Combining your back and biceps in one workout has been a classic muscle building session for decades. It’s a reliable, effective time tested approach, and simply makes sense. We also recruit biceps for most of the row-punching and pull-type movements that target the back.
Even if your biceps aren’t getting much stimulation from some back exercises, they can still warm up later in the workout and finish them off with biceps workouts directly.
It was a match played in heaven, and many body part split programs are incomplete without a solid back and biceps day. Whether you’re not used to the gym or think you’ve tried everything, here are some of the best back and biceps workouts to add size and strength.
Back and biceps training
Beginner’s Back and Biceps Training
The goal for beginner level training is to do so by using exercises that are relatively easy to master, becoming stronger and having a low barrier to entry. Many lifters who are new to the gym are drawn to using rows of barbells to train their backs. Barbells can be a great tool for back training, but especially for beginners, they are often very tired with the skills gathering.
Base building bag and biceps
This back and biceps training routine uses exercises that are relatively easy to learn and are suitable for establishing strength and muscle foundation. Applying strict techniques focusing on the target muscle gives a terrible pump to the pulling muscles by the end of the session. Technically, if you need to label your training in detail, you can consider it as “back, biceps, shoulder workouts” because you are paying attention directly to the rear head of the shoulder muscles.
Bendable row of dumbbells
A row of bent dumbbells provides powerful back-building stimulation without straining the spinal erectile agent (lower) like a row of barbells. Avoid shaking your torso to move your weight.
How to do that: Place the dumbbells in each hand and place your arms straight down to the side. Bend your legs slightly, and bend your hips forward, not lumping your hips. Turn your hands and let your weight reach your toes. You drive past your elbows and try to feel the contraction in your back muscles. Before repeating, return the weight to the extended position. Maintain the same hip angle throughout the exercise.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 60-90 seconds between sets
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
The rat pull-down on the close grip helps to stretch the rat and hit the rat in a way that the rows didn’t. Mixing with vertical pulls (like LAT pulldowns) and horizontal pulls (like rows) is a very effective way to target multiple muscles in the back.
How to do that: Attach the neutral grip (palms facing each other) to the pull-down cable. Grab the handle and sit down, straighten your arms and extend over your head. Plant your feet flat and secure your knees under available pads. Face slightly backwards and keep your upper body almost vertical. Drive your elbows until the bar is generally close to your face or chin. Controls stretching when returning to the arm overhead position.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 60-90 seconds between sets
Machine reverse fly
Machine reverse fly torches the rear deltoid. The posterior delt is technically part of the shoulder muscles, but the posterior muscle head is involved in many back exercises. It makes sense to train directly as part of your back and biceps routine. Because, like the biceps, the posterior delt is predisposed after training the back.
How to do that:Sit on a reverse fly (or “reverse pick deck”) machine with your chest on the pads. Grab the handle with a thumbs up grip with your hands at shoulder level in front of you. Bend your elbows slightly. Pull your hands back until they line up side by side along your shoulders. Don’t “over-pull” to reach behind your body. Move your hands back to the forward position without slamming the weights against the stack.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 1 minute between sets
Alternating dumbbell curls
Alternating dumbbell curls allow you to concentrate individually on each arm, resulting in serious bicep training backs. A slight suspension (wrist rotation) helps to adopt more overall biceps muscles, including Brachioradialis, and replenishes first-class biceps exercise.
How to do that: Stand with both hands with dumbbells in each hand, and hang your arms to your side. Please give your thumbs up in your left hand. As your hands pass through your hips, raise your palms and continue curling until the weight approaches shoulder level. Reverse the movement and bring the weight back to your side. Repeat the movement with your right hand. Replacement arms with every repetition.
Set and person in charge: 3 x 10-20 per arm
Rest time: 45-60 seconds between sets
How to proceed
As a beginner, your goal is to learn the right shape with simple movements while being stronger. Muscles should be built in all the right places, as long as the compound (multi-joint) exercises become stronger, while using good techniques.
