6 Effective Bodyweight Back Exercises for Strength and Stability

If you're looking to train your back but don't have access to a gym or any equipment then you are in luck.

There are a variety of bodyweight back exercises that are very effective at helping you build a strong back.

We will cover tips on how to train your back using just your bodyweight and a few exercise ideas to help get you started.

 

What Are Bodyweight Back Exercises?

For anyone who doesn't know, bodyweight exercises are a specific type of exercise where the only form of resistance that you encounter is your body weight.

For example, the classic bodyweight exercise is the push-up or the sit-up. These are still quite difficult exercises, but the only thing providing you with any form of resistance is your bodyweight.

This is exactly what we're here to talk about today, but specifically about your back. Yeah, there are plenty of machines at the gym designed to exercise your back, but the whole point of bodyweight exercises is that you don't need those machines.

Let's move on and talk about some of the different muscles and muscle groups that are worked out when doing bodyweight back exercises.

Related Post: 6 Bodyweight Shoulder Exercises

 

What Muscle Groups Are Worked During Bodyweight Back Exercises?

Something great about doing bodyweight exercises, especially when compared to gym machines, is that you can target virtually every muscle in your back without having to use any equipment at all.

This is the case for both your upper and lower back muscles. On a side note, these bodyweight exercises can be excellent for helping to ease lower back pain and for improving your posture. Having a strong back is quite beneficial for many more reasons than just one.

Now, in terms of the different muscles that these bodyweight back exercises work, you can separate your back muscles into two categories, extrinsic and intrinsic back muscles.

 

Extrinsic Back Muscles

First, you have your extrinsic back muscles, which help you move your scapula, humorous, and upper limbs. These include your trapezius, latissimus dorsi, levator scapulae, rhomboids, and your serratus posterior.

 

Intrinsic Back Muscles

We then have your intrinsic back muscles. These muscles all work together to help move the vertebral column and to help you maintain your posture. Your intrinsic back muscles include your erector spinae, splenius muscles, transversospinal muscles, and your interspinales and intertransversarii muscles.

Yes, we know that this sounds a bit confusing, but the fact of the matter is that bodyweight exercises allow you to exercise virtually every muscle in your upper, middle, and lower back, which brings us to our next point, the benefits of doing bodyweight back exercises.

 

Benefits of Bodyweight Exercises

We want to take a quick look at the various benefits associated with doing bodyweight exercises instead of using dumbbells, barbells, weights, machines, or anything other than your body.

 

Cost-Effective

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of doing bodyweight exercises for your back is quite simply that they are cost-effective. You don't have to spend money on a gym membership and you don't need to buy any special equipment. All you need is your own body. Talk about saving money!

 

Time-Efficient

Another aspect of doing bodyweight exercises that many people don't consider is that they also help save time. Just like you don't have to buy a gym membership, neither do you have to go back and forth to a gym. These are exercises that you can do from the comfort of your own home.

 

Nothing Extra Needed

With bodyweight exercises, all you need is your body. You don't need any gym equipment, memberships, or anything else of this sort. These are exercises that you can do without having to spend any extra time or money, all from your living room.

 

6 Best Bodyweight Back Exercises

Now that we've covered the basics about bodyweight back exercises, let's take a look at some of the best bodyweight back exercises that you can do at home.

As you're about to see, these are all relatively simple exercises, but they can be extremely effective at working out your back.

 

1. The Superman

The first bodyweight back exercise we'd like to talk about is known as Superman. This is a fantastic bodyweight back exercise for targeting both your lower and upper back muscles, including your erector spinae, trapezius, and rhomboids. It also happens to be a good exercise for your glutes, core, and shoulders.

To do the Superman, follow the directions listed below.

1. First, lie down on the floor face down with your arms stretched out in front of you, and your legs out behind you.
2. Second, pull your abdominal muscles away from your floor and towards your spine. You want to maintain this throughout the whole exercise.
3. You now want to lift both your legs and arms off of the floor simultaneously while also engaging your glutes and back muscles.
4. Try to hold this position for at least 5 seconds before returning to the starting position.
5. Try to do at least three sets of 12 repetitions. If you want to make things a little easier on your neck, just widen out your arms.

