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Upper Back Exercises Will Stop You Looking Like...

Quasimodo!

The upper back exercises that you're about to discover will stop that hunched back in its tracks and put you on the road to perfect posture.

Let us explain...

When you have weak upper back muscles there is nothing to hold you in the upright position. It's like constructing a building with no reinforcement. Sooner or later it's gonna collapse.

The only way to fix this is to do upper back exercises. They are part of your key to fixing posture problems and sore backs. If you're interested, the other part of the key is lower back exercises.

But before you start...

There's something you need to learn. 

Imagine this...

Say we handed you a new $100 bill and told you that you could keep it. It's right there in front of you. Nice, fresh n crispy. That was generous of us wasn't it.

But what if there was a catch. Yes, there's ALWAYS a catch. The catch is, you can keep the bill IF you can hold it, and walk away with it in between your shoulder blades. Hmmm. Do you think you could do it?

Try it out. Use a piece of paper if you're running low on $100 bills. Notice how hard you have to squeeze between your shoulder blades. That's it! That's the "secret technique". Simple huh. If you can master that one little technique you're already most of the way there.

So with that knowledge safely under your belt lets get underway.

 

These are the upper back exercises that you will learn from this article:

 

Benefits of Doing Upper Back Exercises

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Having a strong back is very important for keeping pain free.
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More muscle equals more fat burning.
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These upper back exercises will help you keep your posture strong.

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All of these upper back exercises can be done at home. :)
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Upper back exercises are good for balancing out your chest exercises.
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Upper back muscles look really good once they've been developed well.
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These, combined with lower back exercises, will give you a strong, well toned back, which helps you so much in general life.

 

Bent Over Barbell Rows

For this exercise you should lean forward slightly while keeping your back straight. Ask someone else to check you if you're not sure about your posture. Make sure your knees are slightly bent and you're balanced well.

  1. Get into the position shown.
  2. Pull the barbell up to your chest. It should just touch your nipples.
  3. Squeeze hard between your shoulder blades.
  4. Lower the bar back down.
  5. Make this a slow movement.
  6. Repeat.

 

Tom doing barbell rows for his upper backTom doing barbell rows for his upper back

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Chainsaws

These are good training for being able to start a chainsaw. The exercise works one side of your upper back at a time.

This exercise can often tire out your bicep before you finish. Don't worry though, keep it up, it's still working.

 

  1. Get into the position shown.
  2. Pull the weight up until it touches your shoulder.
  3. Make sure your squeeze the muscle behind your shoulder blade.
  4. Lower the weight back down slowly.
  5. Repeat

 

Tom doing the chainsaw exercise for his upper backTom doing the chainsaw exercise for his upper back

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Bent Over Fly's

As with all the bent over exercises you need to keep your back very straight.

 

  1. Get into the position shown and choose some reasonably light weights.
  2. Lift your arms out to the side.
  3. Lift the weights up until you can't lift anymore. (Don't swing them up)
  4. Lower them back down again slowly.
  5. Repeat.

 

Tom doing upper back flysTom doing upper back flys

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Back Shrugs

Make sure your back is straight and your knees are slightly bent.

 

  1. Lift the barbell off the ground.
  2. Get into the position shown.
  3. Hold the weight at arms length.
  4. Squeeze between your shoulder blades.
  5. Hold for 2 seconds and release.
  6. Lower the weight back down - don't drop it.
  7. Repeat.

 

Tom doing back shrugs for his upper backTom doing back shrugs for his upper back

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Swimming Without a Pool - Freestyle

This is a very tough exercise because your upper back is constantly under tension.

 

  1. Lie on your front on a mat.
  2. Squeeze your back muscles to lift you off the ground.
  3. Now start swimming freestyle.
  4. Left Right Left Right...
  5. Don't let your hands touch the ground.
  6. Keep going!

 

Shaye doing upper back exercises

Shaye doing upper back exercises

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Swimming Without a Pool - Breaststroke

Same again. This is a very tough exercise because your upper back is constantly under tension.

  1. Lie on a mat face down.
  2. Squeeze your back muscles to lift you up off the mat.
  3. Now start swimming breaststroke.
  4. Both arms straight out to the front.
  5. Pull them back out the side.
  6. Don't let your hands touch the ground.
  7. Keep going!

 

Shaye doing upper back exercises

Shaye doing upper back exercises

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Supermans

These are good for an all over back workout.

 

  1. Lie on your front with arms and legs extended out.
  2. Lift your right arm and your left leg up at the same time.
  3. Lift them as high as you can.
  4. Also lift your head.
  5. Squeeze your back muscles tight.
  6. Lower the arm and leg back to the ground.
  7. Repeat using your opposite side.
  8. Repeat.

 

Tom doing supermans for his upper back

Tom doing supermans for his upper back

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Back Squeeze

These are typically a lower back exercise but if you use the squeeze technique it becomes one of our upper back exercises.

  1. Lie on your tummy.
  2. Put your hands by your ears.
  3. Squeeze your back muscles and lift your body up.
  4. Do this with care - Your back is a delicate thing.
  5. Hold this for 2 seconds.
  6. Lower yourself back down.
  7. Repeat.

 

Shaye doing a back exercise to strengthen her upper back

Shaye doing a back exercise to strengthen her upper back

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We hope that you enjoy using these upper back exercises. Adding them to your next home fitness training routine on a regular basis will strengthen and tone your upper back like never before. With your newly aquired knowledge of "the squeeze" you exercises will become more effective so that when you do them, they work!

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Summary of all the other articles that we have linked to from this page:

 

 

Keep us up to date with how you're going with your upper back exercises! If you want personal advice, just drop us an email. envelope

 

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