Press and hold each set until you finally reach the end of your rep range. Once you reach that ceiling, you will need to add more load and repeat the process, but only if the form remains strict. Don’t develop the habit of cheating just to move your weight. Once the load is significantly increased by about 30% or more, you can jump into the next program.
Once you reach the midstage stage – you feel more skilled at the gym, and your shirt is filled with a little muscle. It’s particularly appealing to start “egolifting” when you notice the big lifter shaking when the larger lifter in the gym gets caught in the line. Don’t do that. It can injure you and in fact does not stimulate your back well using clear and strict techniques.
Dialing in the form will help you feel your back is working deep throughout the targeted muscle fibers, which can trigger growth. The same principle applies to the biceps – no swing. Let your biceps do the job, not your ego. Rather than momentum, flexion of the elbows develops the arms.
Back and biceps training at a new angle
Moving to the intermediate lifter will allow you to process even more volumes as long as you eat enough nutrients to recover and grow. It is also a good time to introduce different types and stimulate the muscle area in different ways to prevent various injuries. (1) This back and biceps gym training uses several different movements to target the muscles.
The breast-supported line is the great first exercise of the day. It is stable and does not require warming as much as it is self-supporting sequence. Stability helps you concentrate on your back. A single arm row allows you to utilize one-sided (single arm) strength construction, as you can lift more with one arm than trying to lift two dumbbells together. This one-sided focus also helps you fix any imbalances you may have.
Inclined dumbbell curls stretch your biceps more than you stand and elicit a greater growth response. (2) Extended movement can cause more pain due to increased range of motion, but since you have more experience under the belt, you should be able to handle it.
Chest support row
This movement will fully support your upper body, essentially remove your hips from the equation, making it a strict backbuilding exercise with little restrictions. The breast-supported row is a great way to start a back-centered workout day as your rat and large back muscles work without fatigue in your lower back.
How to do that: Chest down to a supported bench and grab the handle with a grip that folds your palm. Release the weight before pulling the bar as high as possible. A brief pause in the contract position before pulling the weight down completely.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 60-90 seconds between sets
Wide grip pull down
This move is one of the most basic pull-down variations. With an emphasis on long overhead stretches with strong contractions, wide grip pull-downs are key players and there are many back workouts.
How to do that: Attach the long bar to the pull-down station. Sit with a grip slightly wider than your shoulders. Secure your knees under the pads and extend your arms straight overhead. Keep your torso upright, run down your elbows and pull the bar to almost jaw level. Pause before returning to the overhead position.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 60-90 seconds between sets
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Single arm dumbbell rows are classic back training exercises. Learning this move is essential for long-term back development. This will target the back muscles and significantly reduce stress in the lower back.
How to do that: Grab the dumbbell with one hand and point your palm towards your body. Apply non-labor on a flat bench or on the same lap. Raise your arms and drive backwards until the dumbbells are close to the ribs. Pause for maximum contraction and then lower to full stretch. Run all the reps with one arm before switching sides.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: No rest between your arms. 1 minute between sets
Cable rear delt fly
Targeting the rear delt with a cable instead of a machine can increase tension and improve muscle building stimulation. (3) This unique movement allows you to earn more benefits from relatively little weight.
How to do that: Each hand holds the cable from the other side, standing in the middle of a double cable station with a high pulley. Bend your abs and slightly bend your knees. Lower your elbows, pull your back, and slightly bend your arms. For full contraction, the arms should be slightly behind the torso. Cross your arms in front of your body and return to your extended position.
Set and person in charge:3 x 10-15
Rest time: 45-60 seconds between sets
Tilt the dumbbell curls
Inclined dumbbell curls are a powerful option for biceps exercise. Strong stretching and intensive contractions are a major trigger for muscle growth. Try to prioritize techniques over heavy loads. If done properly, a relatively light weight can feel very heavy. Resist the urge to cheat.
