The best back workouts to do at home for a stronger, sculpted physique

Home workouts are more convenient, accessible, affordable, and private. When it’s time to work those lats and other major back muscles, you can choose from a range of effective back-building exercises to do from the comfort of home. 

I love putting my favorite tunes on and working out at home, where I have all my home comforts and can completely zone out into my little bubble. When I’m done, I don’t need to travel home because my bathtub, shower, couch, or bed are all right there. Plus, my kitchen is also nearby, where I’ll probably go first to drink lots of water. 

Strengthening your major back muscles could help lower back pain, improve your overall functional fitness, carve a more muscular upper body, and more. We’ve listed the best back workouts to do at home to sculpt a stronger, bigger back. 

The importance of training your back

Boosting the strength of your back muscles enhances your overall fitness and helps you excel in the gym. 

The following are some of the many benefits of training your back:

• Lowers your risk of back injuries
• Builds a more sculpted back and a wider upper part of the desirable V-taper look
• Improves your functional fitness and posture
• Improve your ability to perform deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and other exercises using heavier weights 

The muscles in your back

The main muscles in your back include your:

• Erector spinae – The erector spinae muscles run the length of your spine and help you move to an upright position.
• Stabilizing muscles – Your local and stabilizing muscles, like the multifidus, are closer to your spine, and as the name suggests, they help you stabilize your spine.
• Obliques – Your obliques aren’t just on the front sides of your abdominal area; they also wrap around and connect to the thoracolumbar fascia in your back. Your obliques help you rotate your spine.
• Latissimus dorsi – Your lats are one of the largest muscles in your back, and they have a flat “V” shape. Your lats help control the movement of your shoulders.
• Trapezius muscles – Your traps are large muscles that begin at the back of your head and neck and extend down across your shoulders and the middle of your back, forming a “trapezoid” shape.
• Teres major – The small teres major is a thick muscle in your shoulder joint that assists the functions of your lats. 
• Rhomboid major and minor – Your rhomboid major and minor are located just under your traps, and they assist in retracting your shoulder blades.

What’s the best way to train your back?

Fitness enthusiasts work their back muscles in different ways. It’s best to incorporate pulling and rowing moves like pull-ups and bent-over rows. If you don’t have any dumbbells or weights, you can still get a solid workout using your body weight. I started working out at home with just a yoga mat and two adjustable dumbbells.

You can either add a few of these exercises to your full-body workout routine to target your back, or you can choose five or six exercises for back workouts to do at home as full back workouts. Make sure you’re targeting all of your major back muscles, including the upper, middle, and lower back. Fitness enthusiasts like Max Euceda recommend moves like barbell rows and dumbbell shrugs for your upper back, chest rows and other exercises for your mid-back, and classic moves like deadlifts and Superman to engage your lower back.

Other dedicated fitness enthusiasts like Jeremy Ethier share that training the back can be more difficult than training other areas because there are several muscles, and the stronger ones tend to take over, often leading to muscular imbalances. A well-rounded back workout routine is important for this reason.

Include a warmup

Warm up for five minutes before starting the workout with some light cardio, like arm circles, shoulder shrugs, and high knees. You should also include dynamic stretches and moves that promote blood circulation and start warming up your back muscles with moves like the sun salutation yoga pose, cobra pose, and cat and cow pose.

The best bodyweight back workouts to do at home

These are the best bodyweight exercises to help you carve stronger, bigger back muscles in the comfort and privacy of home. Try to rest for a minute or two between exercises. 

Wide-grip pull-up

Wide-grip pull-ups are an effective exercise to grow your back muscles, and you’ll feel the workout in your lats. Wide-grip pull-ups are a simple movement to build your lats for a wider upper part of the desirable V-taper look. You’ll need a pull-up bar for this move.

How to do a wide-grip pull-up:

1. Grip the pull-up bar with your hands wider than shoulder-distance apart. Make sure you have a secure, wide grip on the bar.
2. Pull your entire body up to the bar until your chin is level with or just over the bar.
3. Lower yourself back down with control until you reach the starting position.
4. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

Superman

The Superman is a fun-sounding bodyweight exercise that mimics Superman’s flying pose in the air. This exercise strengthens your core, enhances spinal stability and posture, and targets your erector spinae muscles in your lower back and your shoulders, glutes, hamstrings, upper back, and abdominal muscles.

How to do the Superman:

1. Lie face down on the floor in a prone position with your legs straight and your arms extended out in front of you. 
2. Keep your head neutral and slowly lift your arms and legs about 6 inches up off the ground until you resemble the Superman pose when he’s flying through the air. You’ll feel your lower back muscles contracting. 
3. Engage your core and glutes and squeeze your shoulder blades at the same time.
4. The goal is to lift your belly button just a little bit off the floor.
5. Hold the position for a few seconds before carefully lowering your arms, belly, and legs back down to the ground.
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Pushup

The pushup is a classic exercise for your triceps, chest, shoulders, and upper back, including your lats and rhomboids. 

