Why you can’t be fit without strong back muscles

Every time I go to the mountains for a trek, I realise just how important it is to have a strong back. Now, this may not be what you might have heard. After all, you need strong legs and good stamina for the mountains, right?

Well, while that’s absolutely true, you also need a strong back. One of the most obvious reasons for this is that you will be carrying a heavy backpack while you’re walking. If you do the alpine-style treks that I do, then you should be able to carry about 10kg on your back, easily. For this, your back muscles need to be strong, as well as your neck muscles.

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Secondly, you must also remember that you will be hiking for about 6-7 hours every day, and for that you need a very strong back. Given how closely our back muscles, glutes and leg muscles work together, it is very important to ensure that you have no weak spots.

Even if you don’t go hiking, you need to work on your back strength. For one, it will greatly aid in your overall mobility and flexibility. What’s more, you must always give full importance to overall functional fitness. And believe me, if your back is strong, you’ll feel good everyday! With that in mind, here are two excellent back workouts that you should incorporate into your training.

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I love Chris Heria’s workouts. This is an excellent follow-along back workout that uses a mix of bodyweight and dumbbell exercises. They workout each of the main back muscles that you use daily, whether just to do chores around the house or while playing a sport. The main workout is just 10 minutes long, but as you get better at it, you can do the full round two or three times.

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The best thing about Athlean-X workouts is that instructor Jeff Cavaliere not only gives you killer workouts to do, but also breaks down the muscle groups that each exercise targets and why. Moreover, he sequences his exercises very well, thus ensuring that you do some recovery exercises as well.

Also Read: The best way to exercise if you plan to go trekking