Articles by "How To Build Muscle"
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Do you dream of adding some serious mass to your back, but are unsure of the best route to achieve this goal? Well look no further, as we provide you with some of the most effective exercises that should be a staple of any truly great back workout. A big back is something to be proud of, so here are our chosen five back exercises to help you along the way.
#1 The Deadlift
If you're serious about your training program, and your goal is to gain impressive amounts of muscle, you'll definitely want to include deadlifts in your routine. Although this exercise can be daunting to first timers, if performed correctly, the deadlift is one of the greatest back exercises available.
Not only does the deadlift target the back muscles, it also directly trains the lower body too. In fact, this wonderful exercise works the hamstrings, thighs, core, lower back, upper back and traps, so you'll be utilising a huge amount of muscle stimulation in one simple exercise!
#2 Bent Over Barbell Rows
This fantastic exercise is another that provides you with a great deal of muscle stimulation over a large area. Not only will bent over barbell rows target your upper back, they'll also work your lats, traps, lower back and hamstrings. A further advantage of the bent over barbell row is that it requires little in terms of equipment, keeping you away from those pesky machines. Ensure that the weight you use is heavy enough to fully stimulate your muscles, but also allows for correct form and full range of motion.
#3 T-Bar Rows
Continuing with our theme of exercises requiring little in terms of equipment, we present the T-Bar row. Commonly found within the routine of old school bodybuilders, this lift is both functional and effective. The T-Bar row should be included within your training program to add thickness to your lats, whilst also adding mass to your upper back, traps, rhomboids and deltoids. As with all free weight exercises, ensure that the weight you add to the bar is heavy enough to stimulate your back without limiting your range of movement.
#4 Single Arm Dumbbell Rows
The single arm dumbbell row is a great addition to any program, providing stimulation to the middle and upper back, whilst also targeting the lats, shoulders, traps and biceps. Unlike the barbell row, the single arm dumbbell row allows for isolation of each side of the back, which is useful as back training covers such a large area of muscle. To really get the most out of single arm dumbbell rows, remember to focus on pulling the weight with your back muscles, not the biceps.
#5 Pull Ups and Chin Ups
For the most part, we believe that the most useful back exercises involve free weights. When choosing our top five back exercises, however, it was an easy decision to include pull ups and chin ups. Both of these exercises are highly effective within back training programs, and again require very little equipment. Beginners should first attempt to perform chin ups, with the palms facing towards the body, as they utilize more of the bicep than the pull up, making the exercise a little easier to perform. Once the chin up and pull up have been mastered, resistance can also be added in the form of a weight belt to increase the difficulty of the exercise.
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What I recommend
Multi-vitamin. I recommend an inexpensive multi-vitamin from your local drugstore. Do NOT go into places like GNC to get a multi-vitamin because it will not be cheap or tested for safety. If you want a safe, effective multi-vitamin, walk into your local drugstore and get one there. A multi-vitamin is good for filling any gaps in your diet and overall health.
Green Tea. I do not recommend the green tea extract pills, I only recommend drinking the good stuff. Green tea is high in antioxidants and is good for overall health. If you don't like green tea, don't worry about it. Green tea will NOT make or break your results.
Fish Oil. Fish oil is more of a "maybe" on my list. If your diet has a sufficient amount of fatty acids, then you won't need a fish oil supplement.
That's it! I don't recommend anything else because everything else is just a waste of money and totally not needed. People may argue that protein powder should be on the list however, protein powder is a food not a supplement. Anything that has calories is considered food, supplements do not.
I recommend you buy your supplements at bodybuilding.com since they will be the cheapest there, however don't get caught in the trap. When you visit bodybuilding.com, you will be overwhelmed on the amount of supplements available. Trust me, 90 percent of them do absolutely nothing!!!
SUPPLEMENT FAQ
What about Creatine? Creatine is a supplement that has very mixed opinions. In my opinion, Creatine is a waste of money. Trust me, I have tried almost every supplement out there. Creatine is a waste of money. It's more beneficial to use the money for healthy food. May work for others, but I'm skeptical.
What about pre-workouts? Pre-workouts are the biggest scam ever. I have tried twenty-three different pre-workouts and they all do the same thing... nothing! If you think they're doing something, then you are falling for the pre-workout trap. It's not the pre-workout, it's your mind. Companies that make pre-workouts want you to believe that they work, so they add caffeine to give you a jolt. Then they have you hooked into thinking that you can't workout without a pre-workout. Abracadabra... customer for life.
CLA? I took CLA for about 4 months and nothing happened. I can tell you that any results you get while taking CLA will be from your diet and exercise routine, not from CLA. CLA is a waste of money and who knows what it could be doing inside your body.
What about Fish Oil? Fish Oil is actually a decent supplement however, your diet should contain essential fatty acids, which means you don't need to waste your money on Fish Oil. If you feel that you don't have enough fatty acids in your diet, then you actually might want to supplement with a fish oil supplement.
Glutamine? Again, I really don't believe supplements like these are necessary. You shouldn't need a supplement to help you recover faster because the diet should do all the work. Diet is so important in bodybuilding no matter how many supplements you take, the diet will be the key factor in your success. From my experience, Glutamine does help a bit with recovery, but a lot of protein powder out their already has Glutamine in it, so therefore you don't have to spend any extra money on Glutamine.
Weight Gainers? The problem with weight gainers is that they are mostly empty calories. It is true that some weight gainers have a lot of vitamins and minerals, but it would be a thousand times better to eat actual food. The other thing is you have to drink this weight gainer, which means your body will not absorb all of the nutrients. You're body can only absorb nutrients so fast. It's almost like someone drinking three scoops of whey at one time, and another person drinking the whey slowly throughout the day. The one who is drinking the whey slowly throughout the day will absorb the most amount of nutrients. The one who drank the whey all at once will most likely crap it out.