How to do that: Set the adjustable bench to approximately 45 degrees. Lie down with dumbbells in each hand. Return to your head, shoulders and bench pads. Dangle your arms straight with your palms facing forward. Move only your hands and dumbbells and increase the weight. Do not move your elbows, upper arms, or head. Once you reach the highest possible position without moving your elbows or upper arms, reduce the weight to full stretch.
Set and person in charge:3 x 10-15
Rest time: 45-60 seconds between sets
How to proceed
Once you are able to achieve the end of your contact range, increase the load on the next training. It’s the basic bread and butter progression. There’s no need to complicated things. As long as you keep your form strict and eat enough while you’re strong, your arms will inflate and eventually get your own zip code.
Advanced back and biceps training
As it’s even stronger, you’ll need to add a lifting strap and periodize it into a new variation. What happens frequently with advanced lifters is that grips and forearms become limiting factors during back exercises, leaving people with whom to build progress in each set.
At this stage of development, the back should be significantly stronger than the small forearm muscles. Strategic use of lifting straps can impose more stimulating reps on your back and biceps while preventing your forearm from fatigue.
Experienced lifter bags and BIs
As an advanced lifter, you need to be more specific about hitting all areas of your back. Barbell Row is so comprehensive and skill-intensive that it will be your first exercise in your workout. Vertical pulls target rats more thoroughly. At this point, you need to be strong enough to make at least five strict pull-ups. If not, stick to the LAT pull-down and figure out whether it is a lack of strength, excessive weight, or prevents the pull-up progression.
Jefferson Curl is a unique move added to train spinal erectile dysfunctions from top to bottom. This unconventional exercise requires a rounded back, so you can get bad wraps from time to time, but you will usually be warned, but your spine is design Movement, these types of controlled dynamic contractions develop the muscles best.
If you want a rich, backward-turned look at both the top and waist and bottom, Jefferson Curl can become a secret weapon. Needless to say, do them with controls and don’t load your ego. Finish your workout with the addition of barbell wrist curls. You use straps that compensate for the strength of your grip, so your forearms will benefit from some isolation and continue to grow them.
Barbell Row
Sometimes considered A decisive back exercise, a bent barbell row, will become a key player in building size and strength. Don’t let your ability to move heavy weights trick you into seducing your technique. Keep your form strict and do not bouncing or swinging the weight.
How to do that: Stand in a stable shoulder-width position in front of the loaded barbell. Hinge at your waist and grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders. Push the core in and explode the weight towards the lower AB region below the abdominal button. Try pausing for a very short time before lowering the weight with the controls.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 2 minutes between sets
Pull up
Pull-ups are classic weight exercises. In many training circles, pull-up performance is second only to the ability of bench presses as a measure of true experience and aptitude at the gym.
How to do that: With your palms facing away from your body, grab the overhead pull-up bar using a shoulder-width grip. Bend your abs to keep your body in a generally straight line. Resist the urge to “kick” your leg when lifting. Pull your chest towards the bar and turn your back a little. If your mouth or chin is near the bar level, lower yourself into a full extension (a straight arm extended position) with controls. Do not fall freely to the bottom.
Set and person in charge:3 x 5-10
Rest time: 2 minutes between sets
Jefferson Carl
Jefferson Curl runs against one override weight training rule – here you It is expected Round your back while exercising. For most other movements such as squats, deadlifts, and rows, the proper techniques usually involve maintaining a stiff, neutral spine. During Jefferson Curl, the goal is to carefully roam your spine (and of course, fully controlled).
How to do that: Stand with a light barbell in your hand and a straight arm in front of your body. Imagine tilting forward towards your hips and curling individual vertebrae downward as they reach your feet. Keep your arms straight and the bar close to your feet. When the end of flexibility is reached, “Uncurl” slowly returns to its standing position.
Set and person in charge:3 x 5-10
Rest time: 1 minute between sets
Cable rear delt fly
The cable rear delt fly remains a reliable, high-strength method to finish the rear deltoid at the end of your back and biceps training. Keep your form strict and focus on feeling your Delt at work.
