Barbell Back Exercises: 10 Best Moves for Building Muscle

In a series of barbell workouts, I’m going to show you the best barbell exercises for developing the back muscles.

The back is the upper body’s largest muscle group, primarily consisting of four muscles: the latissimus dorsi (lats), trapezius (traps), rhomboids, and erector spinae.¹ Anatomy of Growth: How to Train Your Back Muscles – Bodybuilding.com

These muscles contract when you perform pulling exercises, such as pull-ups, rowing, and pulldowns.

Since this blog focuses on barbell-only back exercises, I’ll show how you can use barbells and plates to train all major muscles of the back and build strength and muscle mass.

Whether you train at home or the gym or want to gain weight or lose fat, adding these barbell exercises to your workout will help you get strong and aesthetic.

Benefits of Barbell Back Exercises

Barbell is an important resistance training equipment for building strength and mass.

Here’s how a barbell helps develop fitness:

• Full Range of Motion: Barbells are free-weight equipment, allowing you to perform each exercise with maximum range of motion and helping you effectively contract your muscles.
• Various Exercise Options: Barbells allow you to do compound and isolation exercises, bilateral and unilateral exercises, and pronated and supinated grip exercises. Combining different exercises helps train each muscle of the back and promotes strength and hypertrophy.
• Time-Efficient: The compound barbell back exercises, such as deadlifts and bent-over rows, stimulate various muscle groups simultaneously and help you train more muscle in less time.
• Suitable for Heavy Lifting: Barbells allow you to lift heavy and are excellent equipment for progressive overload.

10 Best Barbell Exercises for Back Development

1. Bent-over Barbell Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Lats and Traps
Secondary Back Muscles	Lower back and Rhomboid
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Barbell and Plates
Mechanics	Compound Movement

The bent-over barbell row activates the upper to lower back muscles, including the traps, lats, and rhomboids.² Fenwick CM, Brown SH, McGill SM. Comparison of different rowing exercises: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Mar;23(2):350-8. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181942019. PMID: 19197209, ³ACE-SPONSORED RESEARCH (2018): What Is the Best Back Exercise? by Holly Edelburg, B.S., John P. Porcari, Ph.D., Clayton Camic, Ph.D., Attila Kovacs, Ph.D., and Carl Foster, Ph.D., with Daniel J. Green

 It also engages the biceps and abdominal muscles and helps you build a muscular back.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Put the suitable weight into the bar and grab it firmly with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder width (widening the grip hits more of the traps, infraspinatus, and overall upper back than lats).
2. Hold a bar with straight arms, and stand upright with your feet hip to shoulder-width apart.
3. Pushing your hips back, slightly bend your knees, and lean forward until the barbell reaches below your knees.
4. Brace your core, keep your chest up, and maintain a neutral spine position.
5. Now, driving your elbows up and back, pull the bar toward your stomach until you feel a good contraction in your back.

How to Make it Effective

• Avoid lifting too much weight.
• Keep your head high and back straight.
• Do not flare your elbows entirely out.
• Pause at the top of the lift for a moment to feel the work during the movement.

Optimal Sets and Reps

The bent-over row is a versatile exercise that can be used to enhance strength, muscle growth, and endurance.

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Strength	4 x 6-8	3-minute
Hypertrophy	4 x 8-14	2-minute
Endurance	4 x 15-20	1-minute

2. Conventional Deadlift

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscle	Latissimus Dorsi
Secondary Back Muscles	Lower back and Traps
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Barbell, Plates, & Belt
Mechanics	Compound Movement

The deadlift is a powerful exercise that simultaneously bolsters multiple muscle groups, from the upper to the lower body, including the latissimus dorsi.

The lats aren’t a prime mover in the deadlift, but they do play a key role, and properly engaging your lats will help you deadlift more weight.⁴ The Importance of the Lats in the Deadlift – Stronger By Science

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Place a loaded barbell on the floor and stand upright, with your feet beneath the bar and your shin close to it.
2. Pushing your hips back, bend your knees enough to grab the bar. Maintain a neutral spine position.
3. Grip the bar with an alternate or overhand grip, hands just outside your knees, and keep your arms straight.
4. Brace your core, inhale deeply, and lift the bar with your full strength, engaging your lats.
5. Lift the bar until your hips are entirely extended. That’s one rep.

How to Make it Effective

• Keep your core tight, back mostly straight, shoulders up, and arms straight, and engage your lats to pull the weight.
• Wear a lifting belt to provide stability to your back and torso.
• A deadlift is a vertical pull movement, so pull the bar in a straight line, keeping it close to your body throughout the lift.

