The back muscles
Synonyms in the broadest sense
Back training, back muscle training
function
The long back muscles act as an opponent of the straight abdominal muscles and thus take over the stretching of the spine. Especially in the lumbar spine area, back pain often occurs due to tension in the muscles. Well-trained back extensors and healthy mobility in this area can prevent back pain.
The latissimus (Latissimus dorsi muscle) and the great round muscle (Teres major muscle) take on the function of pulling a weight towards the body (latissimus pull) or lifting the body upwards (pull-ups).
The muscles of the back
Here you can find detailed information about the back muscles:
- Broad back muscle (M. latissimus dorsi)
- Rhomboid muscle (M. rhomboideus minor et major)
- Large round muscle (M. teres major)
- Small round muscle (M. teres minor)
- Trapezius (M. trapezius)
- Long back extensor muscles (M. erector spinae)
- Upper bone muscle (M. supraspinatus)
- Lower bone muscle (M. infraspinatus)
Figure back muscles
Back muscles
- Trapezius -
Trapezius muscle - Deltoid -
Deltoid muscle - Small round muscle -
Teres minor muscle - Subbone Muscle -
Infraspinatus muscle - Large round muscle -
Teres major muscle - Broad back muscle -
Latissimus dorsi muscle - Back extensor (lower lying) -
Erector spinae muscle - Outer weird
Abdominal muscles -
M. obliquus externus abdominis - Belt muscle
(second layer) -
Muscle splenius - Scapula lifter
(second layer) -
Muscle levator scapulae - Small rhomboid muscle
(second layer) -
Rhomboideus minor muscle - Large rhomboid muscle
(second layer) -
Rhomboideus major muscle - Iliac crest -
Iliac crest - Gluteus Middle -
Gluteus medius muscle - Gluteus Muscle -
Gluteus maximus muscle
You can find an overview of all Dr-Gumpert images at: medical illustrations
Building the back muscles
relevance
Back pain are a Widespread disease. Around 70 percent of the German population will experience at least one in their lifetime Episode of pain, although orthopedic disease is rarely the cause. A typical example of this would be the disc prolapse. Often times are Muscle tension or one Improper loading the spine is the triggering reason for the back pain.
Especially in the area of fitness and the health The focus should therefore be on training the back muscles in order to compensate for possible deficits or to prevent degradation due to lack of exercise. The most effective remedy for this type of back pain is to have well-built back muscles. The advanced training can take place at home without equipment, but also in a fitness studio or during physiotherapy.
If you are interested in the subject of back pain, read on here:
- Experience upper back, middle back, or lower back pain
- possible causes, symptoms and the diagnosis
Training types
When training the back, the focus should be on stabilization and less on strength. This means that the workout should be done with more repetitions with less weight load.
Equipment training: In the fitness studio, individual muscles can be specifically trained on the equipment. Attention should be paid to an appropriate weight load in order to achieve a good training effect on the one hand and to avoid injuries on the other. Examples of exercises on equipment are explained below.
Exercises without equipment: weights and equipment are not necessarily required for effective training of the back muscles. Simple exercises can also be performed at home at any time.
Sports: Alternatively, strengthening the back muscles can also be integrated into the practice of various sports. A good example of this is swimming, which is very gentle on the joints and therefore also enables people with previous orthopedic illnesses to exercise. Other ways to gently build up the back muscles are hiking, dancing, aqua aerobics, cycling, cross-country skiing, etc. However, there are also heavily stressful sports that can be harmful to the back. These include, for example, tennis, volleyball or handball.
Overall, there are many different options to build up the back muscles, which allow an individual training design. Everyone has to decide for themselves which path is the right one.
Read more on the subject at: Build back muscles.
Equipment training
Training the back muscles is not allowed in any Training planning absent and should be done alternately with the abdominal muscles. Since this muscle group is made up of a large number of muscles, the training should be accordingly complex.
