Baby Got Back!!...and back, and back...

It seems like most people, like me, ignore working on their back in the gym.  Since I competed in March and saw the photos of my backside (Omg…those shots were way to close), I decided that I haven’t given enough time working on the muscles in my back.  It appears that I have some extra skin hanging around my lower back, so I decided that I’m going to fill them in with muscle because gravity and age are never going to give up.  I was also purposely ignoring it because I never wanted big lats.  I always thought it would make me look too “manly”.  But, I would rather have a strong feminine clean looking back than one with “back-boobs” and extra skin folds. 

With the help of Bodybuilding.com, I have educated myself about my back and how to improve and sculpt it the way I need to.

Back development is extremely important to a competitor, but it's great for all women. It shows your true strength and makes your waist and hips look smaller, balancing your upper and lower body.  Who wouldn’t want that?

To balance out your back symmetry, you need to know what area (upper, middle, lower) of the back you need to bring up. Once you are aware of this, you can customize your workouts to focus on your weak points.  If your weak point is your upper back, perform your movements with wide grips. Choose wide grip pull-ups, wide grip lat pull downs, wide grip t-bar rows.

You can target your middle back by performing exercises that allow you the greatest range of motion, to really target your inner back muscles. Make sure not to go too heavy and cut short your range of motion. Good exercises include one-arm dumbbell rows, barbell rows, and seated cable rows.  To focus on your lower back, your staple should be dead lifts. You can supplement dead lifts with hyperextensions and seated back extensions.

Now, this baby's going to get back!!!