A typical back day at the gym often includes popular upper body exercises like deadlifts, pull-ups, bent-over rows, and lateral pulldowns. While these are excellent for building strength and muscle, there are alternative ways to train your back without needing the gym or heavy equipment.
I've never felt confident training my upper body as I do training my lower body, especially when it comes to performing big compound lifts. Keen to ditch the weights, I decided to skip the gym and instead try a resistance band workout that claims to work the entire posterior chain, paying particular attention to the back muscles.
The routine I found was shared by Pilates Instructor Hilal Leigh on her Instagram. It's an eight-move strength workout using one of the best resistance bands. Below you can view a full rundown of the workout and then read up on how I got on trying it out at home.
Don't underestimate the power of a resistance band
When I came to try this banded-back workout I was using a new set of bands straight out of the packaging and soon came to realize that they probably weren't the best style for this workout. I was working with a heavy-duty fabric band, one you'd typically use for leg day.
The band sits around your wrists during each exercise, an area that doesn't hold the same strength and power as your thighs or glutes do and therefore you won't need to go super heavy with the resistance unless you're feeling up to it. For me, I felt like I couldn't reach the full capacity of the move and was missing out on gains because of this.
For this reason, I'd recommend opting for a thinner, rubber resistance band if you're eager to give this banded workout a shot.
I really felt it in my triceps
According to Leigh, "This workout will strengthen your back, low back muscles, upper body especially shoulders, legs and hips as it works scapula retractors, rotator cuff, deltoid, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, gluteus and hamstrings."
I definitely felt all the targeted areas being challenged throughout the eight exercises, but I also noticed a significant burn in my triceps. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to happen, as Leigh didn't mention it in her post.
However, my colleague Sam who is a trainer herself reassured me that feeling it in the triceps was normal. All of the moves require you to pull the arms backward against the resistance band and if you watch the video demonstrations of Leigh and her workout buddy you can actually see the muscle in the forearms contracting as they work through the exercises.
No bad workout ends with cat cows
I read through the comments section for this workout, and someone described the exercises as 'small but mighty'—I couldn't agree more.
My back muscles felt thoroughly worked, but without the dread of intense delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) the next day and the cherry on top was ending the routine with a series of cat-cows, downward dogs, and cobra positions (without the band). I especially love the deep stretch and spinal awareness that the cat cow stretch brings to me.
The final part of this back routine left me feeling more mobile and a sense of relief across my back where I often hold tension.
It's tempting to skip the cool-down section of a workout, but this part is often the most important for preventing muscle tightness and promoting recovery.
More from Tom's Guide
- Personal trainer shares a 14-minute HIIT workout to build muscle and burn fat
- 5 best exercises to grow your triceps using a resistance band
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