In the following you will find information on individual muscles and the associated exercise forms.
- Latissimus (M. latissimus dorsi)
- Lat train
- Pull-ups
- Back insulator
- Large round muscle (M. teres major) Small round muscle (M. teres minor)
- Back insulator
- Lat train
- Trapezius (M. trapezius)
- Shoulder raises
- Back insulator
- Rhomboid muscle (M. rhomboideus)
- Shoulder raises
- Long back muscles (M. erector spinae)
- Hyperextension
You can find more back exercises on the device at: Back exercises.
Exercises without equipment
An important measure for the prevention of back pain is building up the back muscles, whereby there are many different exercises that can easily be performed at home in everyday life and without equipment. Most of the time all you need is a mat and a chair. Depending on your individual needs, it makes sense to find out about various exercises for the back muscles on the Internet. In this way you can be sure that you will find exactly the exercises that best suit your goals.
Below are some simple exercises recommended for beginners. It is important that building the back muscles is primarily about stability and less about strength. When training without equipment, your own body weight is used as the weight.
- Forearm support: In this exercise, you lie on your stomach and then support yourself with both forearms. At the same time, stand on your toes and lift your legs off the surface. It is important to ensure that the core of the body is in a constant line with the legs. This posture should be maintained for about 30 seconds.
- Superman: For this you also lie flat on your stomach and now lift your arms and legs without supporting yourself, so that only your stomach and chest touch the floor. This position should also be held for 30 seconds.
- Trunk lift: When you lift your trunk, you lie on your stomach on the floor and lift your upper body and legs. This tension should be maintained for as long as possible and leads to a stabilization of the trunk and back muscles.
- Bridge: Here you lie on your back, put your legs up and lift your bottom and upper body off the floor so that it forms a continuous line with your thighs. Meanwhile, keep your arms flat on the floor. This position should be held for 15 seconds and repeated five times.
For more muscle building exercises, see: Strengthening the back muscles
Stretching the muscles
Stretching causes relaxation and better blood flow to the back muscles and, if done regularly and carefully, can effectively prevent back pain. It is important to give your muscles enough time to relax. Whether it is better to stretch before or after training is discussed, so it should be up to you.
The neck muscles can easily be stretched while sitting. To do this, sit up straight and let your head hang forward on your chest. The position should be comfortable and one should not try to force one's chin to press against one's chest.
The best way to stretch the lumbar muscles is to lie on your back and pull your bent legs towards your upper body. Ideally, hold this position for 30 seconds and then slowly let go. This leads to a relaxation of the muscles. There are a variety of possible stretches for the back muscles that can be researched on the internet.
Read more about stretching: Stretching, stretching exercises and stretching for sore muscles
Relevance of relaxation
The Causes of Back Pain are extremely diverse, whereby the majority of back pain is due to muscular problems such as tension and incorrect strain on the back muscles, as well as malfunctions of the small joints between the individual vertebrae.
This is an important treatment approach Release the tension. First should physical therapy, Sports as well as an adaptation of the working and living environment are tackled.
It makes sense to first loosen the back muscles with various exercises and do them regularly in everyday life. Overall there are a variety of them Exercises for relaxation on the Internet that are easy to imitate. Depending on where exactly the pain is, you can specifically look for exercises for the upper, middle or lower back muscles. It is important to keep in mind that the pain does not go away immediately after performing the exercises once. It often takes a few weeks until the first successes can be achieved.
You can find more examples at: Exercises to loosen up and relax while standing or To sit
If no success can be achieved with the above approaches, a Pain management with typical drugs, like Ibuprofen, Voltaren or Diclofenac respectively. If these do not help either, there is still the option of relaxing the back muscles with medication. Effective preparations for relaxing the back muscles are Pridinol mesilate or Methocarbamol, which triggers its relaxing effect in the central nervous system. Medicinal relaxation of the back muscles should only be considered if conservative treatment fails and is therefore not the method of choice for treating back pain.
