Best Back Exercises for Olympic Weightlifting and Muscle Building!

The Importance of a Strong Back for Weightlifting

As a weightlifter, having a strong back is absolutely crucial. Exercises your back plays a pivotal role in almost every aspect of weightlifting, from like squatting and pulling to pressing overhead.

Think about it – the main lifts in weightlifting, the snatch and the clean & jerk, both involve standing up with the barbell from a bent-over position. That’s where your back strength comes into play, keeping you upright and allowing you to perform these explosive movements with power and control.

But it’s not just about the competition lifts. A strong back is essential for virtually every exercise you’ll encounter in the gym. Whether you’re deadlifting, rowing, or even doing something as simple as a plank, your back muscles are working hard to keep you stable and injury-free.

And let’s not forget about the benefits that extend beyond the gym. A strong back can improve your posture^[1], alleviate lower back pain, and even boost your overall athletic performance. It’s a game-changer, my friends.

Back Anatomy and Muscle Groups in Weightlifting Exercises

Back Anatomy and Muscle

To fully appreciate the importance of back training, it’s essential to understand the major muscle groups involved. Here’s a quick breakdown:

The Erector Spinae: These muscles run along your spine and control all movements of your axial skeleton, including helping you stand up straight. Exercises like deadlifts, snatches, cleans, and hyperextensions target the erector spinae^[2].

The Lattisimus Dorsi (Lats): These are the large muscles under your arms that span a significant portion of your upper back. Your Lats^[3] are involved in any pulling motion that brings your upper arm back towards your midline, such as rows, pull-ups, and pull-downs.

The Trapezius (Traps): These muscles lie across your shoulders and the back of your neck. They contribute to the “triple extension” that elevates the bar in the Olympic lifts and helps keep your shoulders pulled together and back.

The Rhomboids: Located across your upper back, the rhomboids^[4] assist in pulling your shoulders back and stabilizing your upper back during lifts.

The Posterior Deltoids: This small but crucial muscle controls the angle at which your scapula sits when your arm is overhead. A strong and stable posterior deltoid is essential for weightlifting^[5] to prevent injury.

The Best Weightlifting Exercises for Back

Now that we’ve established the importance of a strong back, let’s dive into the exercises that will help you achieve that goal. Buckle up, because this is a comprehensive guide to the best back exercises for weightlifters.

The Clean Deadlift

The Deadlift Setup versus the Clean Setup (Video Credit: Invictus Fitness YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Start with your shoelaces underneath the barbell and place your grip comfortably outside of your legs.
Get set by taking your eyes to eye level in front of you.
Find tension through your back and push your knees out so that your chest is higher than your hips at the start.
Push from the floor to a standing position with straight arms, keeping the barbell as close to your body as possible throughout the lift.

Benefits:

• Works all of your back muscles together
• Reinforces the correct technique of the pull to the hip in the clean
• An accessible way to build absolute strength for the Olympic lifts

The Hyperextension

Hyperextension incline (Video Credit: ATA Gym YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Secure your legs in a prone position and fold at your waist.
Use a GHD machine if available, or have a partner hold your legs in place.
Fold at your hips with your arms crossed at your chest or behind your head.
Lift your shoulders to elevate your torso, forming a straight line with your body at the top of the movement.
For added intensity, hold a weight plate or grab a barbell.

Benefits:

• One of the few exercises that target your lower back independently
• The movement mimics the hip extension in the Olympic lifts
• Strengthens your lower back, protecting against injury

The Reverse Hyperextension

Reverse Hyperextension for Low Back Pain (Video Credit: RehabFix YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Use a reverse hyperextension machine if available, or find a spot where you can lay face down with a flat edge, like a high plyo box.
Hang your legs vertically, with your hips starting at a 90-degree angle.
Secure your torso and kick back with straight legs until your body forms a straight line.
For added resistance, use bands around your ankles.

Benefits:

• Keeps your lower back healthy and strong
• Trains full hip extension, benefiting the Olympic lifts
• More accessible than regular hyperextension since you can hold yourself in place

The Single-Arm Bent Row

Single-Arm Bent Over Row (Video Credit: Scott Herman Fitness YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Find a single dumbbell or kettlebell.
Slightly bend your knees and hinge at your hips, with your torso as horizontal as possible and a flat back.
Plant your free arm as support, using a flat bench if needed.
Pull the weight towards you, bringing your elbow up and back to the height of your ribs, letting your lats do most of the work.

Benefits:

• Supporting yourself with your non-working arm improves balance and muscle isolation
• The unilateral movement identifies imbalances that may not be apparent in barbell lifting
• Taking the pressure off your lower back when in a bent position

The Pendlay Row

How to Perform a Pendlay Row (Video Credit: The Physio Fix YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Start with the loaded barbell resting on the ground.
Find your grip with straight arms, elevate your hips slightly, and maintain a flat back and horizontal body position.
Row the barbell into your chest at the height of your ribs, then return it to the floor between reps for a true Pendlay row.

