Back Exercises The Fun Way!

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Although back exercises are notorious for being one part of the body that most people hate to work on, it's absolutely essential that you have a strong upper and lower back if you want to keep your fitness in great shape. Having a strong back is essential to being able to perform at your best, under any circumstances.

One thing you must remember is that your body functions as a whole. If you have a strong back, you need strong abs. If you have strong biceps, you need strong triceps. In order to have full stability in your body, it needs to be equal.

Having one muscle stronger than the muscle on the opposite side of the body can lead to muscle tears, pulls, strains, and anything else that will leave you unable to workout.

Fortunately, many back exercises give you a full-body workout so it works out great.

Here Are My Favorite Back Exercises!

Climbing Ropes - Rope climbing is something I've only discovered in the past few months, but has become one of my favorite ways to exercise my back, arms, lats, and many other muscles. It's kind of expensive to purchase the rope as compared to other bodyweight exercises, but well worth it.
Pull Ups - I've always been good at pull ups. When I was a kid I used to be very much into climbing trees, so I gained a good amount of strength in my arms and back from it. Pull ups are very fun back exercises to me because there are so many varieties of them and you can do them virtually anywhere. These will help you gain tremendous back and arm strength.
Wrestlers Bridge - This is for more advanced fitness levels and is one of the best back and neck exercises you can do. To start, lie on your back on a soft surface. Bend your legs and place your palms by your shoulders. Push your legs into the floor and place your weight on the top of your head. I know this sounds confusing, so here is a picture - Wrestlers Bridge. This is great for your lower back, neck, legs, and abs.
Wrestlers Bridge With Fitness Ball - This is simply an easier version of the last exercise. Lay your back on a fitness ball, and simply stretch your hands backwards until you can feel a good stretch in your lower back. If you can reach back and grab the floor for a little balance, great.
Duck And Weave - This is something I talked about in my kick boxing page. This exercise simultaneously gives you flexibility, evasiveness, and core strength in one shot. You can do this by imagining a rope that's upper stomach level high, and simply ducking and weaving from one side to the other. Take this slow at first since you've probably never done anything like it before.
Wall Walking - This is a great exercise, but should be done cautiously. The first few times you do it, do me a favor and go slow and only down about halfway because you probably aren't used to being upside down. To do this, stand about 3 feet from a wall, lean back to place your hands on the wall, and simply start going hand by hand down the wall. Continue going down the wall until your head lightly touches the floor, and come back up. Doing back exercises like this will tremendously strengthen your back, while also giving it great flexibility which increases your energy levels.
Grab Ankles and Lift - This is a very unique exercise which is one of my favorite back exercises for stretching and strengthening the spine. Lie on your stomach, grab your ankles, and try to pull your torso and legs off the ground at the same time. Hold the position for a few breaths, and relax. Then repeat the process. Vary how fast you perform this by your current fitness level. I can do this so fast I actually "jump" with my stomach off the floor (great for training your abs to get hit by punches), but I wouldn't advise trying it unless your in great shape.

These back exercises are some of my favorites, and if you put some of them together you can have yourself a great workout. Some are wonderful for simply stretching the back while others are great back strengthening exercises. Both are needed to keep your back pain free.

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