AKHADA

Back Workout

  • Intermediate
  • 1 or 2 days a week
  • About 45 min
  • Full gym

Updated

A man doing a pull up in a gym, seen from behind

About this routine

Six exercises that train your back from two directions: pulling down from overhead and rowing toward your body. It starts with pull ups and barbell rows and ends with face pulls for the rear shoulders.

For lifters with a few months of training who give back its own day inside a split. It needs a full gym. If you cannot do a pull up yet, start with the swap below.

The week

Once a week

Rest here means no back work. Train chest, legs or other muscles on those days.

  1. MBack
  2. TRest
  3. WRest
  4. TRest
  5. FRest
  6. SRest
  7. SRest

Twice a week

Research finds twice a week builds more muscle than once. Keep at least two days between back sessions.

  1. MBack
  2. TRest
  3. WRest
  4. TBack
  5. FRest
  6. SRest
  7. SRest

The workout

Before you start

If you have a medical condition or an injury, check with a doctor before starting a new exercise routine.

Stop any exercise that causes pain, dizziness, or strain somewhere you don't expect it.

6 exercisesAbout 45 minIntermediate

Warm-up, about 5 minSee moves
  • Spot jog45 seconds
  • Jumping jacks30 seconds
  • Arm circles10 each way
  • Shoulder circles10 reps
  • Cat-cow8 slow reps
  • Light practice set of Pull up1 to 2 sets
  1. 1

    Pull up

    3 × 5 to 8 repsLats

    How to do it
    1. Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width, arms fully extended.
    2. Pull your body upward by driving elbows down and back, leading with the chest.
    3. Keep your torso upright and core braced throughout the movement.
    4. Pull until your chest approaches the bar or chin clears it.
    5. Lower with control to full arm extension.
  2. 2

    Barbell Bent Over Row

    3 × 6 to 10 repsMiddle back

    How to do it
    1. Hold the bar with your hands a little wider than your shoulders, feet hip-width apart.
    2. Push your hips back and tip your chest forward until your back is flat. Tighten your stomach.
    3. Pull the bar to your lower ribs, keeping it close to your body.
    4. Lower it slowly until your arms are straight.
    5. Go lighter than you think. If your back rounds or you have to jerk the bar up, the weight is too heavy.
  3. 3

    Cable Pulldown

    3 × 8 to 12 repsLats

    How to do it
    1. Sit with your thighs under the pads and hold the bar a little wider than your shoulders.
    2. Lean back slightly and pull the bar down to the top of your chest, elbows driving down.
    3. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together at the bottom.
    4. Let the bar rise slowly until your arms are straight.
    5. Do not swing your body to move the weight. If you have to, go lighter.
  4. 4

    Cable Seated Row

    3 × 8 to 12 repsMiddle back

    How to do it
    1. Sit upright on the bench with feet flat on the footrest, chest up.
    2. Grip the handle with both hands, arms extended, slight knee bend.
    3. Pull the handle toward your torso, driving elbows back and squeezing shoulder blades together.
    4. Keep your torso stable and avoid leaning back beyond neutral spine.
    5. Return the handle to full extension under control without rounding forward.
  5. 5

    Dumbbell Single Arm Bent Over Row

    3 × 8 to 12 repsMiddle back

    How to do it
    1. Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Rest the other hand on your knee, a bed, a sofa arm or a bench.
    2. Push your hips back and tip your chest forward until your back is flat, close to level with the floor.
    3. Tighten your stomach and pull the dumbbell up toward your hip, elbow close to your side.
    4. Lower it slowly until your arm is straight.
    5. Keep your back still. Do not twist to lift the weight. Do all reps, then switch arms.
  6. 6

    Cable Standing Face Pull

    3 × 12 to 20 repsShoulders

    How to do it
    1. Set the cable to upper chest height and attach a rope handle.
    2. Stand facing the machine with feet shoulder-width apart, slight knee bend.
    3. Pull the rope toward your face, driving elbows high and wide, separating the rope ends.
    4. Keep your chest up and core braced throughout the movement.
    5. Squeeze the middle back at the end position with elbows behind the plane of your torso.
    6. Control the weight back to start without letting the cable fully straighten your arms.
Cool-down, about 3 minSee moves
  • Easy walk1 minute
  • Chest stretch30 seconds
  • Triceps stretch30 seconds each side
  • Child's pose30 seconds

Rest and progress

Rest between sets

  • Rest 2 to 3 minutes after each set of pull ups and barbell rows. These are your hardest lifts.
  • Rest 60 to 90 seconds on the pulldowns, cable rows, dumbbell rows and face pulls.

How to progress

  1. Pick a weight you can lift for the bottom of the rep range with one or two reps left in the tank.
  2. Add a rep each session. When every set reaches the top of the range, add weight: 2.5 kg on the barbell row, or the next step on the cable stack. Once you can do 8 clean pull ups on every set, hold a dumbbell between your feet.
  3. If you miss the bottom of the range two sessions in a row, drop the weight by 10 percent and build back up.

Swaps

Pull up
Cable Pulldown, or band-assisted pull ups until you can do 5 clean reps.
Barbell Bent Over Row tires your lower back
Dumbbell Single Arm Bent Over Row with one hand on a bench.
Cable station busy
Dumbbell Single Arm Bent Over Row in place of the Cable Seated Row.
Cable Standing Face Pull
Dumbbell Reverse Fly, or a band looped high on a post.

When it gets easy: the Volume version

Four sets of pull ups and barbell rows, the barbell row in a lower rep range, a dumbbell pullover in place of the single-arm row, and hyperextensions for the lower back at the end.

Back · about 55 min

Pull up4 × 6 to 10 reps
Barbell Bent Over Row4 × 5 to 8 reps
Cable Pulldown3 × 6 to 10 reps
Cable Seated Row3 × 6 to 10 reps
Dumbbell Pullover3 × 6 to 10 reps
Cable Standing Face Pull3 × 12 to 20 reps
Hyperextension3 × 12 to 20 reps

In the Akhada app: Back · Volume.

Questions

How often should I train back?

Once a week works. Twice a week builds more, because research finds training a muscle at least twice a week gives more growth than once.

How long does this back workout take?

About 45 minutes including rest, after a 5 minute warm-up.

I can't do a pull up. What now?

Start with the Cable Pulldown in its place, or loop a band over the bar and put a knee in it. Do 5 clean pull ups first, then aim for the 5 to 8 reps on the plan.

Can I do this back workout at home?

Not as written. It uses a barbell and a cable station. A pull up bar and one dumbbell cover the pull ups and the single-arm rows, which are the first and fifth exercises.

Do I need a separate biceps workout?

Not to start. Pull ups, pulldowns and rows all work the biceps. If you want more, add curls at the end, or see the arm workout.

More routines

See all 24 routines

Sources

The Akhada team picked these exercises from our catalog of 7,000+ demonstrated movements. A strength coach reviewed the step-by-step cues for every exercise in our starter routines. The schedule, rest and progression follow the research below.

  1. Training each muscle twice a week builds more muscle than once a week. That is why there is a twice-a-week schedule.

    Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger. Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 2016.

  2. Trained lifters resting 3 minutes between sets gained more strength and muscle than those resting 1 minute. That is why pull ups and barbell rows get 2 to 3 minutes.

    Schoenfeld et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2016.

  3. Load goes up 2 to 10 percent once you beat the target reps. That is the progression rule here.

    American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults (position stand). Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2009.