Spring will officially be over next week and Summer will be in full effect. Memorial Day weekend is like a yearly coming out party where the weather starts getting warmer nationwide, people start wearing less clothing (sweaters in the heat are uncalled for), and it’s beach and lake season. If you’ve been following LMC Fitness for the past few months we’ve been getting prepared for this very moment.
We did the 3000 Squat Challenge and worked on toning the legs (Look here, here, and here). We’ve worked on getting our abs right for our swimsuits with the April Abs Challenge (It’s true, look here, here, and here). Right now we’re working on our Push-Up Challenge and Arm Series where I’m highlighting my favorite arm exercises for each muscle group. So far we’ve covered the chest and the triceps. Today we are going to discuss back exercises. I normally do back and bicep exercises together. Doing back exercises is important because back muscles are critical to balance, posture, and just about every movement you make during the day. The ab exercises were so you could look good coming; these back exercises are so you can look good going in your tank, halter, or tube tops!
LAT PULLDOWN
- Grasp the cable bar with a wide overhand grip, knuckles up and sit on the seat with your thighs under the support. Alternative grips, narrow and underhand, are possible but use the wide grip when starting out.
- You should just be able to reach the bar when you stretch up. If you can’t, adjust the seat or bar hanger cable or chain.
- Lean back slightly and puff your chest out.
- Pull down the bar making sure not to lean back any further but engage the back and lat muscles.
- Control the bar on the way up.
- Repeat.
SEATED CABLE ROW
- While holding the handle, slide back on the seat without locking your knees. Place your feet on the supports with your knees in line with your toes.
- Keep your torso upright and draw your belly button in. Maintain proper posture and core stability throughout the entire exercise.
- Without moving your torso, pull the handle towards your armpits.
- Hold, then slowly return the weight to the starting position
- Repeat
PULL-UPS
- Clasp the bar with your thumbs around the bar, palms facing away from you.
- Hang and make sure you are in proper alignment by NOT collapsing your shoulders.
- Engage the back by slightly pulling your shoulder blades together. Keep your elbows in as you bring your chin over the bar
- Slowly lower yourself
- Repeat
Make sure to bring yourself all the way down in between pull-ups. Don’t cheat and go halfway down and then use your body to pull you up. When you do that you aren’t using the full muscle groups in your back and are also using your body’s momentum to get you up.
Those are a few of my favorite back exercises that help to give you a nice sculpted back. I normally perform 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps when I’m doing low weight and then 8-10 reps when I’m doing more weight. As I previously stated, I workout out my back and biceps together. So the next muscle group we will cover in our arms series is biceps.
WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO
Remember to go on the LMC Fitness Fan Page and let us know how many push-ups you have done so far. Also, we still need some pictures of you doing push ups to add to the page. Don’t be shy! We all want to see your progress!
Yours In Fitness,