Optimal Sets and Reps

I recommend doing a deadlift as your first or second exercise on your back day, as it requires more energy and engages more muscles than the other exercises.

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Strength	4 x 4-6	3-minute
Hypertrophy	4 x 6-10	2-minute

3. Neutral-Grip Barbell Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Lats and Traps
Secondary Back Muscles	Erector Spinae
Experience Level	Beginner
Equipment Needed	Barbell, Plates, & V-Grip Handle
Mechanics	Isolation Movement

Training your back from all angles is essential for building a broader torso. If the barbell is your go-to equipment, you should never skip a bent-over close-grip row.

The close-grip row targets the lats, traps, and rhomboids from a different angle than the traditional bent-over row and helps grow your back size.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Insert the desired weight into the bar and place the other end in the appropriate place.
2. Stand between the barbell with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
3. Hinge forward at your hips, use a V-handle, and place it under the bar so you can pull the weight.
4. Keep your head high, chest up, and core tight. Maintain a neutral spine position. That’s the setup.
5. Pull the weight toward your torso until your lats are entirely engaged.

How to Make it Effective

• Keep your elbows close to your body while driving them to your sides. If you bend your arms or flex your wrists, stress will be more on the arms than the back.
• Utilize the full range of motion by letting your arms down until they are straight and drawing your elbows up until your back is fully straight.

Optimal Sets and Reps

You can use a close grip row to build strength, muscle, and endurance and enhance your fitness. Below is the optimal recommendation for each goal:

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Strength	4 x 6-8	3-minute
Hypertrophy	4 x 8-14	2-minute
Endurance	4 x 15-20	1-minute

4. Barbell Yates Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Lats and Traps
Secondary Back Muscles	Erector Spinae
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Barbell and Plates
Mechanics	Isolation Movement

The Yates row or reverse grip barbell row involves gripping the bar with an underhand grip, palms under the bar.

Changing your grip from the overhand to an underhand can make a difference in what part of the back you emphasize with a rowing exercise.

The overhand bent-over rows target the upper lats more, while the underhand grip engages more of your lower lats.

You can build strong lower lats using the Yates row and enhance your back muscle proportion.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Grab a loaded barbell with an underhand grip and stand in the shoulder-width stance.
2. Pushing your hips back, slightly bend your knees, and lean forward until the barbell reaches below your knees.
3. Brace your core, keep your chest up, and maintain a neutral spine position.
4. Drive your elbows up toward your stomach until your back is fully engaged.
5. Feel the contraction for a moment, then return to the start.

How to Make it Effective

• Use the narrower grip than the standard bent-over row to feel a good stretch in your lower lats

Optimal Sets and Reps

Use this exercise to warm up before lifting heavy weights during the bent-over or close-grip row.

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Warm-up	2 x 15-20	1-minute
Endurance	3 x 20-25	1-minute

5. Barbell Meadows Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Trapezius and Rhomboids
Secondary Back Muscles	Lats and Erector Spinae
Experience Level	Beginner
Equipment Needed	Barbell and Plates
Mechanics	Single-arm Isolation Exercise

The Meadows row is a unilateral back exercise that engages multiple muscles at once, particularly the traps, rhomboid, and rear delt, and helps increase the thickness and width of the upper and middle back.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Place one end of the bar in the corner of the wall and insert the desired weights into the opposite end.
2. Stand in a staggered stance with the front foot perpendicular to the bar.
3. Bend forward at your hips to grab the bar in your right hand.
4. Place your left elbow on your knee for balance. That’s the starting position.
5. Driving your elbow up, pull the bar until you feel a full contraction in your back muscles.
6. You can hold the bar at the top before lowering it to the start.
7. Perform an equal number of sets and reps on each side.

How to Make it Effective

• Keep your abs tight during the entire movement.
• Maintain a neutral spine position.
• Grip the bar firmly so it won’t slip.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Strength	4 x 6-8/side	2-minute
Hypertrophy	4 x 8-12/side	1-minute

6. Pendlay Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Trapezius and Teres Major
Secondary Back Muscles	Lats and Lumbar Spine
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Barbell, Plates, and Belt
Mechanics	Compound Movement

The Pendlay row is another rowing variation that engages the lats, traps, and rhomboids.

