Maintaining a healthy back supports your active lifestyle. It gives you more strength in your desk job as well as weekend hiking trip. It helps maintain posture and avoid slouching.. Here we present the 7 best back workouts for women.
Lawn lunges:
Plant one knee and one hand on a weight bench. If you are exercising from home, use a couch instead. With the other hand hold a 2-3 kg dumbbell. Position it parallel to the ground. Let it rest in your hand at the lowest point. Pull it up for sets of ten. Switch over to the other arm and repeat sets. Make sure your back is parallel to the ground and your other leg is perpendicular.
Knee pushups:
Preferably, you will need a mat for this one. This is a variant of push up. It is everything like a standard push up, expect your knees touch the surface. Besides your hands, knees alone are going to be your support. Keep your shoulders apart and lean on the top part of your leg. Arch your feet backwards towards your butt. Go down and up, just like regular pushups. The key is to hold the position throughout the workout.
Butterflies:
Lay on your back and preferably on top of a mat. Hold two dumbbells of 1-2 kg in your hands. Extend your arms high in the air. Slowly spread them to the sides like a butterfly and return to starting position. It’s no big deal if your arms touch the floor occasionally. It is useful as extra support and backup. Count to ten in each set.
Bent over rows (dumbbells):
Get into typical bent over rows position. Hold two dumbbells of 2-3 kg. Lower your waist as low as possible. Make sure your back is flat. Stick out your butt a little bit. Lift the weights up just like any bent over rows. We recommend doing sets of 10.
Bent over rows (barbells)
It is just like the previous exercises, expect you replace dumbbells with a barbell. Choose a weight you are comfortable with. Keeping your back straight is vital. You need to pull through your elbows. Feel your biceps and your forearms as well. Follow sets of 10-15, depending on your comfort level. Barbell over dumbbells, gives a better grip and contraction. Keep your chest held high.
Standing chest press
Press dumbbells forward and backward. Exhale as you go forward and inhale as you open up backward. Follow the standard sets of ten. Your arm needs to be parallel to the ground. Stand upright without bending forward or backward. You want a slight bend in your knees to avoid injuring your back. It can be quite challenging to do a chest press standing up. It’s such a not so familiar motion for anyone.
Wide Grip cable lap pull down
This exercise helps create a bit of a wider back. It gives an illusion of a smaller waist, which is what most of us want. This workout is instrumental in gaining an X frame physique. Grab the bar with your palms facing forward. Make sure your hands are placed bit wider than shoulders. Bring the bar till your chest, but don't lean backwards. Keeping your back straight is so important. Maintain your momentum nice and smooth.