 

2. The Reverse Snow Angel

The reverse snow angel is a very similar exercise to the Superman listed above, although there are some slight differences. Unlike the above exercise that was best for your upper and lower back, this one is best for your middle and upper back muscles, particularly your levator scapulae, rhomboids, and latissimus dorsi, as well as your shoulders, core, and glutes.

To perform the reverse snow angel, follow the simple steps we've listed below.

1. Once again, lay face down on the ground with your feet together and legs extended, but this time with your arms by your side. Your palms should be facing down.
2. Lift your arms off the ground a little bit and bring them to your side. You'll want to move according to a wide arc over your head and back until your arms are at your sides and your hands are next to your legs. If you're doing so properly, your fingertips should point towards your feet at the height of this exercise.
3. Repeat the motion and then return to your starting position, aiming to complete at least three sets of 12 repetitions.

 

3. Prone Pull

A similar exercise to the one we discussed above, here we have the prone pull. The prone pull is ideal for exercising both your middle and upper back muscles, including your levator scapulae, trapezius, rhomboids, and latissimus dorsi. It also happens to work out your arms and shoulder muscles.

To do the prone pull, follow the directions listed below.

1. Start by laying face down on the ground, preferably on an exercise mat. You want to start with your legs extended and your feet together.
2. Now, stretch your arms out in front of you so that they are straight, with your palms facing the floor, although they shouldn't be touching the ground.
3. You're now going to take your elbows and pull them back towards your lower back while squeezing your shoulder blades together, almost like you're doing the breaststroke.
4. You'll now want to return to the starting position and aim to complete at least three sets of 12 repetitions.

 

4. Plank Row

Another great bodyweight exercise for your back is the plank row. The plank row combines both planking and rowing, making it an excellent exercise for your upper, lower, and middle back muscles. It is especially useful for training your erector spinae, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, and trapezius. It's also a great exercise for your glutes, core, and arms in general.

To do the plank row, follow the directions we've listed below.

1. Start in the high planking position, which means that your hands should be flat on the floor with your arms extended. In other words, you're at the top of the push-up.
2. You're now going to flex your abdominal muscles and lift your left arm upwards in a rowing motion. Pause once you are at the top of the motion and then bring your hand back down to the floor.
3. You'll then want to repeat this on your right side, and alternate arms.
4. Perform two sets of this exercise, each lasting for 30 seconds, making sure to alternate your arms.

5. Wide Grip Pull-up

Okay, so when we said that all bodyweight exercises required only your body, that might not have been true. This is because here we are talking about doing a pull-up, particularly a wide-grip pull-up. 

To do a pull-up, you'll need some kind of weight rack, smith machine, or pullup bar. With that being said, this is a fantastic exercise for targeting your rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, and trapezius muscles, along with your core, arms, and back.

Here's how to do a wide-grip pull-up.

1. Hold on to the pull-up bar with your hands, making sure that they are wider than your body.
2. Using your back muscles, pull your body up towards the bar.
3. At the top, slowly pause, and then lower back down.
4. Do two sets of pull-ups for up to 15 reps.

Related Post: 8 Bodyweight Bicep Exercises

 

6. Cobra Pose

Finally, here we have a yoga pose, known as the cobra pose. This is an excellent exercise for your lower, middle, and upper back. It's ideal for training your erector spinae, the lats, and trapezius muscles.

Here's how to do the cobra pose.

1. Start by laying face down on the ground, preferably on a yoga mat.
2. Start with your hands placed beside your ribs.
3. Contract both your hamstrings and glutes so that the back of your legs are engaged, but don't lift your feet. At the same time, flex your abs to pull your belly button in towards your spine.
4. You're now going to push your hands into the ground so that your torso lifts off the ground. You should be hinging in the lower back and hips, while your pelvis and legs stay on the ground.
5. Aim to do two sets and hold for up to 30 seconds.

 

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is that there are plenty of great bodyweight exercises you can do for your back.

For the vast majority of them, you don't need any specialized equipment at all. This means that you can easily do them from home.

These exercises are all about being able to strengthen your back no matter where you are and no matter what kind of equipment you have at your disposal.