Best Old-School Back Workouts

If there is one muscle group that will make you stand out from the crowd, it’s a broad, thick, wide, powerful-looking back. Big biceps and sculpted pecs are great, but a well-developed back is visible from the front, the side, and the rear. It’s a real three-dimensional body part that can make your physique look much more impressive.

Some of the best bodybuilders who ever lived were famed for their fantastic backs, not least Franco Columbu, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, and Ronnie Coleman. Like most old-school champion bodybuilders, these guys built their backs by training them hard and heavy.

Discover the secrets of the best old school back workouts and use them to build your most muscular back ever!

Back Training Anatomy

While you don’t need a degree in anatomy and physiology to build a monster back, knowing a little about how your back muscles works can still be useful. Knowledge of the muscles that make up your back and knowing how they work will help you understand why some exercises and workouts are better than others.

The main muscles that make up your back are:

Latissimus dorsi

Known as your lats for short, this is the muscle that most people think of when it comes to back training. Located on the side of your upper back, this wing-like muscle gives your upper back its width.

It has three main functions: shoulder extension, shoulder adduction, and shoulder medial (inward) rotation. Exercises that help build wider lats include lat pulldowns and pull-ups.

Of all the old-school bodybuilders, Mr. Olympia and lifelong friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger Franco Columbu had one of the widest backs ever. Because of this, he was nicknamed the bat.

Trapezius

Called the traps for short, this kite-shaped muscle covers most of your upper back. It is made up of three sections, each of which has a different function. The upper traps are responsible for elevation of your shoulder girdle, while the middle traps retract your shoulder girdle. The lower fibers pull your shoulder girdle downward, a movement called depression.

Big upper traps make your upper back and neck look insanely powerful, while well-developed mid-traps give your upper back thickness. Strong lower traps don’t add a lot of your physique, but they help keep your shoulders down when you are doing exercises like pull-ups and pulldowns. Some of the best traps in bodybuilding belong to Ronnie Coleman.

The best exercises for your upper traps are shrugs and deadlifts, while bent over and seated rows, which also work your lats, are also great mid-trap exercises.

Rhomboids

Located between your shoulder blades, the rhomboids work with your mid-traps to pull your shoulders back and together. They are vital for good posture and shoulder stability. The good news is that any exercise that works your mid-traps also works your rhomboids.

Erector Spinae

This group of muscles makes up your lower back. Running up either side of your spine, your erector spinae is responsible for extending your back, as well as for lateral flexion. It also holds your lower back stable during things like bent-over rows, deadlifts, and squats.

One of the most amazing backs in old-school bodybuilding belonged to Dorian Yates. His “charismas tree” erector spinae was out of this world. Yates also popularized a very special lat exercise called the Yates’ rows.

The best exercises for building strong erector spinae muscles include deadlifts, 45-degree back extensions, and Romanian deadlifts.

The Best Old-School Back Workouts

Here are three old-school back workouts designed to pack mass on your lats, traps, and spinal erectors. Each one contains favorite old-school bodybuilding exercises. Remember to warm up before any of these workouts. A few minutes of easy cardio followed by some dynamic stretching and a couple of light sets of each exercise should do the trick.

Old-school back workout #1

You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to build a powerful back. In fact, some golden-age bodybuilders like Arnie and Franco did it with little more than some free weights and a pull-up bar. This low-tech workout is inspired by those legends.

Do this workout 1-2 times per week, e.g., Monday and Thursday.

Barbell deadlifts: 5 sets of 5 reps, pyramiding up in weight set by set
Wide grip pull-ups: 4 sets of maximum reps
Bent over barbell rows: 4 sets of 8 reps
Power shrugs: 3 sets of 10 reps
45-degree back extensions: 3 sets of 15 reps

Exercise details:

1. Barbell deadlifts

No exercise works your back like deadlifts. It trains your lats, upper traps, mid traps and rhomboids, and your erector spinae too. If you are serious about building a real old-school back, you gotta do deadlifts!

How to do it:

Place a loaded barbell on the floor. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your toes under the bar.
Squat down and grab the bar with an overhand or mixed grip. With your arms straight, drop your hips, lift your chest, brace your abs, and slightly arch your lower back.
Drive your feet into the floor and stand up. Keep the bar close to your legs throughout.
Push your hips back, bend your knees, and return the weight to the floor. Reset your position and repeat.

Tips:

Do not round your lower back or bend your arms.
If you use a mixed grip, make sure you switch hands set by set to develop your muscles evenly.

2. Wide grip pull-ups

A favorite of the bat himself, Franco Columbu, this exercise will add width to your lats. It’s also a good exercise for your biceps.

How to do it:

Reach up and grab your pull-up bar, so your hands are about 1.5 shoulder-widths apart.
Without kicking with your legs or swinging your body, bend your arms, lift your chest, and pull your sternum up toward the bar.
Lower yourself back down under control and repeat.

Tips:

Use an assisted chin/dip machine if you can’t do many pull-ups.
If you can do more than ten reps, make this exercise more challenging by wearing a weighted vest or chin/dip belt.

