Home fitness back exercises

There is no need to find a gym or buy heavy equipment. The four most practical and quickest back exercises for ordinary people at home are bent over rowing with elastic bands, high pull-downs with towels, prone swallows, and backhand push-ups. They cover the three core back areas of the latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius muscles, and erector spinae. Practice it twice a week for 20 minutes each time. If you insist on it for 2 weeks, you will feel a significant improvement in the condition of your chest and back, and most of the shoulder and back pain after sitting for a long time will be relieved.

When I first started working from home two years ago, I bought 15kg adjustable dumbbells for back training. In the end, it was too heavy to move and I gave it to the security guard downstairs. Later, I followed friends in the fitness circle and found out how to do back training at home. You really don’t need to spend money on it. You can do it well with elastic bands, face towels, or even a yoga mat at hand.

The elastic bands I bought cost 10 yuan each. The resistance doesn’t need to be too high, just enough to allow the band to move. There has been a debate online for a long time about whether bent-over rowing should be done at 90 degrees or 45 degrees. I have tried both. 90 degrees is too demanding on the core and lower back. If I have a weak core, my waist will be sore first after doing two sets. Later, I simply keep my upper body and the ground. At 45 degrees, the knees are slightly bent, and the elastic band is placed under the soles of the feet. When pulling, imagine that the latissimus dorsi is "clamping" a ping pong ball. Each time you pull to the highest point, pause for 1 second. Do 4 sets of 12 times in one set. The soreness is all on your back, and you will not use your arms at all. If your waist is not very good to begin with, it’s okay to raise the angle a little higher, even 30 degrees. It’s much more important to feel the contraction than to forcefully perform standard movements.

If you don’t even have an elastic band, just use the most common face towel at home. Find a strong clothes drying pole or a handle on the top of the door, put the towel on it, hold both ends of the towel with both hands and sit on the ground. When pulling, don't just pull your arms. Think of "leaning your elbows toward your waist", and you will naturally use the strength of your back. Oh yes, there is also a saying about the grip width of this movement. If you like to train your upper back and want to improve shoulder sloping, hold it wider. If you want to train the lower edge of your latissimus dorsi and look better in a backless dress, hold it narrower. You don't have to follow the "shoulder width" in the tutorial. You can do it the right way.

Many people practice backlighting and focus on the external "face muscles" and forget about the deep erector spinae muscles. This is why some people still get backache after sitting for a long time after practicing their backs for a long time, and the problem of holding their breasts cannot be corrected. When it comes to training the erector spinae muscles, many people's first reaction is to lie prone. Many people also say that this movement hurts the waist. When I had a slight herniation of the lumbar disc, I asked a rehabilitation practitioner. In fact, it is not a problem with the movement. It is because everyone does it too hard. They have to lift the upper body so high. In fact, it is enough to lift it until the shoulder blades just leave the ground. Stop for 1 second and release slowly. 10 reps in one set is enough. Don't be greedy. If your waist is really uncomfortable, you can switch to four-point support to stretch the opposite side. That is, your hands and knees are supported on the mat, and the opposite side's hands and feet are stretched out. If you can't stabilize it, you can also use a chair, and the effect is almost the same.

Finally, let me talk about an action that many people have never tried. Backhand push-ups and pull-ups can be done by novices without going to the horizontal bar. Just do push-ups in a normal position, but turn your palms over and place the heels of your palms facing back on both sides of your waist. When you push them up, you can clearly feel the force exerted on your lower back. If you can't do the standard push-ups, do it in a kneeling position, a set of 8 for 3 sets. In order to look good in a sling last summer, I did this every time I did my back exercises. After half a month, the lines on my back were really tight. Even my mother asked me if I secretly went to the gym recently.

By the way, don’t pursue heavy weights when training your back at home, and you don’t need to train every day. Your back is a large muscle group and will only grow if you get enough rest. I used to practice more than 3 times a week, but the trapezius muscle compensated for the pain for several days. Later, I changed it to 2 times a week, but the results were faster. If you feel trapezius creatine during exercise, stop immediately. It means you are exerting the wrong force. Do it again when your shoulders are relaxed. Don't force yourself. Oh, and don’t forget to stretch your back after practicing. Find a door frame, put your arms on the other side, and stretch for 30 seconds. Otherwise, your back will be sore the next day that you will have trouble even getting dressed.