Back exercises with instructions

The back is the largest group and the least obvious one. nocardio splits it into four areas: traps, lats, upper back and lower back.

The lats pull the upper arm down and toward the body. They carry every pull from overhead — pull-ups, lat pulldowns, pullovers — and assist on rows. The upper back squeezes the shoulder blades together; it is the area that decides rows and face pulls. The traps lift and support the shoulder blade, mostly on shrugs. The lower back keeps the spine upright while the hips work — deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, hyperextensions.

Pull only from overhead and you build width. Pull only horizontally and you build thickness. Both are a back, but only together.

What matters in execution. Pull with the elbow, not the hand — consciously driving the elbow back or down changes what you feel immediately. On rows the shoulder stays down; let it ride up and the traps take over the upper back's job. And on anything driven by the hips, the spine keeps its natural shape. A rounded back under load is not a matter of style.

How much per week. Roughly 10 to 20 sets. The back tolerates the upper end, because it is several areas sharing those sets: ten sets of lat pulldowns are ten sets for one area, not for the whole back.

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