It involves lifting the bar from the ground slightly more explosively than the standard bent-over row, which helps your body torch more calories and improves your endurance.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Place a loaded barbell on the floor and stand in front of it in a hip-width stance.
2. Pushing your hips back, slightly bend your knees until your chest is parallel to the floor.
3. Keep your head in a neutral position and maintain a flat back. That’s the starting position.
4. Brace your core and pull the bar toward your torso until it touches your stomach.
5. Pause for a moment and lower the bar on the floor.
6. Perform each rep with a controlled range of motion.

How to Make it Effective

• Keep your core engaged and back flat throughout the exercise.
• Use a lifting belt to provide support to your lower back and minimize the risk of injuries.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Hypertrophy	3 x 10-15	2-minute
Endurance	3 x 15-20	1-minute

7. Chest Supported Barbell Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Trapezius and Rhomboids
Secondary Back Muscles	Latissimus Dorsi
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Barbell and Bench
Mechanics	Compound Movement

The chest-supported row is an incredible pull exercise that targets the posterior delts and traps and helps develop sturdy and thick upper back muscles.

It involves lying on the bench on your stomach, which also ensures no unnecessary stress on the lumbar spine, making it suitable exercise for people with average core strength or mobility.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Place a loaded barbell under a bench and adjust the bench’s angle to 30-45 degrees.
2. Lie prone on the bench with your face down and chest on its edge.
3. Grip the barbell with an overhand grip, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and arms straight.
4. Slightly raise your shoulder blades and pull the bar as close to your ribs as possible to feel the good contraction in your back muscles.
5. Squeezing your traps and lats, pause at the top for a couple of seconds before lowering the bar.

How to Make it Effective

• Focus on retracting your shoulder blades while pulling the barbell towards your lower chest.
• Do not let your elbows go wide because it may stress your shoulder joints excessively.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Hypertrophy	3 x 10-15	2-minute
Endurance	3 x 15-20	1-minute

8. One-arm Landmine Row

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Traps and Rhomboids
Secondary Back Muscles	Latissimus Dorsi
Experience Level	Beginner
Equipment Needed	Barbell and Bench
Mechanics	Single-arm Isolation Exercise

The one-arm barbell row is a unilateral exercise, an excellent alternative to the dumbbell row.

This exercise is great for people whose back muscles are not aligned. It allows you to focus on each side of your lats specifically and build a proportional back.

It also helps correct imbalances, improve aesthetics, and help you with other upper body lifts.

How to Perform Step By Step

1. Put the suitable weight into the bar and set it at an appropriate place.
2. Stand upright to the right side of the barbell and keep your feet together.
3. Lean your torso forward and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip.
4. Slightly lift your shoulder blades and row the bar at your side until you feel the full contraction in your back muscles.

How to Make it Effective

• Keep the barbell close to the body throughout the movement.
• Maintain a tight core and a strong torso position.
• Perform more reps or sets on the weaker side.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Goal	Sets x Reps	Rest
Strength	3 x 6-8/arm	3-minute
Hypertrophy	3 x 8-12/arm	2-minute
Endurance	3 x 12-16/arm	1-minute

9. Good Morning

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Erector Spine
Secondary Back Muscles	–
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Barbell and Bench
Mechanics	Isolation Exercise

The Good Morning is a strength and conditioning exercise. It works on posterior chain muscles, primarily the lower back, and hamstrings, and helps increase strength, balance, and flexibility.

It also helps you improve your big lifts, such as deadlifts and squats, and minimize the risk of hamstring injuries.⁵ Vigotsky AD, Harper EN, Ryan DR, Contreras B. Effects of load on good morning kinematics and EMG activity. PeerJ. 2015 Jan 6;3:e708. doi: 10.7717/peerj.708. PMID: 25653899; PMCID: PMC4304869.

Let’s see how you can do barbell Good Morning step-by-step:

1. Place the barbell on the back of your shoulder and stand upright with your back straight and feet shoulder-width apart. That’s the starting position.
2. Pushing your hips back, slowly bend your torso forward without bending your knees until your chest is parallel to the floor.
3. Pause momentarily, then extend your hips and return your torso to the start. That’s one rep.

How to Make it Effective

• Start off by pushing your hips back rather than dropping your chest forward. It will help you maintain proper spinal alignment and engage your hamstrings, lower back, and glutes.
• Focus on hinging at your hips instead of bending at the waist or using momentum.

Optimal Sets and Reps

This exercise isn’t for building strength or endurance but for enhancing hip mobility, balance, and conditioning.

So, perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps with a 2-minute of rest in between.

