Exercises for Building a Bigger & Broader Back

A lot of guys have pumped up pecs as a result of training their chests every 
time they go to the gym. But how often do you see a guy with an impressive
 looking back? I'm talking about round traps, wide lats and deep spinal erectors. It's a rarity because most people don't know how to train their backs properly, or worse, they completely the ignore the importance of doing so.

We're going to fix that. In this post I'll show you exactly what you need to do to build 
the kind of physique that commands respect and makes you stand out from the crowd - as I usually like to say. The upper back can tolerate a lot of work so you'll train it twice a week directly on 
upper body days and once a week on lower body days with deadlift variations.

Creating Imposing Traps 

The best way to get big traps is by doing a variety of Olympic lifts. Since those are too complex for a lot of people I'd stick with deadlifts and shrugs.

Deadlift variations can be done once every 7-14 days for sets of 3-10 reps. Work up to a heavy top end set, but stay further away from training to failure than what you would do for other exercises. 
Deadlifts take quite a toll on your recovery ability so you can't train them too hard
 or your other workouts will suffer.

Shrugs can be done on the same day you do deadlifts or they can be done with lighter
weights on upper body day. Three to four sets of 8-15 reps will get the job done. Mix it up between ultra heavy sets and lighter sets where you get a full range of motion
 and hold the weights at the top for two or three seconds.

Achieving Mid-Back Thickness

For mid-back thickness you need to row. One-arm dumbbell rows, seated cable rows
 and chest-supported rows will be your best options. Do two to four sets of 8-12 reps, and be sure to squeeze hard in the fully contracted position. If you can't hold the
 weight for a second at the top, it's too heavy. Check your ego and drop off some of the weight.

Getting Wider Lats

To widen your lats you need to do chin ups. Neutral grip (palms facing each other) is my favorite option since it's the least stressful on the elbows and shoulders. Be sure to initiate each rep by driving your elbows down and contracting your lats. At the top, your chest should be out and your shoulders should be pulled back. Do two to
 four sets of 6-15 reps.

If you can't do sets of 6 perfect chin ups (which most people can't once I show 
them the perfect form), then do pulldowns. Functional training gurus will tell you that 
pulldowns will give you cancer and cause testicular atrophy but you won't be doing them enough to worry. Just do them until you are strong enough to do proper chin-ups.

Sculpting Monster Upper Back/ Rear Delts

To keep your shoulders healthy, I'd recommend adding in some face pulls or rear
 delt flys, also called bent over lateral raises. This is pump work to get blood into your muscles and help you achieve the hypertrophy (AKA growth) you want, so it doesn't have to be obsessively tracked in your training journal. Just do two to four sets of 12-20 reps 
and get some blood in there.

Strengthening Lower Back

The spinal erectors will be trained on lower body days with back extensions or 
reverse hyper extensions. These should be done for sets of at least 15 reps, and you can go 
as high as 30 or more.

Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) are another great lower back exercise that can be done on lower 
body days. Don't go ultra heavy on these but rather focus on getting a good stretch 
in the hamstrings for sets of 5-10 reps, on average. If you're advanced, with perfect technique and the ability to hold a neutral spine under load for a longer amount of time you could work up to sets of 15 reps on these. Very few exercises cause as 
much soreness as RDLs, so ease into them and keep the volume fairly low. One or 
two top end sets will be enough.

Putting It All Together

On upper body days your back work might look like this (along with some pressing, of course):

Rows- 3 x 8-12
Neutral Grip Chin Up- 3 x 6-15
Rope Face Pull- 2 x 12-15
Dumbbell Shrug- 2 x 12-15

On lower body days your back work might look like this after you have finished 
squatting:

Barbell Romanian Deadlift- 2 x 6-8
Barbell Shrug- 3 x 8-10
Back Extension- 2 x 20