How to do that: Each hand holds the cable from the other side, standing in the middle of a double cable station with a high pulley. Bend your abs and slightly bend your knees. Lower your elbows, pull your back, and slightly bend your arms. For full contraction, the arms should be slightly behind the torso. Cross your arms in front of your body and return to your extended position.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 1 minute between sets
Tilt the dumbbell curls
Blast your biceps with tilted dumbbell curls. The intense stretch and stiff contractions make it a great option for focusing on your arms.
How to do that: Set the adjustable bench to approximately 45 degrees. Lie down with dumbbells in each hand. Return to your head, shoulders and bench pads. Dangle your arms straight with your palms facing forward. Move only your hands and dumbbells and increase the weight. Do not move your elbows, upper arms, or head. Once you reach the highest possible position without moving your elbows or upper arms, reduce the weight to full stretch.
Set and person in charge:3 x 8-12
Rest time: 1 minute between sets
Barbell wrist curl
Move your forearm (specifically, the wrist flexors) using the curls on the barbell wrist. Targeted movements bring some attention to the forearm muscles. This can potentially be hindered when lifting straps during heavier back exercises.
How to do that: Set up on a flat bench with a barbell underhand (palm-up) grip. Supports the forearms of the entire bench. You can lower your wrists to reduce the weight and roll the bar towards your fingertips. Close your hands and raise your wrists without lifting your forearm off the bench. It’s a relatively short range of movement, so focus on applying tension without swinging.
Set and person in charge:3 x 10-15
Rest time: 45-60 seconds between sets
How to proceed
The progression is the same as before. They train hard, don’t swing weights, add reps, put loads on a weekly basis.
If you can match or beat the rep’s performance, that’s great. Once you reach the highest end of the REP range, add the load the following week. If you are lifting heavy objects but find yourself exhausted and losing performance, you may need to deload at some point.
However, in most cases, continuous growth results in continuous increase in intensity with a constant nutritional intake. Be careful about ongoing pull-ups. It’s fascinating to justify the shaking rep.
We focus on the form most weeks and count only those who run under control. Once you reach 10 strict pull-up reps, add 5-10 pounds, bring the reps back to 5 and continue.
Benefits of back and biceps training
While each type of body parts splitting or potential workout setup has its own benefits, there are some clear reasons to consider planning your back and biceps day with weekly training splits.
Happy joints and better posture
People with strong backs who do more pulling exercises have happier and healthier joints. If you overpress the bench or overhead press and do not balance the muscle tissue with rows, pull-downs, or pull-ups, your shoulders will become gross. (4)
Your joints and connective tissue will begin to seek more rows and stronger back. This creates a healthier spine, improves joint function and promotes better posture.
You’re good at moving things
Certainly, not everyone in the group wants to be “that friend” when they need to move, but the alternative is even worse.
That’s where the day comes in for a consistent back and biceps. You will simply feel more capable throughout your daily life and moving furniture will feel like a child’s play. Beyond actual benefits, the construction of back, biceps and grip strength will take over to improve performance in the gym. From more obvious exercises like farmers walks and deadlifts to pushing overhead, a stronger back can help provide upper body stability.
Build eye-catching muscles
Many people correctly associate biceps training with essential for a more aesthetic physique. Though the chest, abs and even the shoulders are considered other candidates for the body parts that attract attention, a muscular back can take your muscle to the next level and create an undeniably athletic and powerful look.
Training your back and arms makes it better to fill out your t-shirts instead of making the nourishing college freshmen appear to be swimming in baggy clothes. Also, a big back can make your hips look relatively small in case you’re still working on throwing away the excess fluff.
Basic anatomy of the back and biceps
This is a brief summary of all the muscles you hit with each back and biceps training. Yes, I’m training my “back” and “biceps” but there are a few more details to consider.
