Resistance band workouts can offer you impressive benefits but what are some back muscle exercises you can do with resistance bands?
Resistance bands are an inexpensive type of fitness equipment that are basically elastic cords. You can use this piece of exercise equipment to modify regular exercises like squats or to do specific resistance band exercises.
Most people think about dumbbells, barbells, and cable machines when talking about back exercises but there are plenty of resistance band movements you can use to train your back muscles.
For most exercises, you can combine multiple resistance bands as one to challenge your muscles more.
Keep in mind that even though there are many resistance band benefits, your injury risk is generally also higher when you do exercises at a more challenging level.
Table of Contents
1. Bent over resistance band row
To do a bent-over resistance band row take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band(s) under your feet which are at about shoulder-width.
- Slightly fold your knees and tilt your upper body forward until it is at a 45-degree angle with the ground while keeping your back straight.
- Grab the resistance band with stretched arms at a point where you experience a small amount of resistance.
- Bend your elbows until your hands reach your body. The goal is to mainly make your back muscles support this movement. Keep your arms close to your body, your body in a straight line, and your feet in the same position during the movement.
- Lower your hands again to the position of step 3 in a controlled motion.
By doing a resistance band row bent-over instead of seated it becomes more of a back compound exercise with a nice amount of core muscle engagement.
2. Assisted pull-up
The pull-up is a famous exercise that is highly effective for building back muscle. An issue some people have with this exercise is that they do not yet have the muscle to complete one. If that is the case you can use a resistance band to assist you. To do an assisted pull-up take the following steps:
- Attach the resistance band to the pull-up bar in two places further apart than shoulder-width.
- Lean with your knees on the middle of the resistance band. Hang from the pull-up bar with your hands at about shoulder-width with your hand palms facing forward.
- Pull your body up slowly until your shoulders are the height of the bar.
- Lower your body again into starting position in a controlled motion.
If you have the opposite problem and regular pull-ups are not challenging enough you can even use resistance bands to do a weighted pull-up.
You can do this by anchoring a resistance band to something close to the ground on one side and to your feet on the other side.
3. Resistance band face pull
To do a resistance band face pull take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band at about the height of the bottom of your face.
- Grip the resistance bands in your hands with your face towards the anchor.
- Walk back with your arms stretched forward until you encounter the desired resistance. Stand with your 2 feet at about shoulder width.
- Move your arms in a smooth motion towards a position where your upper arms are at a 90-degree angle with your body and your lower arms are pointing up and are at a 45-degree angle with your upper arms. Keep your feet in the same position and your back straight during the exercise.
- Slowly move your arms back into the position of step 3.
Good resistance bands for building muscle with the face pull can be both loops or tubes with handles. The most important point is that they have the right resistance and allow you to go through the full range of motion.
4. Resistance band lat pulldown
To do a resistance band lat pulldown take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band at a high place. The top of a door can work but for lower anchors like these, you may have to kneel down during the exercise.
- Face towards the anchor point. Stand firmly on your feet if the anchor point is very high. If it is low sit on one knee for stability. Tilt your body so that is slightly less than pointing straight along with the resistance band. Grap the resistance band so that with straight arms toward the anchor point you feel the desired tension. Your hand palms should face downward.
- Pull your hands straight to your body until they reach your chest by folding your elbows and shoulders. The goal is to mainly make your back muscles support this movement.
- Slowly move your arms back into the position of step 3.
This exercise is typically done on the lat pulldown gym machine but as you can see resistance bands can make a great inexpensive alternative.
5. Resistance band deadlift
To do a resistance band deadlift take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band(s) under your feet which are at about shoulder-width.
- Slightly fold your knees and tilt your upper body forward to grab the resistance band close to the ground.
- Stretch your knees and tilt back your upper body at the same time until your upper body and legs are stretched in one straight line. When doing a deadlift it is very important to keep your back in a straight line during the exercise.
- Slowly move back into the position of step 2.
Good technique is important in any exercise to avoid injuries but especially so for resistance band deadlifts. Before taking out your heaviest resistance bands it is smart to improve your technique first by starting with light or no resistance bands at all.
6. Resistance band reverse fly
The fly is a popular resistance training exercise to strengthen your chest muscles. You can also do the reverse fly with resistance bands to strengthen your back and shoulder muscles.
To do a resistance band reverse fly take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band at about shoulder height.
- Grip the resistance bands in your hands with your face towards the anchor.
- Walk back with your arms stretched forward until you encounter the desired resistance. Stand with your 2 feet at about shoulder-width.
- Move your hands back while keeping your arms horizontally and slightly less than stretched until your arms are in 1 line with each other. Make sure your elbows keep pointing outward, not down.
- Slowly move your hands back to the position in step 3.
There are different ways to do the reverse fly. If you want to grow and strengthen your back muscles you want to pay attention to moving your shoulder blades back and forth.
7. Seated resistance band row
A regular weight lifting row involves standing bent over and moving an external weight up and down. Thanks to the ability of resistance bands to offer resistance at different angles, you can also do seated resistance band rows.
To do a seated resistance band row take the following steps:
- Sit down on the floor with your legs stretched and your back straight up.
- Anchor the resistance band to your feet and grab it at a point where you feel tension with stretched arms.
- Bend your elbows until your hands reach your body. The goal is to mainly make your back muscles support this movement. Keep your arms close to your body, your back in a straight line, and your legs in the same position during the movement.
- Move your hands back into the position of step 2 in a controlled motion.
One of the benefits of seated resistance band rows is that it is harder to use muscles different from your upper back and biceps to move the resistance bands.
That being said, to focus on your upper back muscles you still want to make sure you keep your spine more or less upright.
8. Resistance band pull-apart
The resistance band pull-apart is a simple yet powerful exercise to strengthen your back muscles. To do one take the following steps:
- Stand up straight with your feet at about shoulder width.
- Grab a resistance band with your 2 hands at points where if you have your arms pointing forward horizontally you feel a slight tension. This is the starting position.
- Move your hands back while keeping your arms horizontally and slightly less than stretched until your arms are in 1 line with each other. Make sure your elbows keep pointing outward, not down.
- Slowly move your hands back to the position in step 2.
An advantage of the resistance band pull-apart is that you do not even need an anchor point. Just a resistance band is enough for this exercise.
Similar to the reverse fly, you want to really focus on moving your shoulder blades to work your upper back muscles too and not just the back part of your shoulder muscles.
9. Lying resistance band pullover
To do a lying resistance band pullover take the following steps:
- Anchor a resistance band close to the ground
- Lay down on the ground on your back with your head towards the anchor point and your feet away from the anchor point.
- Stretch your arms towards the anchor point and grab the resistance band where you feel the desired tension in this position. Your hands should be close together throughout the exercise.
- Move your hands towards your feet until the point where going further would reduce tension. Keep your elbows outward enough to focus on your back muscles.
- Slowly move your hands back to the position in step 3.
Resistance band pullovers can be done in different ways to focus on different muscles. To focus on your latissimus dorsi upper back muscle you want to make sure you keep your elbows outward enough.
If you feel your lower chest muscles working, you likely need to pay more attention to your technique.
10. Resistance band shrug
To do a resistance band shrug pullover take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band(s) under your feet which are at about shoulder-width.
- Grab the resistance band at a point where if you are standing up with your arms hanging down you feel tension. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the exercise.
- Raise your shoulders as far as you can in a controlled manner.
- Slowly lower your shoulders again.
The shoulder shrug does not look like the most impressive motion but this resistance band exercise can be great to help you improve your trapezius muscles.