How to do a pushup:

1. Stand facing the elevated surface and place both hands about shoulder-distance apart on the edge of the surface. Keep your arms extended and avoid locking your elbows in the starting position.
2. Bend your elbows so they’re parallel to your body, and carefully lower your chest down until you touch the edge of the surface. 
3. Push your body away from the surface until your elbows are extended back in the starting position, but they aren’t fully locked.
4. Repeat until you complete the set.

Bird dog

The bird dog Pilates exercise works your back extensors and back muscles, like your erector spinae and multifidus. This move also works your abdominals and hip extensors and helps support your spine.

How to a bird dog:

1. Start on all fours in a tabletop position with your knees and feet about hip-distance apart.
2. Maintain a neutral spine.
3. Draw your abdominals in and lift one leg behind you and the opposite arm out in front of you.
4. Do not arch your back when lifting your leg.
5. Bring your leg and arm down and repeat on the other side.
6. Repeat until you complete the set. 

Hollow hold

Improve your core stability and strengthen your back and abdominals with the hollow body hold. This exercise targets your transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, obliques, quads, hip flexors, erector spinae, and more. 

How to do the hollow body hold:

1. Lay on your back on a mat with your arms straight over your head and your legs extended. 
2. Engage your core and try to press your lower back into the floor.
3. Squeeze your glutes and quads, point your toes, and lift your legs up off the ground.
4. With your head in a neutral position, lift your shoulders up off the floor so your body resembles the shape of a banana. You should be holding your arms and legs extended up off the ground. 
5. At the top of this movement, only your lower back and hips should be in contact with the floor, and your legs and mid-back should be up off the floor.
6. Hold this position with proper form.
7. Carefully bring your legs and shoulders back to the floor to the starting position.
8. Repeat until you complete the set.

Plank row

With the plank exercise, you hold your body up off the floor, balancing on your forearms and toes or your hands and toes to resemble a straight plank. The plank row is a variation of the plank exercise where you also perform a rowing motion with your arms. This variation works your upper, middle, and lower back muscles, including your lats, rhomboids, traps, and erector spinae. You’ll also engage your core, glutes, and arms.

Here’s how to do a plank row:

1. Start on the ground with your elbows stacked directly under your shoulders.
2. Straighten your legs out behind you and rest your weight on your hands and toes.
3. Engage your glutes and core and create tension in your entire body to maintain the position.
4. Your spine and back should form a straight line that is almost parallel to the floor.
5. Lift your right arm to perform a rowing movement and hold the pose at the top before returning your right hand down to the floor.
6. Repeat the rowing motion with your left arm.
7. Repeat the rowing motion and alternate your arms for about 30 seconds before returning to the plank position.
8. Bring your knees to the floor to rest.

Twist squat

The twist squat improves your spinal rotation and posture and works your lower back. With this move, you’ll feel a good stretch and get all the benefits of squatting.

How to do a twist squat:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend your knees, push your hips back, and lower your body down into a squatting position.
3. As you squat down, engage your core and twist or rotate your torso to the right.
4. Hold the pose for a moment before twisting your torso back to the front and returning to the standing position.
5. Repeat the squat twist on the left side.
6. Repeat and continue alternating sides for your desired number of reps.

The best back exercises to do at home using weights

Get a serious workout at home with these back-building strength training moves, from the deadlift to the bent-over row. You’d be surprised by the versatility of a pair of dumbbells. If you have adjustable dumbbells, you can increase the weight over time as you increase your strength. 

Romanian deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is a popular deadlift variation that lights up your posterior chain and your obliques and engages your core. It’s an excellent strength training compound move for your lower back, glutes, and more. You can do this move at home using one or two dumbbells, a barbell, kettlebells, or resistance bands.

How to do the dumbbell Romanian deadlift:

1. Start in a standing position with your feet about hip-width apart and your toes pointing straight ahead. Hold the dumbbells down in front of your thighs with a closed overhand grip. Your palms should be facing your thighs.
2. Hinge at your hips, engage your core and push your hips back.
3. With a slight bend in your knees, start lowering the dumbbells down along your legs with control. Keep the dumbbells close to your body.
4. Lower the dumbbells down until you feel a sufficient stretch in your hamstrings on the backs of your thighs.
5. Bring your hips forward and bring the dumbbells back up to return to the starting position.
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Dumbbell row

Don’t skip the dumbbell row when you’re planning your upper body back-building routine because this exercise engages your middle and lower traps, rhomboids, upper traps, rear deltoids, and rotator cuff muscles. You’ll also increase your pulling power.

