Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, Brookbush Institute
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Calisthenics is an awesome form of training that not enough people do. And if you have any doubts that you can build your back without using weights, let's put that to rest here.
After all, one of the most famous upper body calisthenics exercises, the pull-up, is almost universally considered the best back exercise of all time.
So why don't more people don't do calisthenics?
Most people either don't know what to do or aren't aware you can build an awesome back only using calisthenics. If you fall into one of those camps, keep reading to learn all the benefits of calisthenic back exercises.
Who knows, after reading this, you may decide to ditch those dumbbells altogether!
Table of Contents:
- What Are Calisthenics Exercises?
- Best Calisthenics Back Workout
- Progrssions & Rep Schemes
- Benefits of Calisthenics Back Workouts
- Best Calisthenics Exercises
What Are Calisthenics Exercises?
Calisthenics is a form of training that uses your body weight as a load. By manipulating your grip and levers, you can increase the complexity and intensity of progressive overload.
The only time loads might be used is if they're attached to the body to increase the weight.
Do You Need Any Equipment For A Calisthenics Back Workout?
While you won't use any external loading implements, you still need a few pieces of equipment to train calisthenics. For a back workout, you'll need at least two sturdy bars of varying heights.
The first will be a standard pull-up bar that sits relatively high. Ideally, one from which you can free-hang without your feet touching, but if it's a little shorter, that will work as well. If you only have a low bar, that's fine. It will just make the exercises a bit more challenging.
Your second bar will be a very short pull-up bar about 3 feet off the ground, but, again, work with what you have. Some parks will have a series of 3 or 4 of these shorter bars, which is ideal.
Access to a rope (or another object you could climb, like a tree or even a pole) would be awesome, and finally, you'll need a sturdy object that you can rest your feet on. Another piece of equipment to consider is a resistance band as it can help make your exercises even harder.
If you don't have these exact things, get creative, as you likely have an alternative around your house you can use. You can also check out our round-up of the Best Calisthenics Equipment for some great options for your home gym.
The Best Calisthenic Back Workout Routine
Since you don't have a ton of exercises to choose from, follow these workouts 2 to even 3 times a week. This will allow a lot of volume, which is key for muscle hypertrophy.
In these sessions, you'll notice some form of a pull-up, chin-up, and Australian row for every session. But you'll use different versions for each, to allow for some variation and for you to hit the muscles from different angles.
Everyone is on a different level, so you use whatever progression suits your current fitness level. We're going to list the exercises for each session first, and then below the workouts, we'll discuss the rep scheme in more detail.
Calisthenics Back Workout Session A:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Pull Up (Harder Progression) |
5 |
RPE8 |
|
Chin Ups |
5 |
RPE8 |
|
Australian Row |
5 |
RPE8 |
Calisthenics Back Workout Session B:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Chin Ups (Harder Progression) |
5 |
RPE8 |
|
Pull Up (Easier Progression) |
5 |
RPE8 |
|
Australian Row (Overhand Grip) |
5 |
RPE8 |
Progressions for Calisthenics Back Workouts
Your goal is 5 sets of each, but your total workout time will dictate sets. We can't give you a rep range as it's relative to your strength, but for each set, work to an RPE8 or so.
As your strength improves, aim to do more reps per set each week. You could "max out" on the last set if you wanted.
Rep Schemes For Your Calisthenics Back Workout
When it comes to reps, you could use EMOMs, add one rep to one set at a time, or concentrate on getting your max number high.
Here are a few different reps schemes you could play around with:
- 1,1,1,1,1
- 1,1,2,1,1
- 1,2,1,2,1
- 1,1,3,1,2
Benefits Of A Calisthenics Workout Routine
Before we get into the different exercises in more detail, let's first go over a few awesome benefits.
1) Improves Athleticism:
One criticism that some bodybuilders, and even strength athletes, get is that they're too bulky. This is a relative and personal opinion, but it's obvious why some may feel that way. We're sure you've seen a video of a bodybuilder who can't take their shirt off due to too much muscle.
Calisthenics workout routines won't let this happen. Many of these movements require mobility, so you don't need to worry about not being able to take your shirt off.
Plus, a full calisthenics workout routine includes things like jumping and ballistic work, so you'll always be explosive.
