Dumbbell Upper Back Exercises
Work Your Lats Using These Exercises
Dumbbell upper back exercises are often overlooked. That’s too bad because a wide upper back can help your waist look smaller and give you that lean yet muscular look that everyone finds so attractive. Today I want to share with you a dumbbell exercises you can incorporate into an upper back workout. Add these staples to your workout routine and watch your body change.
I personally love dumbbell exercises for a number of different reason. They…
- allow you to hit your muscles at a slightly different angle
- allow you to increase your range of motion
- isolate left and right sides to correct any asymmetries
These factors are so important when doing your upper back exercises and other muscle groups because they help correct imbalances and spur on new muscle growth. Dumbbell exercises are great for home workouts, in your garage gym routine, or as a change in your back workout routine.
Pull ups and inverted rows are great exercises and not something you should get rid of all together but mix it up, add some variety into your back workout, and fix those imbalances.
See The Dumbbell Upper Back Exercises In Action
Training your back is critical to a balanced and healthy muscular build. A strong back will even help your bench press, build you back and build your bench. If a bigger bench isn’t all that important to you, know that back exercises are great for burning fat and flattening your stomach. Upper back exercises burn so many calories because your back has lots of muscle mass.
You may workout from home and have limited equipment to do bodyweight exercises like chin ups and inverted rows, dumbbell exercises make a great alternative. You may have access to all the equipment in the world but for reasons mentioned before add these into your back routine.
Dumbbell Upper Back Exercises – The One Arm Row
I love the dumbbell row, it’s tough and versatile. As with many dumbbell exercises there are countless options with how to perform the movement, but here are the basics.
- bend at the hips so that your back is flat and parallel to the floor
- brace your core
- with arm fully extended row the DB up from the floor up to your hip
- keep your elbow in tight to your body
There are many different options to mix the exercise up…
- change your hand position, neutral grip, supinated grip, or pronated
- you can do it with bodyweight unsupported, or supported
- alternate left and right rows, row 2 at a time
- row with both arms at the same time
As you can see there are plenty of different options with this dumbbell exercise.
Dumbbell Upper Back Exercises – The Pullover
The Dumbbell Pullover is great not only for your back and lats but it alos hits your chest and abs too. This old school back exercise was popular back in the day of Arnold, but is still just as effective today. One word of caution. Be conservative with the weight, if not done right you can easily hurt yourself.
How to do the dumbbell pull over
- start by lying length wise on a flat bench
- with a slight bend in your arms hold the dumbbell straight above your chest
- from there lower dumbbell back over your head stretching your lats
- return the weight to the start position by pulling the weight back using your back, lats
As the dumbbell gets closer to the starting position your chest will become more involved.
For a slightly different approach lie across a bench instead of the lengthwise. This gives a greater stretch. But be careful, because your back is unsupported in this position. You will need to stabilize your body keep by keeping your hips up, abs braced, and glutes contracted.
Dumbbell Upper Back Exercises – The Rear Delt Raise
Now to build the upper back muscles between your shoulder blades and backs of the shoulders. These muscles are tiny and don’t require heavy dumbbells.
Just like the unsupported dumbbell row you will have a slight bend in the knees, braced core and flat back. Let your arms hang straight down then raise them straight out to your sides.
The freedom of dumbbell exercises allows you to hit each muscle from a slightly angle. Here stand more upright and you will recruit the medial delts more. To get more activation in the back of the shoulders and between your shoulder blades bend over more.
Don’t abandon your classical upper back exercises in favour of these dumbbell exercises but use them as a variation for your workout routine.
Be sure to add these upper back exercises and dumbbell exercises to your workout.