While a big chest may look aesthetically pleasing, a wide frame is what actually makes you look big, and one of the most important muscles to grow are your lats. Bigger lats give you an overall wider torso, which gives that desired v-taper look.
Of all the muscle groups, the back is arguably trained the worst. This guide will help you train your back optimally while avoiding redundancy. Your back consists of many muscles. Firstly, the lats, which give the width to your back. They are trained by shoulder adduction (bringing your arms down toward your body) or extensions (pulling your arms in). Next, you have the traps, which go from your neck to your upper-mid back, which are necessary for strong posture, and a complete upper body look. You have the rear delts, which is the rear part of your shoulder, often neglected but important for round 3D shoulders. You also have the spinal erectors, which go around your spine, mainly used for posture and support, and the rhomboids, which go in between your shoulder blades, which are used to retract your shoulder blades. Both of these muscles do not require direct training, and are usually sufficiently worked with other exercises.
There are so many different combinations of exercises you can do for back, and it is easy to have unnecessary volume in your routine. In fact, it’s a lot simpler than you think. The standard is two movements per muscle group. Do one lat movement (for this approach, a vertical pulling movement such as a lat pull-down is likely more effective than a row), and do one upper back row (where your elbows are flared) to target your traps, rear delts, and rhomboids. Start at two working sets to failure and see if you can recover. While this approach is technically sufficient, it might be a good idea to add a second lat movement. So for example, an upper back row, a lat pull-down, and a close-grip row, to help “bias” your upper and lower lats. While the difference in lower/upper lat activation will be minor, it’s worth trying two lat movements instead of one, if you really want to grow your lats, as long as you can recover from it. Now, suppose you feel like your traps and/or rear delts are underdeveloped compared to the rest of your back. In that case, it may be a good idea to split the upper back row into two isolation exercises, for example, a shrug variation to isolate your traps, and some form of rear delt isolation like a reverse fly.
The most important part is to make sure you can actually recover properly, and you are avoiding redundancy. The best way to avoid redundancy, is to follow the movement of your upper arm. For example in a lat-pull down and a pull up, your upper arm moves down toward your body, meaning you should not be doing both in the same session. Pick one that you enjoy, and get strong at it.
Remember that when it comes to lifting, your recovery is just as important. Make sure your sleeping 7-8 hours and eating 0.8-1g of protein per pound of body weight, to stimulate muscle growth. Remember to stay consistent and follow this advice, and your back is guaranteed to grow.