2) Supports Natural Muscle Growth:
I have no science to back this up, but I do have years of training experience. And, using this experience, out of all the ways to train, I will say calisthenics provides the most natural muscle growth.
Calisthenics requires body control and a chorus of variables that complement each other, including:
- Muscle size
- Body weight
- Skill level
Calisthenics seems to take these and produce the optimal combination for building muscle. In other words, it's almost as if calisthenics produces our "perfect" body, including the optimal ratio of muscle mass for living.
Again, this is purely theoretical, but it's interesting to think about.
3) Keeps Your Body Composition In Check:
Bodyweight exercises will test our relative strength, or how strong we are compared to our body's weight. Saying you can bench "1.5x your body weight" is an example of relative strength.
To be good at calisthenics, it helps to have a low body fat percentage. If you make this your primary form of strength training, you'll eventually have an awesome body composition.
4) Hits All Of The Muscle Groups:
You can train all muscle groups wherever you are. If someone says you can't, it's because they don't understand how the body functions or they aren't aware of all the different calisthenic exercises and their variations.
Your body is an entire gym IF you have the right information and exercises.
The Best Calisthenic Back Exercises & Variations
Calisthenics is one of the best forms of training you can do for your back. While there are a lot of movements you can do, they're mostly progressions and regressions of one another.
Therefore, we're going to list the major movement pattern and then the progressions and regressions, if applicable. Much of the step-by-step is similar in all progressions, so we'll only run through the directions for the major movement.
After, we'll go through the progressions and note differences or special instructions. Many of the progressions are also similar in concept, so again, to not repeat the same information, we will just make notes when applicable.
1) Australian Row:
The Australian row, also known as the inverted row (probably in Australia), is the equivalent of an upside-down bent-over row. Since your body is the load, you hang upside down from a bar, pulling your body to the bar and mimicking a row.
It's an awesome movement that too few people perform. I like to knock these out for a burnout set on a back day sometimes. And if you think they're easy, you've probably never done them or are missing some of the progressions.
Here's a look at the different variations.
How to do the Australian Row:
- Whether or not you can start with a regular Australian row will depend on how high your bar is and your fitness level. The higher the bar, the easier it will be, as your body will be more vertical when pulled. On the contrary, being lower will be much harder as you'll be pulling more of your body weight.
- To perform these, grab the low pull-up bar with an overhand grip that's a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Place your feet at a distance so that your torso is fully extended at an angle to the ground. This will put your arms straight at a bit of a forward angle (hands in front of your lower chest), and your feet out in front of you.
- Start in a dead hang with a tight core. This will be your starting position.
- Pull your shoulder blades back, keeping your torso fully erect. Start the movement by pulling your body weight up. Drive your elbows behind you and think about touching the floor with them.
- As your body raises toward the bar, keep a tight core and imagine your body is like a pendulum. Try to stay fully erect. Your elbows should be tucked in at about a 45-degree angle to engage your back muscles correctly.
- Continue driving them back until your chest touches the pull-up bar. Pause for a second, then slowly lower your body.
Australian Row Variations
Here's an overview of the different row variations you can incorporate into your calisthenics routine.
- Wide Grip Australian Pull Ups: To perform the wide grip version, you will use the same setup, except your grip will be a few inches wider. This places more stress on the lat muscles due to greater shoulder adduction and less bicep involvement.
- Australian Pull-Up To One Arm: A common theme in calisthenics back exercises is to gradually attempt to do a one-arm version, as this will make the load that much heavier. When just starting out with this progression, grip the bar with both arms and pull your body toward one of your fists. Pulling your body to one side increases the load on that arm. Your end goal is to bring the middle of your chest to a fist for repeated reps. You can do these reps by alternating left to right or staying one side at a time.
- Finger Australian Rows: When that becomes relatively easy, the next step is to start taking your fingers off the supporting hand during one-side Australian rows. For example, if you're pulling to the right hand, take a finger off your left hand. Continue taking off fingers to increase the intensity until you're using just one for support.
- One-Arm Australian Rows: The last step is to perform a full one-arm row. Not only will these place a heavy load on your back muscles, but your core will also have a tough time staying straight as it will want to turn. Fighting that urge to twist makes this a great anti-rotation exercise for your core.
