Busy Guys Guide to Building a Stronger Back and Butt
If you want to be the strongest, most athletic version of yourself, then you must focus your training on the muscles that you cannot see in the mirror.
A lot of guys spend most of their time in the gym training the muscles that they see in the mirror. This approach to training often leads to shoulder issues and can actually speed up the aging process. A steady diet of bench press and curls leads to tight pecs and biceps which pulls you into a rounded forward shoulder posture while exacerbating chronically weak muscles on the back side of your body.
Why do most guys avoid training the muscles of the back, also known as the posterior chain? Because the exercises that train the posterior chain are difficult (usually because of a lifetime of neglect).
If you have been dealing with cranky shoulders or a barking lower back, then it’s probably time to spend some quality time training the posterior chain. Even if you are not dealing with chronic pain you can benefit from training your posterior chain.
A strong posterior chain
· Improves your posture so you can eliminate nagging aches and pains stemming from poor movement mechanics which develop when you have strength imbalances between the muscles on the front and the back of your body.
· Increases your jumping and running ability.
· Skyrockets your overall strength because the human body thrives when balanced. If there is a strength difference between your front and back you body will only allow for you to become as strong as your weakest link.
· Builds an aesthetically pleasing physique because the human eye is attracted to symmetry and no one likes a well developed front view only to be disappointed by a pitiful posterior.
· Bulletproofs your body. Most of the injuries that guys struggle with occur on the back of the body and generally strong muscles don’t tend to get injured nearly as easily as weak muscles.
So, what are the biggest bang for your buck exercises when it comes to training the posterior chain?
For the upper body you cannot go wrong with pull-ups, chin-up, and all the rowing variations you can think of. The best lower body exercises that train the posterior chain are the deadlift, kettlebell swing (and all its variations), and the hip thrust.
It is important to train the posterior chain across all the rep ranges however, there are certain exercises that fit better into certain rep ranges than others. For example, the deadlift is best performed in the 1-5 rep range with a focus on heavy loading while the kettlebell swing is best performed in sets of 5-10. Chin-ups and pull-ups are best performed in lower rep sets as well while the rowing variations are better suited for medium and higher rep sets between 8-20.
Explosive training is a great addition to a well-developed program that focuses on the posterior chain. Box jumps and kettlebell swings are great choices for most busy guys looking for big bang for you buck exercises that will power up a posterior in a hurry.
What about the Olympic lifts?
The Olympic lifts (Snatch and Clean and Jerk) are amazing for developing the entire posterior chain. If you have experience with them, you could easily devote an entire workout to just those lifts and get an amazing return on your training. BUT, there is a significant amount of mobility needed in the hips, shoulders and thoracic spine, wrists, and ankles as well as there is a steep learning curve with the movements as well before you begin to utilize loads that you will challenge you sufficiently. If you are not willing to put in the time to learn the lifts and ensure that your body is in a good place from a mobility standpoint you would be better off sticking to jumps and swings for your explosive work.
Looking for a well rounded program that includes a healthy dose of posterior chain work? Check out Virtue Athlete which is specifically designed to help you move and perform better so you can ditch nagging pain, smooth out any crazy imbalances, and build a powerful posterior.