Top Coach Reveals 3 Best Back Exercises You Can Do at Home
Finding time to hit the gym isn't always possible. Whether it's a busy schedule, lack of transportation, or simply preferring to work out at home, getting a proper back workout without equipment might seem challenging.
Enter Cori Lefkowith, founder of Redefining Strength. With over 800,000 YouTube subscribers trusting her expertise, she's made it her mission to help people build strength wherever they are. Today, she shares her top three back exercises that require nothing more than your body weight and items you already have at home.
Why Your Back Needs Attention
"There's often one muscle group overlooked and underworked in our body weight workouts, especially when we don't have any equipment on hand, and that muscle group is our backs," Cori explains in her post. While we regularly do push-ups for the chest and shoulders or squats for the legs, back exercises often get forgotten in-home workouts.
Exercise 1: The Wall or Floor Scapular Hold
The first exercise requires only a wall or floor. "This move is honestly something I even include for my clients in the gym because of how amazing it is for back activation and scapular control," says Cori. This versatile exercise can be performed as either an isometric hold or with repetitions.
Key technique points:
- Position yourself against a wall or on the floor
- Push through your elbows while drawing shoulder blades together
- Press your chest out
- Keep your core engaged throughout.
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Exercise 2: The Doorway Row Master
Your doorway or stairwell becomes your rowing station with this exercise. "With this move, your body weight will be your own resistance, and you'll feel not only your back and biceps, but even your legs and core," Cori shares. The key is focusing on driving your elbows back rather than just pulling with your arms.
Options include:
- Single-arm rows
- Two-arm rows
- Anti-rotational variations
- Rotational pulls.
Exercise 3: The Towel Technique
Don't underestimate the power of a simple towel. "Using a towel, you can actually work your back in so many different ways from rows to flies, to even pull downs," Cori demonstrates. The effectiveness comes from creating self-resistance through the towel.
Towel exercise variations:
- Self-resistant rows
- Bent-over rows
- Pull-downs
- Single-arm flies.
Making These Moves Work for You
For beginners, Cori recommends starting with wall-based movements. "The wall is a bit easier to control than the floor. And the less you walk your feet away from the wall, the more modified the move is," she advises. This makes these exercises adaptable to every fitness level.
Advanced practitioners can challenge themselves by:
- Increasing hold times
- Adding controlled rotations to rows
- Using towel exercises with increased tension
- Incorporating dynamic movements.
Form First, Always
To maximize results, Cori emphasizes proper form: "The key is not just pulling with your arms but actually driving your elbows back. You want to feel your shoulder blade move towards your spine, engaging your back to power the pull."
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Last Word From the Trainer
Cori shares her final advice: "There's always a way to get results training with what we have." These three exercises prove that building a stronger back doesn't require a gym membership – just commitment and proper technique. And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss these 3 Simple Stretches Made This Coach More Flexible in 2 Weeks.
