra boost that would not have been possible without the help of the straps.
The danger of overzealousness
Most men think that the heavier the better. This is a mistake. Rushing to lift huge loads will make the workouts ineffective, and lead to severe fatigue. The weight should be chosen in such a way as to maintain perfect technique with each repetition.
If you rock your back and bend it, it will not grow. This way you can only injure yourself. Many times you see people with horrendous weights in the gym. They usually don’t have the perfect body, and they won’t be the biggest. Next to them, you can always see bigger and smarter guys who train with less weight, but more skillfully. The effectiveness of their approach to training is obvious – they are mindful of movement and visualization techniques.
Initial muscle fatigue
Initial muscle fatigue is a fairly popular training method. It allows you to attack your back in a different way. This forces the muscles to exert more effort and therefore leads to more development. The technique works great in case of stagnation.
It is based on the order in which the exercises are performed during the workout. Isolation exercises are performed before compound exercises. An example would be lowering a lifting barbell while standing with straight arms. This is the opposite action to lifting dumbbells with straight arms. This way, the back muscles get a little tired and one can move on to the compound exercise. This ensures that the trainee feels his muscles working.
How arm strength affects back training
Arm strength largely determines how much you can do when training your back. Using straps is fine, but grip strength cannot be neglected. The bigger it is, the better and tighter it will come out to squeeze the barbell. This technique is in the first tip. If you increase the strength of your forearms and biceps, which work very hard during back training, it will greatly affect the development of your back muscles.
These few simple tips can take your workouts to a whole new level, and the difference will be evident in just a few weeks. Already during your first workout, you can feel your muscles working much harder.
The key is to always remember that the weight is not the technique, which is important in the first place. Heavy weights will come by themselves.