3. Bent over barbell rows

This old-school back exercise will build lat and mid-trap thickness, as well as working your erector spinae, albeit indirectly as a stabilizer.

How to do it:

Hold a barbell using an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip.
Bend your knees slightly and then lean over, so your upper body is roughly parallel to the floor.
Bend your arms and pull the bar up and into your sternum.
Lower the bar and repeat.

Tips:

Do not round your lower back as this can lead to injury.
Keep your wrists straight.
Imagine leading with your elbows.
Pull your shoulders back and together.

4. Power shrugs

Working your upper traps, this exercise was a longtime favorite of mass monster Ronnie Coleman. It allows you to lift heavy weights and will pack size on your upper back like no other exercise.

How to do it:

Grip and hold a heavy barbell with an overhand, shoulder-width grip.
Bend your knees slightly and then rapidly extend your legs. Use this momentum to help you lift the weight as you shrug your shoulders.
Lower your shoulders as slowly as you can and then repeat.

Tips:

Use wrist straps to stop your grip failing before your upper traps.

5. 45-degree back extensions

The final exercise in this old-school back workout is for your erector spinae. Use your bodyweight only and crank out a couple of high rep sets to get a great lower back pump.

How to do it:

Adjust the height of the pad so that it is level with your hips. Mount the machine, placing your feet flat on the footrests. Your knees should be slightly bent.
Lean forward from your hips and lower your upper body down toward the floor.
Come back up so that your shoulders, hips, and feet form a straight line, and then repeat.

Tips:

If you can do 15 reps easily, hold a weight plate across your chest.

Old-school back workout #2

You don’t need a long list of exercises to build a fantastic back. Some bodybuilders have achieved this goal using very short workouts. This old-school back training program is inspired by Dorian Yates, nicknamed the Shadow. Do two sets of each exercise. The first set is a warm-up, while the last set should be taken to failure.

Do this high-intensity, low volume workout just once per week.

Weighted chin-ups: 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Yate’s row: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
Deadlifts: 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Exercise descriptions:

1. Weighted chin-ups

This exercise put your biceps in a powerful position for pulling. Because of this, you should find that you can do more reps or use more weight than you can for overhand pull-ups. If you can do more than 6-8 reps, use a chin/dip belt to make this exercise more demanding.

How to do it:

Hold your pull-up bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip.
Without kicking your legs or swinging, bend your arms and pull your chest up to the bar.
Extend your arms and descend slowly until your elbows are straight, and then repeat.

Tips:

Focus on lifting your chest up to the bar rather than your chi to maximize lat and mid-trap recruitment.

2. Yates’ row

The Yates’ row was Dorian’s signature Olympia back-building exercise. Judging by the width and thickness of his back musculature, it’s safe to say this exercise really works!

How to do it:

Grab a barbell with a shoulder-width, underhand grip.
Bend your knees slightly and lean forward, so your torso is inclined between 30 to 45-degrees.
Bend your arms and pull the bar into your lower abdomen. Keep your elbows tucked in to your sides.
Extend your arms and repeat.

Tips:

Do not round your lower back.
Use your legs to cheat the weight up on the last couple of reps. Make sure you still lower the weight under control.
Note that you should not lean as far forward as you would for bent-over rows. This means you can use more weight without overloading your lower back.

3. Deadlifts

As explained in workout #1, Barbell deadlifts.

Old-school back workout #3

While a lot of back-building masters love doing deadlifts, you don’t have to do this exercise if you don’t want to. In fact, bodybuilding legend Lee Haney rarely did deadlifts because he believed they could make your waist thicker. This deadlift free-workout is inspired by eight-time Olympia winner Haney’s legendary back training program.

Do this workout 1-2 times per week, e.g., Monday and Thursday.

T-bar rows: 4 sets of 6-8 reps
Bent over barbell rows: 4 sets of 8-10 reps.
Wide-grip pulldowns: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Chin-ups: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Seated cable rows: 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Exercise descriptions:

1. T-bar rows

T-bar rows are similar to Yate’s rows in that you incline your upper body to between 30-45 degrees. This helps explain why that when Haney faced off against Yates in the Mr. Olympia, they had very similar back development.

How to do it:

Stand astride the T-bar and grab the narrow, parallel handles. Stand up and lean over, so your torso is angled at about 45-degrees.
Bend your arms and pull the handle into your midsection. Keep your elbows tucked in to your sides.
Extend your arms all the way to stretch your lats and then repeat.

Tips:

Do not round your lower back.
Use your legs to help lift the weight on the last rep or two of the final set.

2. Bent over barbell rows

As explained in workout #1.

3. Wide-grip pulldowns

While wide-grip pull-ups were Franco Columbu’s go-to back builder, they are very tough if you are a little on the heavy side. You can get the same benefits by doing wide-grip pulldowns, which allow you to adjust the weight to match your strength.

