Thus far in my series of exercise posts I have mentioned a number of ways to strengthen different parts of your glutes, and otherwise lower body. Your lower body, by the way, which holds a large percentage of your overall muscle mass. Another muscle group which is a close second is your back.
Colloquially dubbed your lats, this moniker is taken from the largest subgroup of muscles from your back, namely the latissimus dorsi. So to make your back good and strong, conditioning them is crucial. Fortunately there are a whole host of exercises available for this very purpose.
To stick with the theme of calisthenics I will introduce to you one very important body weight back exercise that shall be a solid go to at any stage of your resistance training journey.
The Pull Up.
Well, allow me to explain. Traditional pull-ups are performed when one’s torso is perpendicular to the ground. While, of course, pulling themselves up by grabbing onto an overhead bar. These are actually quite difficult, even for folks at an intermediate level. Because of this, I suggest starting out by performing a pull-up with your torso parallel to the ground. These will be markedly easier. Reason being is due to your rear deltoid muscles taking a bit of load off your lats.
(Note: All forms of pull-ups will also slightly engage your biceps.)
OK. To perform these with your own body weight, a little creativity may be required depending on what you have to work with. Regardless, I will get you started with some ideas.
You have three main options really.
→ Using what you have in your own home.
→ Purchasing some Suspension Trainer Straps
→ Using a jungle gym at a playground
Resistance bands to some are considered an option as well, however I cannot recommend them as they will lose their elasticity over time. This means they will provide less resistance the more you use them, which defeats the purpose. You actually want to increase your resistance over time.
For a description of how to perform these type of pull-ups I am going to use the first option. Here we go.
Step 1:
Lay under a sturdy table such that your shoulders are in line with the edge of the table. Said table must be able to handle your body weight and then some.
Step 2:
Reach up and grab the table.
Step 3:
Pull yourself up off the floor towards the table as far as possible.
Step 4:
Slowly lower yourself back down to the floor.
This is one repetition (rep). You will be pivoting off the floor via your heels. During this whole motion, keep your legs and torso in line the entire time. Doing so will force you to engage your core. Aim for three sets of ten reps as a goal. If this is not achievable from the jump, no worries. This gives you something to strive to. If this is too easy, increase the amount of reps and/or sets.
The creativity on your part will come about if you find that a standard sized table is either too far out of a reach, or not far enough of a reach. This is important since you very much need a full range of motion to make this exercise effective while not overextending your shoulders. So, you may need to adjust the height of the table to fit your arm length.
If a table doesn't work for you, you can use two chairs with a sturdy wood, or metal rod bridging the two. Once again, these will have to be strong enough to deal with your body weight and then some. The thing is that chairs are closer to the ground, therefore, you will most definitely need to prop up the chairs on stable platforms to get them higher.
Personally, during the pandemic when gyms were closed, I used a jungle gym at a local playground. It got me outdoors (even when it was cold) in the fresh air. This I liked. And, it forced me to be creative with what was available, which I also liked.
Suspension straps are an investment, but, will have a multitude of uses if you want to keep things body weight focused in the future.
Learn to master these torso-parallel-to-the-floor exercises. Once you have done so, you can start to approach an upright pull-up by slowly introducing a bit of angle between your torso and the floor. When you do so, you will be using less of your rear deltoids, and more of your lats.
For sure if you are new to exercise and back work, these will come with time. Patience is key, so is consistency.
Keep at these, and you shall find yourself having an improved strength envelope. All physical tasks will become easier for you, and your overall back health will improve tremendously.
Enjoy
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