I love 'Pull Day'!
For the uninitiated, Pull Day refers to exercising your back, bicep, and hamstring muscles. I like to do twice as many Pull Exercises as Push Exercises because I feel it helps improve posture and keeps my shoulders from rounding.
That said, there are a nearly limitless amount of exercises you can perform to help strengthen your back muscles. Here are 3 that I love to include in my Pull Day to keep my back strong and posture perfect.
*Always consult a Healthcare Professional before beginning any exercise/nutrition program.
LAT PULLDOWN
All of these moves will be performed using resistance bands but can also be performed on a cable machine.
Lat Pulldowns are an excellent exercise to strength your lats and improve posture. Some people perform these standing up but I prefer to kneel as it allows for a better stretch of the lats at the top of the motion.
The goal is to keep my arms straight and recruit my lats as I pull the bands to my hips. I slowly release the tension as my hands raise back to their starting position overhead. I perform 3 sets of 15-20 reps.
2 PART SHRUG
A lot of people do shrugs, but very few people do a '2 Part Shrug'. I prefer these as the extra move forces you to recruit your traps before raising them.
Using bands (or dumbbells if preferred) I bring my shoulder blades together. This is part 1. For part 2, I raise my traps as I 'shrug' my shoulders to my ears. I slowly release the tension and lower back to my starting position. I perform 3 sets of 15-20 reps.
FACEPULLS
These are a MUST! I love doing Facepulls because I instantly feel my posture improve. My body feels relaxed, my shoulders are pulled back, and any neck rounding vanishes.
I use a band for Facepulls but a cable machine and rope also works well. I stand with one foot forward and externally rotate my shoulders until my hands finish behind my elbows and my traps come together. Then, I slowly release the tension until my arms are straight and back in their starting position. I perform 3 sets of 12-15 reps.
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