How to do the one-arm dumbbell row:

1. Start in a lunge position with your left foot forward and your right foot back.
2. Hold the dumbbell in your right hand.
3. Lift or pull the weight up to your chest, making sure your elbow is bent at a 90-degree angle.
4. Engage your core throughout this movement.
5. Lower the weight back down.
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Kettlebell swing

For me, there’s something fun about kettlebell swings. Maybe it’s just the simple act of swinging the teapot-shaped weight around, but I can definitely feel a solid workout on my upper and lower back and posterior chain. You can also do this move with a dumbbell.

How to do a kettlebell swing:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-distance apart while holding a kettlebell with both hands and your arms straight down. Your palms should be facing toward you.
2. Bend your knees and engage your core.
3. Carefully swing the kettlebell back and down between your legs to start to build momentum.
4. Push your hips forward so your body is in more of a standing position and use this momentum to swing the kettlebell up to your chest level or higher.
5. Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Renegade row

The renegade row is also called the plank row; this time, we’re using dumbbells to up the challenge. The renegade row engages your rhomboids, lats, and traps in your back as well as your shoulders, arms, core, and chest muscles.

How to do the renegade row:

1. Place two dumbbells about shoulder distance apart on the floor.
2. Start in the plank position, supporting your body weight on your hands and toes. Ensure your body is extended straight from your head to your heels, and the dumbbells should be directly under your shoulders.
3. Support your body with the dumbbells or the handles of the kettlebells.
4. Engage your core.
5. Push the left dumbbell into the floor and row the right dumbbell up to your torso.
6. Pull your shoulder back and flex your elbow on the rowing side to bring the dumbbell to your torso.
7. Lower the dumbbell to the floor and repeat the rowing movement with the left dumbbell.
8. Repeat until you complete the set.

Rear-delt fly

The rear-delt fly or the bent-over reverse fly is a superior exercise for your traps and rhomboids and your infraspinatus and teres minor muscles of the rotator cuff. You’re also working your core, glutes, and quadriceps muscles in your thighs.

Here’s how to do the rear delt fly:

1. Stand upright and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Bend forward, hinging at your hips, so you’re leaning forward, but your torso isn’t completely parallel or horizontal with the floor.
3. Extend your arms straight down so your palms are facing each other.
4. Engage your core, squeeze your shoulder blades, and lift the weights up in a wide arc until your arms are in line with your back. (Think of this arcing motion like you’re an eagle spreading your wings).
5. Pause for a moment before lowering the weights and bringing your arms back down to the starting position.
6. Repeat for your desired number of repetitions.

Dumbbell pullover

The dumbbell pullover made our back-building workout list because it fires up your lats, triceps, pecs, shoulders, and more. 

How to do a dumbbell pullover:

1. You can do this move lying flat on your back on the floor or on a workout bench.
2. Hold one dumbbell with both hands.
3. Your feet should be flat on the floor, and the bench should support your head and upper back.
4. Hold the dumbbell with both hands and straighten your arms up so the weight is above your chest in the starting position.
5. Slowly take the weight back overhead as far as you can, bending your elbows and moving the weight until your upper arms are next to your ears.
6. Return the weight back to the starting position.
7. Repeat until the set is complete.

Dumbbell shrug

The dumbbell shrug is a simple shoulder shrug while holding two dumbbells, but you’d be surprised by the effectiveness of this move when it comes to isolating the trapezius muscles in your back. The dumbbell shrug also engages stabilizer muscles like your erector spinae.

How to do the dumbbell shrug:

1. Stand upright, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be down at your sides, and your palms should face inward toward your body.
2. Your feet should be planted directly under your hips, and your gaze should be straight ahead in the starting position.
3. Engage your core and use your traps to pull or “shrug” your shoulders up to your ears.
4. Pause for a moment before slowly lowering the dumbbells back down to the starting position.
5. Repeat until the set is complete.

FAQs

How can you build your back fast?

It takes time to build your back muscles, but your back will start to grow if you implement these workouts two or three times a week. Implement progressive overload, where you gradually increase the weight over time as you build strength. Consuming optimal protein also helps accelerate the muscle-building process.

Can you train your back and biceps together?

You can train your back and biceps together because these “pulling” muscles work in harmony. Many of the most effective back exercises also engage your biceps.

Does strengthening your back muscles improve your posture?

Strengthening your back muscles with strength training and targeted exercises improves your posture and spinal stability.

Should you train your back every day?

Most fitness experts recommend including rest days in between your back workout sessions to give those muscles time to repair and recover. Aim for at least one or two days of rest between back workouts to maximize your potential.