[igorek]

כתבה מורחבת של לייל מקדונלד באנגלית על ביצוע תרגילי גב:

The midback (and lats) make up a considerable amount of muscle mass in the body and training those muscles groups effectively should be a key part of any good training program. In terms of maintaining good shoulder health and posture, along with developing musculature that contributes significantly to overall mass; training the back properly is key. Unfortunately, many trainees either pay little attention to the back or train it so ineffectively as to make that training, well...ineffective.

This week I want to look at some common cable row variants noting that most of the comments I'm going to make can be equally applied to barbell or dumbbell rowing or even various rowing machines. So don't get hung up on the fact that I took pictures of a cable using specific attachments, it's the mechanics of the different movements that is the key.

First I want to show the basic starting and ending position for a parallel grip row. In the start picture (left) note that the torso is leaned only slightly forwards with the knees bent and the back held straight. I want to comment that some rowing variants include flexion (bending at either the upper or lower spine) so that, with extension, there is more dynamic work thrown onto the spinal erectors. I didn't take photos of that since I'm focusing here on the midback and lat muscles specifically. In the end position, note that the elbows are slightly behind the body, the shoulders are pulled back and the chest is lifted (with a slight arch in the upper back). This is key to getting a good contraction in the back. You'll also note that, because of the elbow position, the handle hits the body in approximately the middle of the torso.