How Do I Train Back Muscles With Calisthenics?
To begin with, there are many muscles in the back, and there are many exercises that work them out.
This might get intimidating and confusing when defining a back routine with bodyweight exercises. At the same time, the challenge is finding how to do a home workout for the back without equipment.
Achieving a big muscular physique takes time and effort.
But NOT knowing:
- What exercises to do?
- How often you should train them?
Will diminish your results and take longer to achieve your goals.
First, let’s take a little anatomy reminder and look at the back muscles to understand what we are trying to accomplish when working out the back.
Usually, when you go to a gym, the machines show if they work out the upper, middle, or lower back exercises. However, looking at the chart above, you can notice some muscles intertwine, and many cover a large part of the back.
This is why we believe it’s more important to know which muscles are primly getting activated with each exercise. Also, consider that in calisthenics, most exercises are compound movements, which means that they work out more than one muscle at a time.
We will separate the exercises by each back muscle and include different difficulty levels so you can adjust according to yours.
In the end, we will suggest a home workout routine for your back so you can start implementing it as soon as you finish reading.
Before Starting – A Few Tips
Equipment Necessary
Even though all the exercises are bodyweight back exercises, you will need to invest in the near future to progress faster.
This is the best calisthenics equipment we recommend so you can start projecting into the future as to what you should buy.
Full Body Workouts
If you’re looking for a full-body workout, we recommend the following.
These are great workout programs to get started as a beginner.
Nutrition
Make sure you are consuming the right amount of protein for your goals.
We discuss this in another post.
1. Back Exercises For Erector Spinae – (Back Extensions)
The erector spinae are the muscles that cover the vertebral column.
Its main function is to straighten the back. This is why every exercise you do with extensions you are basically activating the erector spinae.
Now, if you are looking for a bigger and stronger back, this is not the muscle you need to work out.
Having said that, if you don’t have a good erector spinae development, you will lag with all the other back muscles.
This is a crucial muscle that you need to work out to have enough strength in the other progressions. At the same time, most of the pain in the lumbar spine originates from a weak erector spinae.
This means that if you have lower back problems, these are the exercises you should do.
Bird Dogs
If you are a beginner, bird dogs are the best way to start.
Just lower your body on the floor, placing your hands and knees touching the ground. Then you extend one arm and the opposite leg.
Try to do at least 10 repetitions for each side and 4 sets.
Single-Leg Deadlift
The single leg-deadlift has the added balance and coordination difficulty level.
You basically lower your hands to the ground and extend one leg as you lower your body.
If you have a bar or a dumbbell that you can grab with your hands, you will add resistance to the workout.
If you want to make it harder, just keep adding more weight.
Superman Extensions
This is a very deceitful exercise.
Looking at it seems quite easy, but putting it into practice, has its challenge. At the same time, the core has to be very well developed to hold both arms and legs extended.
This is one of the best exercises for back extensions, and you should aim to achieve this exercise.
Your lower back pain will thank you!
In case you want to make it harder, you can add weight to your arms or feet. If you are able to do superman extensions with weight, you can say you have excellent erector spinae development!
2. Back Exercises For Trapezius – (Shrugs)
If you analyze the shrug, you are basically pulling the shoulders up to your ears when you are in a seated or standing position.
The other way to look at it is by pulling your body without moving your arms. This is where the scapular pull becomes a type of shrug.
Scapular Pull (Pull Up Shrug)
3. Back Exercises For Rotator Cuffs – (Shoulder Rotations)
If you look at the back muscles at the beginning of the post, you can see there are 3 muscles in the backside of the shoulder.
These are the infraespinatus, teres major and teres minor. The three muscles grouped together are called the “rotator cuffs.”
Like the erector spinae, these are muscles usually forgotten since they are trained to do rotation movements.
For these exercises, you will need either resistance bands or calisthenics rings.
4. Back Exercises For Rhomboids – (Horizontal Pull)
The best exercise for the horizontal pull is the bodyweight rows.
These can be easily done using a chair, but we also recommend having a bar or rings.
Horizontal pull also engages the latissimus dorsi and the rotator cuffs, so these are excellent exercises you should include for a full back workout.
Inverted Row
Tuck Front Lever Pull Up
5. Back Exercises For Latissimus Dorsi – (Vertical Pull)
Vertical pulls are probably the hardest and most complete back exercise you could probably do.
You basically need to carry all your weight.
There are regressions and progressions that we will mention so you can get started.
Even though we classify these exercises as Latissimus Dorsi dominant, you will exercise rhomboids, rotator cuffs, and even the trapezius.
Make sure always to include vertical pull in your routine!
Pull Up
If you cannot do a full pull-up, here are a couple of options for regressions and progressions.
- Assisted Pull Ups (with assistance bands)
- Negative Pull Ups (Jump with the pulling movement, and lower yourself slowly)
- Regular Pull Up
- Weighted Pull Up (Add a weighted vest)
If you want to develop and engage different muscles, try the following.
Change The Grips
- Pronated (Or Overhand)
- Supinated (Or Underhand)
- Alternated
- Neutral
- False
Back Workout Routine At Home
So how do you put everything together?
Probably easier than you think, what you want to do is the following.
| Muscle | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest Times (Min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erector Spinae | Back Extensions | 4 | 10 -15 | 1 – 2 |
| Trapezius | Shrugs | 4 | 15 – 20 | 1 – 2 |
| Rotator Cuffs | Shoulder Rotation | 4 | 15 – 20 | 1 – 2 |
| Rhomboid | Horizontal Pull | 4 | 8 – 12 | 2 – 3 |
| Latissimus Dorsi | Vertical Pull | 4 | 5 – 10 | 2 – 3 |
Do this routine twice a week. Once you can achieve the sets and reps, try the following.
- Add more sets (it’s the easiest way to add more volume to your routine).
- Add more weight or a harder progression. Progressive overload is how you build muscle.
- Reduce rest times.
- Keep adding the 3 options mentioned above, but make sure not to add more reps. If you already reached the maximum reps for the exercise, add sets, weight, or reduce rest time, but adding more reps will make the progress slower.