10. Lower Back Extension

Exercise Profile

Focused Back Muscles	Lumbar Spine
Secondary Back Muscles	–
Experience Level	Intermediate
Equipment Needed	Low-back Extension Bench
Mechanics	Isolation Exercise

The back extension or hyperextension is an isolation exercise that helps strengthen and tone posterior chain muscles, including the lower back.⁶ Yaprak Y. The effects of back extension training on back muscle strength and spinal range of motion in young females. Biol Sport. 2013 Sep;30(3):201-6. doi: 10.5604/20831862.1047500. Epub 2013 Jul 22. PMID: 24744489; PMCID: PMC3944566

Various athletes and bodybuilders do back extensions to bolster their erector spinae strength. However, you need a hyperextension machine to perform this movement.

How to Perform Step By Step

You can perform barbell back extension in several ways, such as placing the bar on the back of your shoulder or holding it with straight arms directly below your chest.

1. Place your feet on the platform and adjust your ankles around the pad.
2. Stand on the bench and lean forward until your hips are on its edge with your upper body hanging off the edge.
3. Bend at your hips and grab an empty or loaded barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart. That’s the start.
4. Engage your lower back muscles to lift your upper body until your glutes, thighs, and back are in a straight line.
5. Pause momentarily, then inhale as you slowly lower your upper body to the starting position.

How to Make it Effective

• Keep your shoulders down and chest up, and maintain a neutral spine position.
• Perform each rep delibertely, feeling the contraction in your back and glutes. For example, hold for three seconds each during the eccentric and concentric phase for maximum benefits.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Similar to the Good Morning, don’t do this exercise quickly or using heavy weights. Perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps, feeling the contraction during each rep.

Are Barbells Enough to Build Muscle?

Barbells and plates can help you build reasonable strength and mass. However, they are not enough for developing a proportional, thick, and broader back.

Because the back consists of multiple muscle groups, including the lats and traps. And those muscles need proper training.

And to train your back properly, your workout routine must have a combination of pull-ups, pull-downs, and rows.

Since you can’t do pull-ups or pull-downs with barbells, they aren’t enough for building a huge and defined back.

The Best Barbell Back Workout Routine

The barbell back workout should consist of exercises for every important muscle in the back, including the upper back, mid-back, lower back, and all of the scapular muscles.

For example, bent-over row targets for the mid back, seal row trains the upper back, and extension reinforces the lower back.

A good back workout routine should also include a unilateral exercise, such as a landmine single-arm or meadow row.

Using the above example, here’s a 30-minute barbell workout routine for back looks:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Bent-over Row	3	15, 12, 10
Seal/Pendlay Row	3	15, 12, 10
Meadow’s Row	3	10-12/side
Low Back Extension	3	10-12/set

If you want to grow your back but train only once a week, I recommend doing this high-volume back for maximum mass growth:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Deadlift	4	12, 10, 8, 6
Bent-over Row/Dead Row	4	12, 10, 8, 6
Seal/Pendlay Row	4	12, 10, 8, 6
Meadow’s Row	4	10-12/side
Low Back Extension	4	10-12/set

You can also use the other exercises I outlined above in this blog. I also suggest Varying the exercises to develop a strong, broad, and healthy back.

How Often Should You Train Your Back?

If you perform a low-volume training, such as a 30-minute session, then you should train your back twice weekly.

However, those who follow high-volume training should limit their session to once a week unless they consume a good diet or allow their muscles considerable recovery time.

References

• 1
  Anatomy of Growth: How to Train Your Back Muscles – Bodybuilding.com
• 2
  Fenwick CM, Brown SH, McGill SM. Comparison of different rowing exercises: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Mar;23(2):350-8. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181942019. PMID: 19197209
• 3
  ACE-SPONSORED RESEARCH (2018): What Is the Best Back Exercise? by Holly Edelburg, B.S., John P. Porcari, Ph.D., Clayton Camic, Ph.D., Attila Kovacs, Ph.D., and Carl Foster, Ph.D., with Daniel J. Green
• 4
  The Importance of the Lats in the Deadlift – Stronger By Science
• 5
  Vigotsky AD, Harper EN, Ryan DR, Contreras B. Effects of load on good morning kinematics and EMG activity. PeerJ. 2015 Jan 6;3:e708. doi: 10.7717/peerj.708. PMID: 25653899; PMCID: PMC4304869
• 6
  Yaprak Y. The effects of back extension training on back muscle strength and spinal range of motion in young females. Biol Sport. 2013 Sep;30(3):201-6. doi: 10.5604/20831862.1047500. Epub 2013 Jul 22. PMID: 24744489; PMCID: PMC3944566