How to do it:

Grab the bar with a wide, overhand grip. Your hands should be about 1.5 shoulder widths apart.
Sit down, so your thighs are under the leg pads, and your feet are flat on the floor. Lean back slightly and lift your chest up toward the ceiling.
Bend your arms and pull the bar down to your upper chest. Squeeze your shoulders down and back.
Extend your arms and repeat.

Tips:

Experiment with different grip widths to find the one that you feel most in your lats.
Do not pull the bar down behind your neck as this decreases lat activation and could increase your risk of shoulder injury.

4. Chin-ups

As explained in workout #2.

5. Seated cable rows

Like T-bar and barbell bent-over rows, cable rows are great for building back thickness. However, they are a little easier on your lumbar spine. Use a parallel handle and really pull your shoulders back to make this exercise as effective as possible.

How to do it:

Sit on the seated row machine and place your feet on the footrests. Your knees should be slightly bent. Lean forward and grab the handles. Sit up straight and tall with your arms extended in front of you.
Bend your arms and pull the handle into your abdomen. Keep your elbows close to your sides.
Extend your arms and repeat.

Tips:

Lean forward and then back on the last 1-2 reps to help you finish your set and go beyond failure.
Do not round your back as this could lead to injury.

Important back training tips

Use these tips to get the best results from your back-building workouts.

1-Make sure you can feel your lats working. If you can’t feel the muscle/mind connection, try using less weight and moving more slowly. The muscle/mind connection is vital for building bigger, stronger muscles (1).

2-On everything but deadlifts and back extensions, focus on leading with your elbows. This will make all pulldown, pull-up, and row exercises much more effective.

3-Don’t train your biceps the day before your back. Most back exercises involve a lot of biceps action. If your biceps are already tired, you won’t be able to do as many reps or lift as much weight. Separate your back and biceps workouts by 2-3 days.

4-Include a variety of exercises on your old-school back workouts. Doing the same exercises or training programs over and over will soon lead to a progress plateau. Keep your workouts fresh and interesting by using a variety of exercises. Science tells us that this is vital for long-term progress (2).

5-Make sure you respect your body’s need for rest. Muscles only grow between workouts and when you sleep. Training more than your body can handle will stop you from making progress. Make sure you get 7-9 hours of sleep per night and have 1-3 days off training each week. Also, make sure you supply your body with the nutrients it needs to recover and grow. You have to eat big to get big!

Frequently asked questions

Do you have any questions? We’ve got answers! If you can’t find the answer you want below, drop us a line in the comments section, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

How much weight should I lift?

We can’t answer this for you in terms of pounds or kilos, as everyone has different levels of strength. However, you should choose weights that take you close to failure within the prescribed rep range. If the program says 6-8 reps, if you can’t do six, your load is too heavy, and if you can do more than eight, it’s too light. Chose the one that puts you right in the middle.

How often should I train my back?

Ideally, you should train your back once or twice a week. Once per week works best for some people, but if you recover faster, twice a week will work even better. Experiment with both once and twice-per-week back workouts and see which one is right for you.

How long should I rest between sets?

As a rule, you should rest according to the following guidelines:

1-5 reps – rest 3-5 minutes between sets
6-12 reps – rest 60-90 seconds between sets
13-20 reps – rest 30-60 seconds between sets

Adjust your rest periods so that you feel ready for your next set but aren’t so recovered that your workout starts to feel easy. You should feel your muscles getting more and more tired from one set to the next.

How long should I stick to each workout?

Even the best old-school back workout will stop working once your muscles get used to it. Avoid stagnation and training plateaus by changing your workout every 4-8 weeks. If you feel your progress has come to a halt, change your workout for something new. But, if you are still gaining, stick with it.

I can’t do pull-ups; can I do pull-downs instead?

Yes! These exercises are similar enough that they are interchangeable. However, you should work on getting stronger so you can start to include pull-ups in your workouts. Why? Because it increases the number of exercises you can call on for your back workouts. More exercises mean more variety and better progress.

The wrap-up

If you want to build a big, strong, healthy back, these best old-school back workouts can help. They are tough, but that’s what it takes to create a back you can be proud of.

If you look around the gym, you’ll see lots of people with good arms, big chests, and even six-pack abs. Big backs are much rarer. Step out from the crowd and bulk up your back the old-school way!

References:

1-Calatayud, Joaquin; Vinstrup, Jonas; Jakobsen, Markus Due; Sundstrup, Emil; Brandt, Mikkel; Jay, Kenneth; Colado, Juan Carlos; Andersen, Lars Louis (2016-03). “Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training”. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 116 (3): 527–533. doi:10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7. ISSN 1439-6327. PMID 26700744. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26700744

2- Fonseca, Rodrigo M.; Roschel, Hamilton; Tricoli, Valmor; de Souza, Eduardo O.; Wilson, Jacob M.; Laurentino, Gilberto C.; Aihara, André Y.; de Souza Leão, Alberto R.; Ugrinowitsch, Carlos (2014-11). “Changes in exercises are more effective than in loading schemes to improve muscle strength”. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 28 (11): 3085–3092. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000539. ISSN 1533-4287. PMID 24832974. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24832974

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