Ultimate Upper Back Exercises

The two major upper back muscles are the rhomboids and the trapezius. The trapezius muscle is a triangular shaped muscle spanning from the center of your back, going up to your neck, and down across the top of your shoulder blade. The rhomboids muscles, shaped like a rhombus, are smaller than the trapezius muscles. The upper tip of the rhomboids is located just beneath the base of your neck. They come down the center of your upper back and stretch across to your shoulder blade.

Shrugs

• Shrugging exercises target your trapezius muscle. There are different varieties of shrugging exercise using various forms of resistance to stress this muscle. In each variation, the movement of your muscles mimics a shrugging motion, lifting your shoulders up and back down. To perform this exercise using dumbbells for resistance, stand holding the dumbbells at your sides and shrug. This exercise can also be performed holding a barbell at waist level, or using cable or resistance bands. More challenging is using your body weight for resistance in what's called an inverted shrug. Holding onto parallel bars, flip your body upside down and perform the shrugging motion to lift and lower your body.

Upright Row

• The upright row is another great exercise which targets your trapezius muscles. Begin by holding a barbell just below waist level. Position your hands shoulder width apart as you grip the bar. Then, keeping the barbell close to your body (don't lift the arms out), lift the barbell up. Stop when you have raised the bar as high as your chest. With control, lower barbell back down and repeat. This exercise can also be performed using a cable machine.

Pull Downs

• Pull downs target both your trapezius and rhomboids muscles. As the name suggests, pull down exercises mimic the motion of pulling something down from overhead. This type of exercise is generally performed using various kinds of weight lifting pulley machines.

Pull Ups and Chin Ups

• Pull ups and chin ups are also great upper back exercises. The only equipment required is an overhead bar. There are different variations to this exercise, but the basic idea behind each variation calls for you to grasp an overhead bar and pull your body up until your elbows are at your side. Then, with control, lower your body back down and repeat. For an added challenge, you could wear a dip belt around your waist to add extra weight and give your muscles a more robust workout.