Importance of Back Strength
Back strength is needed for almost every major part of your life. Everything you lift, pull and pick up uses muscles in your back. Not to mention your posture.
In athletics it is even more important to have back strength. The ability to stabilize yourself and be explosive are two huge components in sports. What we often see is athletes who are very developed on their anterior side (front) but have a void of strength in their posterior side (back).
The way we differentiate the muscle groups on your front side and back side to athletes is by talking to them about the “show” muscles and the “go” muscles. The “show” muscles are all on the front side of your body. They look great aesthetically but don’t hold as much importance in terms of crossing over to athletics.
Your “go” muscles are the ones on the backside of your body like your lats, hamstrings and glutes (to name a few of the larger groups). These muscles help you athletically in so many ways. This post will explore the importance of back strength for the average person and the high performance athlete.
If you are someone whose playing days are over and day to day consists of working and doing various tasks around the house/yard, back strength matters. Millions of Americans suffer from low back pain. This could be due to a multitude of things. But having a strong back will make your lower back more resilient to stress that is put on it throughout the day.
I like to think of it as a rowboat and a cruise ship in the ocean. When the waves start to pick up, I know what boat I want to be in! When the body is met with stressors and activity, I would want to have more of a “cruise ship” back.
As for athletes, back strength is now more important than ever. Our opponents are stronger, faster and more reactive than they ever have been in history; regardless of the level you are playing at. With all of your athletic gifts, if you add more back strength, it will only be an advantage for you.
In a strong back vs weak back comparison, all these attributes of your game will be better. Sprint mechanics, stamina in sport, ability to regain balance and any physical contact that your sport demands. Opponent, meet brick wall.
There are dozens of effective exercises that will strengthen your back for every age demographic. Here are my top three!
- Chin Ups — activates the entire back.
2. TRX Row — row that isolates the upper back, lats and scap.
3. Carries — structural movement that aids in posture and overall back composition.
Before you train your back, it would be a good idea to activate your muscles/tissue with a few pre activity exercises. Here are my favorite two!
- Dynamic Blackburns — warms up the shoulder capsule and upper back.
2. Shoulder Pass Throughs — posterior shoulder warmup that aids in shoulder rotation.
After training your back, or any part of your body, mobility will help you recover faster and allow our bodies autonomic nervous system to take over. In my opinion, this is the best bang for your buck back mobility exercise!
- Bretzel — rotates and opens up your entire back (think like you’re ringing out a towel).
2. T-Spine Windmills — works on rotation of the shoulder and movement of the mid back.
