The Best Exercises for a Back Workout at Home

Are you interested in learning about back workout at home? Is your home the space where you feel most comfortable working out? If it is, you should absolutely go through the rest of this article.

We shall discuss a back workout at home along with bodyweight exercises and dumbbell exercises. Let’s dive deeper!

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An Example of a Back Workout at Home

Back workout at home (Photo via Andrew Valdivia/Unsplash)

When you’re doing a back workout at home, your machine options are limited. In fact, if you don’t have a home gym setup, machine options are nil. However, that doesn’t mean you cannot work on the lat muscles from home.

Here are some exercises that you can add to a back workout from home:

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1. Superman

• Lie on the floor on your stomach
• Extend your hands and legs outwards
• Lift your upper body from the chest and your legs
• Your hips should be pressed into the floor
• You will feel a stretch on your back
• Hold the position for a couple of seconds before relaxing

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2. Reverse Snow Angels

• Lie on the floor on your stomach
• Keep your legs extended
• Lift your upper body with your hips pressed onto the floor
• Extend your arms overhead
• From there, bring your arms to your sides and take them back to the starting position
• The entire time, your lat muscles should be engaged and arms extended

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3. Back extension

• Lie on the floor on your stomach
• Keep your arms behind your head
• Keep your legs extended backwards
• Lift your upper body and your lower body at the same time while your hips remain pressed onto the floor
• You will feel a stretch on your lower back
• Try to hold the position for a couple of seconds before relaxing

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4. Pull-Ups

• You’ll need to have a pull-up bar for this exercise
• Hold the pull up bar at shoulder-width or slightly wider
• Let your body hang, and use your core muscles to stabilize your upper body
• Engage your lat muscles and pull your body upwards
• Keep pulling until your chin is in-line with the pull-up bar
• Lower yourself steadily to maximize impact

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Assuming that you do not have a pair of dumbbells or a barbell, you will mostly use bodyweight back exercises to work on your lat muscles. Even in this regard, it is important for you to stretch and warm-up the muscles prior to doing these exercises.

However, if you have access to a pair of dumbbells, you can do a larger range of back strengthening exercises at home.

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Back Exercises Using Dumbbells

Dumbbell row (Photo via CATHY PHAM/Unsplash)

The following are some of the exercises that you can add to a back workout at home with dumbbells:

1. Bent-Over Row

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand
• Bend forward from your hips
• Keep your knees slightly bent
• Keep your back straight
• Engage your lats and pull the dumbbells towards yourself
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top of the motion
• Steadily lower the dumbbells before pulling them again for the second round

A variation of the bent-over row is the single-arm dumbbell row where you focus on one side at a time. It’s a good way to isolate the two sides of your lat muscles.

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2. Renegade Row

• Go into a push-up position while holding the dumbbells
• Hold the position and stabilize your back
• Pull your right hand towards yourself while your left hand balances your body
• Lower your right hand and place the dumbbell on the floor
• Repeat with your left while your right hand balances your body

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3. Reverse Flyes

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench
• Bend forward from your hips
• Extend your arms towards the floor and hold the dumbbells underneath your thighs and behind your heels
• Pull your arms outwards in a reverse fly motion
• Engage your rear delts and squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top of the motion
• Steadily lower the dumbbells to maximize impact

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4. Dumbbell Pull-Over

• Hold a dumbbell from one end
• Lie on a bench and hold the dumbbell over your chest with your arms extended
• Arch your lower back and squeeze your shoulder blades together
• Bend your arms backwards by lowering the dumbbell
• Using your lats, bring the dumbbell back over your chest
• Your arms should remain extended throughout the movement

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Apart from the above two lists, you can add certain back strengthening exercises to your back workout at home that stretch the muscle fibers.

• Wall angels
• Bird-dog
• Planks
• Snow angels
• Superman

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Doing a back workout at home may have as many variations as you can have at a gym, but that doesn’t mean the exercises aren’t effective. You should keep doing the exercises, and as you become stronger, it’s advisable to invest in a pair of dumbbells or resistance bands to challenge your muscles further.