You can always tell a beautiful, confident woman by the way she carries herself. Her head is held high, her shoulders are pulled back, and her chest is leading the way. First impressions are made by how you present your body. Posture is extremely important. When was the last time you commented that the old lady bent over with the hump on her back looked really good? It’s hard to hold your head up high without the proper strengthening of the upper back muscles. Aside from improving your looks, working these muscles correctly may help prevent some orthopedic problems like shoulder impingements and neck pain.

Routine
It is important to emphasize upper back training over chest training. We spend most of our lives in poor posture hunched over a computer keyboard, the steering wheel, or our kitchen counter. We need to work the upper back muscles that have been lazy and stretched out all day. If we train the chest too much, we force our bodies even more into that poor posture. Therefore I recommend either training the upper back 2 days a week and the chest only once and/or having more upper back exercises than chest exercises in your routine. Additionally if you train chest and back in the same session, make sure that you end with a back movement to emphasize good posture.

Set, Rep and Weight Recommendations.
Within the descriptions for each exercise, you will find helpful hints for progressions from a beginner to intermediate to advanced. However if the exercises are new to you, even if you are an advanced exerciser, you should consider yourself a beginner at least for the first time. Start with a typical bodybuilding routine for muscular hypertrophy of 3-4 sets per exercise and 8-12 reps. For your first time choose the least amount of sets and reps (3 sets and 8 reps) and work your way up from there. First increase the reps until you are performing 3 sets of 12 reps, then add an additional set of 8 reps and go up from there. Look to add weight to the exercises when 4 sets of 12 reps is no longer challenging.

Shake It Up
If you want complete back development, the key is how much variety you incorporate into your training. This means varying your grip width (narrow, medium, wide), grip position (both pronated, both supinated or an alternating grip), speed of movement, and angle of pull. This can be accomplished easily by just changing things around every 4-6 weeks. That way you’ll be sure to blast lots of different muscle fibers in your back on your way to new muscle growth and strength.

Exercises
Y’s,T’s, I’s
Beginner – small ROM on flat bench
Intermediate – full ROM on flat bench, add weights as able
Advanced – on Swiss ball with weights
Lie on your stomach on a flat bench. For the entire routine, focus on the scapulas doing the lifting and your arms just going along for the ride. For the first movement, let your arms hang down at your side off the bench and rotated so your thumb is up and leading the way. Squeeze the scapulas together and then lift both arms up toward your head so you make the letter "Y"; slowly lower and repeat. For the next movement, let your arms hang down at your side off the bench with the palms down. Squeeze the scapulas and raise your arms out to the side to make the letter "T"; lower and repeat. For the third movement, start your with your arms hanging down at your side off the bench with your thumb pointing down. Lift your arms backward as close to your body as possible, making the letter "I"; lower and repeat. Progress slowly with light weights and concentrate on the movement of squeezing your scapulas together hard, like there is the winning lotto ticket there and you don't want anyone to get it!
Tips and Advice:
1. This exercise is perfect for those with a shoulder impingement syndrome or to prevent one from happening. Just be diligent in squeezing the scapulas together before the movement and limiting the ROM if pain occurs.
2. Keep your head in a neutral position during the exercise. This will most likely have you looking ahead towards the ground.
3. If you aren’t sure that you are performing the exercise correctly, have someone put their hands on your upper back as a cue to retract your scapulas before each movement.

Pull-ups
Beginner – using assistive machine, perform the eccentric only, or partial ROM
Intermediate – decrease assistance, increase ROM, slow down the eccentric, or add stops in the ROM
Advanced – no assistance full ROM, add weights, slow down the eccentric, or add stops in the ROM
Remember trying to do the President’s physical fitness test in elementary school? The gym teacher separated the girls and the boys, counted how many pull-ups each person could do, compared it to the national average, and gave out awards. If any of you were like me, you never saw the top of the bar, let alone an award! But the boys could pull themselves up for the duration of the entire class period. Even on the monkey bars during recess, the guys always kicked the girls’ butts. Pull-ups are truly one of the most basic exercises and a great way to gain upper body strength. Start with your hands in pronated grip (palms down) on the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. The closer your hands are, the more your biceps will take over the work instead of your back. Squeeze the scapulas together, arch your back, focus on your lats, and pull your body up, trying to touch your chest to the bar. Be aware that assistive machines allow you to use momentum and may create some bad habits. If you are using an assistive machine, concentrate on not cheating and keeping your back arched so that you will have the perfect form when you can pull yourself up by your own muscular strength.
Tips and Advice:
1. Always start from a full hang position. Sure it is easier to keep the elbows bent at the bottom and use the biceps to help for the initial pull, but we are trying to strengthen the back.
2. Sometimes beginners really need to pile on the weight for assistance, but then the pull-up seems too easy. In this case concentrate on the eccentric movement, lowering your body very slowly, or try to pause for 2-3 seconds during the eccentric at 2-3 places to improve your strength.
3. Beginners should also try to decrease the assistance they use so they are just performing a partial ROM. In a full bodyweight pull-up, the hardest part is just getting started from the hang position. Partials will allow the beginner to train that initial movement and overload the muscles.
4. If you are already an ace at full ROM bodyweight pull-ups on a bar, why not try draping a thick rope over the bar and trying your pull-ups while grasping the rope? The instability of the rope will challenge your neuromuscular system and your grip will improve tremendously.