Trapezius
Traps are diamond-shaped muscles that make up most of the back. It extends from the midneck to just below the shoulder blades. Trapezius has many muscle fibers and several “sections” (top traps, mid traps, bottom traps), but various horizontal and vertical pulls hit the entire muscle. Row exercises are especially useful as the main function is retraction of the shoulder blades (attracting the shoulder blades).
Rat
Latissimus andorsi, or Lats, is another large muscle group. It spreads down to your armpits and towards the beginning of your hips, taking up the outer part of your midback. Lats is often renowned for giving you that wide look.
Some lifters see Lats as a wingspan muscle, as thanks to your Lats, people can see your back up front. Needless to say, it makes your hips look small. Like all pull-down exercises, vertical pull exercises hit rats with strong contractions and long stretches.
Spinal Erection Agent
These are two long, thick beams that run from the top of the back to the bottom, including what is usually called the “waist.” Like traps, spinal erectile dysfunctions are involved in controlling posture near the lower back, which is why they are stimulated with almost any back exercise. They are trained directly as the main focus during Jefferson curls and pull or hip hinge exercises that actively arch the back.
Romboid
Your romboid is a relatively small back muscle that attaches to your middle spine and sits partially below the shoulder blades, creating a part of your upper muscular tissue. Rhomboids are similar to traps, helping to retract the shoulder blades and helping you see your posture better. All horizontal rows often hit the diamond shape, especially when focusing on pulling the shoulder blades back and squeezing the shoulder blades together.
Rear deltoid
The posterior deltoid is the head behind your shoulders. Developing this relatively small muscle can make the overall back look more complete, along with “rounding” the shoulder look.
People who often ignore or underestimate back training usually slow down their shoulders. Like many types of rows, all pull exercises that move your elbows behind your body hit the rear delt.
Some lifters argue that Riadelt doesn’t actually require direct training as long as there is sufficient back volume each week, but well-planned separation work is never painful, especially if you want to focus on building a particular body part.
Biceps
Your “biceps” actually consists of three related muscles: the biceps, Brachialis, and Brachioradialis.
The Brachii biceps is the muscle of the biceps muscle, a spotlight consisting of two heads, a long and short head. Both are visible and create something that most people consider the biceps of the upper arm. Unless you’re incredibly lean or incredibly muscular, you won’t be able to see a clear separation between the two heads.
The humerus is a small muscle between the biceps and triceps. Although it is rarely visible due to the anatomical position, it creates the size of the arm by “lifting” the biceps. Unless you’re leaning like a very heavy muscle or a competitive bodybuilder, you’ll never see the muscles themselves.
The final big player in the biceps game is Brachioradialis. It will help you sit on the top of your upper forearm and rotate your wrists in a neutral (thumb up) position and stretch your elbows. It is more visible than Brachialis and when developed it will help fill the sleeves, especially near the forearm.
All of the aforementioned biceps muscles work primarily with elbow flexion (beating the arm), so these muscles are trained in every row and pull-down, as well as in all kinds of curls. This is why when you’re going to get stronger and add hard curls with various back exercises, you don’t need a lot of biceps training to see big results.
Back and biceps time
The time to apply these training applications to your back and biceps. Achieve your experience level honestly and work with rows, pull-downs and curls. We’ve seen the most efficient ways to plan these back and biceps exercises, so get in and grow up. Your back will expand and your arms will expand. Your upper body looks more impressive and you may even notice that your physique is getting some extra worshippers as a side effect.
reference
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- Oranchuk, D. J., Storey, A. G., Nelson, AR., & Cronin, J. B. (2019). Isometric training and long-term adaptation: Effects of muscle length, strength and intention: a systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 29(4), 484–503. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13375
- Burd, Na, Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, JP., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, Jr., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistant exercise stimulates the male muscle protein subconnection synthesis response. Journal of Physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
- Cools, Am, Witvrouw, EE, Mahieu, N.N., & Danneels, L. A. (2005). Isospeed muscle performance in overhead athletes with or without collision symptoms. Journal of Athletic Training, 40(2), 104–110.
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