Jeff Cavaliere of ATHLEANX.com discusses the importance of training the back muscles, which are often neglected. He uses muscle markers to illustrate the anatomy of the back and explains how to target specific muscles with various exercises. The muscles covered include:
1. Lats: trained with pull-ups, lat pulldowns, and underhand lat pulldowns.
2. Traps: trained with exercises like shrugs, but also with angled movements to target the upper traps.
3. Terres major: targeted with a wider grip on lat pulldowns.
4. Rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and terres minor): trained with external rotation exercises like the W raise.
5. Rhomboids: trained with exercises like Ts, where the goal is to pull the shoulder blades closer together.
6. Low back muscles (erectors and thoracic-lumbar fascia): trained with hyperextensions, but also with a combination exercise that targets the lats and low back muscles.
Cavaliere also provides a single exercise that targets multiple back muscles: a combination of a hyperextension, row, and lat pulldown using dumbbells. Throughout the video, he emphasizes the importance of understanding the anatomy and function of the back muscles to effectively train them.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The back muscles are often neglected in workouts because they can't be seen.
2. The back muscles are complex and consist of multiple muscle groups.
3. The lats are the most prominent back muscle and are responsible for extension, adduction, and rotation of the shoulder joint.
4. The lats attach to the thoracic-lumbar fascia in the back.
5. To train the lats, one should perform exercises that involve pulling the arms down and into the sides, such as pull-ups or lat pulldowns.
6. The traps are another important back muscle that covers a large area of the back.
7. The traps start at the base of the head and run down the spine, fanning out and back in.
8. The traps have different purposes and functions depending on the area of the muscle.
9. To train the upper traps, one should perform exercises that involve pulling up and at an angle, such as a trap bar exercise.
10. The lower traps are responsible for stabilizing the shoulder blades and can be trained with exercises like the inverted Y.
11. The terres major is a muscle that is close in proximity to the lats and has a similar function.
12. To target the terres major, one can widen the grip on a lat pulldown.
13. The rotator cuff consists of three muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and terres minor.
14. These muscles are responsible for external rotation of the arm and can be trained with exercises like the W raise.
15. The rhomboids are a muscle that runs up at an angle and can be trained with exercises like the T raise.
16. The low back muscles are responsible for stabilizing the spine and can be trained with exercises like hyperextensions.
17. The thoracic-lumbar fascia is a connective tissue that runs from the thoracic spine to the lumbar spine.
18. The lats feed into the thoracic-lumbar fascia.
19. To train the low back muscles, one can combine hyperextensions with lat pulldowns.
20. There is no single exercise that can hit every muscle in the back, but a combination of exercises can target multiple muscle groups.