Benefits:

• Using the barbell makes the movement applicable to the Olympic lifts
• Resetting between reps takes the pressure off your low back
• Teaches you to pull from a dead stop with explosive power

The Prone Row

Perform Prone Rows (Video Credit: Buff Dudes Workout YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Find a flat bench and a barbell (or dumbbells) of desired weight.
Place the weight underneath the bench, adjusting the height so that when you’re lying face down, you can grip the weight with straight arms.
Pull your elbows back, bringing the weight towards you at the height of your ribs, then control it back down to complete the rep.

Benefits:

• Effectively strengthens your lats independently of your lower back or hamstrings
• Helps keep the barbell close to your body in the Olympic lifts
• Great for working around a back injury

The Rear Delt Fly

To Do A Rear Delt Fly (Video Credit: PureGym YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Grab a dumbbell in each hand, slightly bend your knees, and hold a hip hinge with your torso as horizontal as possible and a flat back.
With slightly bent elbows and palms facing each other, fly both arms outward to a straight line, then control the weight back down to finish the rep.

Benefits:

• Activates the muscles of your upper back that hold tension
• Strengthens your shoulders for better posture in the lifts
• Helps prevent rounding of your back during heavy lifts

The Scapular Push-Up

Scap Push ups (Video Credit: The Active Life YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Set up in a straight-arm plank or standard push-up position, bracing your core.
While keeping your arms straight, lower your chest by pinching your shoulder blades together.
Once they meet, push away so that your shoulders are rounded at the top to finish the rep.

Benefits:

• Activates the full range of motion of your scapulae^[6]
• Connects keeping your shoulders tight with engaging your core
• Scapular strength is essential in both the pulling and catching phases of the Olympic lifts

The Wide-Grip Straight-Arm Pulldown

Wide Grip Straight Arm Lat Pulldown (Video Credit: Jorden Pagel YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Use a cable machine with a long straight bar, or secure a PVC pipe to the pull-up bar or rig using resistance bands.
Widen your grip similar to a snatch grip, extend your arms out, and pull your palms in towards you, bringing the bar into your hip.
Control the motion back to complete the rep.

Benefits:

• The wide grip mimics the lat work involved in the snatch grip
• Challenges your core to stay tight while contracting your lats

The Inverted Row

The Barbell Inverted Row (Video Credit: Champion Physical Therapy and Performance YouTube Channel)

How to Perform:
Use a barbell in the rack, rings, or TRX straps.
Hang under your grip with straight arms and walk your feet forward so that your body is roughly diagonal to the floor.
Set your core, pull your elbows back, and bring your chest to the height of your grip. Return to straight arms between reps.
For maximum intensity, elevate your feet above your shoulders.

Benefits:

• Strengthens the pulling capabilities of your upper body
• You can easily adjust the intensity by changing the angle of your body
• Works your grip strength

Programming Weightlifting Exercises for Back

As a weightlifter, your training sessions can be intense and time-consuming. That’s why it’s important to find a way to incorporate back work efficiently without adding hours to your workout.

The solution? Pepper in one to three back exercises at the end of your regular training sessions. Aim for 2-4 sets in a moderate rep range of 8-15 total repetitions.

This approach allows you to accumulate solid weekly volume for your back without extending your time in the gym indefinitely. By targeting different areas of your back each session, you can ensure well-rounded development and avoid overtraining any one muscle group.

For example, you could dedicate one day to exercises that primarily target your lats, such as pull-ups or straight-arm pulldowns. Another day could focus on your lower back with hyperextensions^[7] or reverse hyperextensions. And yet another session could emphasize your upper back and rear delts with face pulls or rear delt flies.

Consistency is key. While it might be tempting to blast your back with an intense high-volume workout every now and then, it’s far more effective to incorporate manageable back work into your routine on a regular basis.

Don’t Neglect Your Back

In the pursuit of impressive lifts and a physique that turns heads, it’s easy to get caught up in training the “mirror muscles” – the ones that are visible and aesthetically pleasing. However, neglecting your back muscles can be detrimental to your progress and overall performance.

Your back is a critical component of virtually every movement you perform, both in and out of the gym. A strong, well-developed back not only enhances your weightlifting capabilities but also improves your posture, reduces the risk of injury, and contributes to overall functional strength.

So, don’t make the mistake of overlooking your backside. Incorporate the exercises outlined in this guide into your routine, and you’ll be well on your way to building a back that’s not only impressive but also capable of supporting your weightlifting goals.