Dumbbell Rows
Beginner – concentrate on form and use light weights, knee and hand on bench for stability
Intermediate – increase weight, increase ROM by having both feet on ground and hand only on bench
Advanced – knee on Swiss ball or standing on one leg
For this free-weight exercise, form is everything. Start with your abs tight, your low back slightly arched, your head in a neutral position, and your body bent over from your hips. Beginners should angle a bench along a mirror lengthwise so with a slight turn of their head they can see their body. Start by standing next to the middle of the right side of the bench, your left leg touching the bench, and a dumbbell in your right hand. Put your left knee on the bench, bend over from the hips while keeping your back straight, and allow your left hand to rest on the front of the bench. Start the row by squeezing the scapula and bringing the weight all the way to your chest. Slowly lower as you allow the scapula to relax and repeat.
Tips and Advice:
1. Remember to always keep your abs tight, hold your low back in a slight arch, and bend your body from the hips.
2. Use your scapulas to lift the weight, not your arms.
3. Keep your arm close to your side during the entire movement and avoid having “chicken wings.”
4. When progressing to having both legs on the ground, a split stance will improve your stability and help you maintain your form.
5. Use your legs to help you row if you want to overload and lift heavier weights than normal, but keep perfect form and do not twist.
6. Standing on one leg will improve balance and strengthen muscles in your hips and glutes.

Cable Rows
Beginner – seated
Intermediate – standing and using one arm at a time
Advanced – standing on one leg and using opposite arm
Set-up using a seated position, keeping your abs tight, low back slightly arched and entire torso upright. Lean forward from the hips to grasp the handles. Return to the upright position, squeeze the scapulas together and row toward your chest, pulling the handles back as far as possible while retracting the shoulders and keeping the arms close to your body. The pulling or rowing motion should come from the upper back, not the arms or lower back. Don’t jerk your body backward to complete the movement. Slowly allow your arms to extend to return the handles to the starting upright position. Intermediates can progress in weight while seated or use an adjustable cable at chest height to pull from a standing position while using one arm at a time. A tough advanced movement is standing on one leg with one hand grasping a towel fed through a handle and simulating an arm over arm pull.
Tips and Advice:
1. Row with the scapulas, not the arms or low back.
2. Keep the arms close and tight to the body.
3. If you have a hard time keeping your torso upright, have a spotter put their knee on the bench right behind your back so your entire torso is lightly touching their thigh.
4. Thread a towel through the cable handle and grasp that to improve your grip and make the exercise more difficult.
5. Experiment with different attachments and grips to vary your workout and the muscular emphasis

Lat Pulldowns (both in front and behind neck)
Beginner – light weight
Intermediate – heavier weight
Advanced – unilaterally
There is a lot of controversy on whether to perform pulldowns behind the neck. The truth is if there are no pre-existing problems and if proper form is followed, behind the neck pulldowns are fine. But the excessive external rotation that is required with behind the neck exercises is potentially dangerous to the shoulder and neck joints. Some may prefer to mix it up by trying some sets in front and some sets in back of the neck for variety. Whichever you choose, maintain pain-free movement and have a spotter watch your form. Start by grasping the lat pulldown bar with a pronated (palm down) grip slightly wider than shoulder width. Sit down and position the thighs under the pads, keeping the feet flat on the floor. For pulldowns to the front, lean the torso slightly backward from the hips and for pulldowns to the back, lean the torso slightly forward from the hips. Squeeze the shoulder blades together and pull the bar down to the upper chest or the back of the neck, pause and return.
Tips and Advice:
1. Do not use your entire body to assist you with the movement.
2. Experiment with different attachments and grips to vary your workout and the muscular emphasis.
3. When performing pulldowns to the back, don’t bend your neck forward. Just lean the entire torso forward so the bar can clear your head.