- Underhand Australian Rows: This version is basically the chin-up of Australian rows. These are performed with an underhand, shoulder-width grip with the arms forming a straight, vertical line. As well as being in a supinated position, you'll get greater flexion in your elbows, both of which will cause greater activation in the biceps.
- Close Grip Underhand Australian Rows: When using a close grip, only use an underhand grip with your hands a few inches inward from the shoulders. As you improve, you can gradually move your hands closer to each other, which makes the movement harder. This will give greater activation to the biceps and upper back muscles.
- Feet Raised Australian Rows: To increase the load on any of the above variations, simply place your feet on a sturdy object so that it raises your body. This will increase the percentage of your body weight lifted, similar to using a lower bar.
2) Chin Ups:
Chin-ups are similar to pull-ups (to learn more, we have a great article on differences between chin ups vs pull ups), except they use an underhand grip. Many people mistakenly believe this is what makes it unique from the pull-up. In reality, it's not specifically the grip but rather the underhand grip that forces you to bring your elbows in front of your body while also using a narrower grip.
As a result, as you pull yourself up, the elbows extend in front of your body through shoulder extension. Further, there is more flexion in the elbow, so you get to train the biceps muscles to a greater extent which is why this exercise should be included in any calisthenics arm workout.
Some studies have suggested that due to the elbow position and path of travel, you will give the traps a better workout. However, other studies have shown the lower traps are hit better with the pull-up.
At the same time, these studies also show that the lats get a better workout with the chin-up which is usually attributed to the pull-up¹. In reality, it probably depends on the person's muscle balance, strength, and biomechanics that determine what muscles are hit.
Regardless, we don't look at chin-ups as an "easy version" of the pull-up but rather as their own exercise. Think of the relationship between a bench press and an incline bench press.
How to do Chin Ups:
- To do a normal chin-up, grab a bar with an underhand grip that's shoulder width apart. Get in a dead hang position to begin the movement.
- When ready, pull your shoulder blades back and slightly stick out your chest.
- Instead of thinking about pulling your body to the bar, think about pulling the bar to your body. This mental trick will result in proper form as you will want to pull backward. Keep pulling up until your chin rises above the bar.
Chin Up Variations
Here are the different regressions and progressions of the chin up you can include in your routine.
- Negatives: If you are just starting, you'll be limited in what you can do. You might be stuck doing negative pull ups, which is totally fine. We've all been there. A negative uses eccentric muscle contraction (going down) where your body can produce more force. To perform these, you will jump up to the top position with your chin over the bar. Steady your core muscles, and then slowly lower yourself down. You want the descent to be smooth and even and last 3-5 seconds. Once you can control your descent for 5 seconds, you will be able to knock out a couple of full chin-ups.
- Close Grip Chin Ups: Similar to the Australian pull-ups, simply place your hands closer and closer together to do this version.
- Chin Ups To One Side: When doing Australian pull-ups, gradually pull yourself to one hand and then to the other.
- Commando Pull Ups: This version supposedly hits the serratus anterior. I can't say that's occurring for sure, but it doesn't matter as I love them. Stand under a bar with your eyes facing the direction of the bar. Grab it overhead with one hand facing the other in a neutral grip. Now perform a pull-up. As you come up, you'll put your head to one side and bring the bar to the top of your shoulder or trap muscle. Repeat this and alter your hands with head movement.
3) Pull Ups:
Depending on who you ask, the pull-up is the king of upper-body exercises. These use an overhand grip (which is what distinguishes them from chin-ups) that's slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
This requires your elbows to flare out to the sides of your body. To pull down, you perform shoulder adduction and focus on the lats to a higher degree. There are many types of pull-up exercises, and the ultimate goal is muscle-ups.
Even if you enjoy back workouts at home, you can still find creative ways to include the pull up!
How to do Pull Ups:
- Next on the progression train are your normal pull-ups. Again, you want to do these with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Focus on driving your elbows down to the ground rather than pulling yourself up. This should get more activation in the lats due to the greater shoulder adduction.
Pull Up Variations
Here are the different pull up variations to include in your calisthenics back routine.
- Negatives: Just as above, with the chin-ups, you can also perform pull-ups with negatives.
- Wide Grip Pulls Ups: Wide grip pull-ups use a grip that's about a fist length (or two) wider than regular pull-ups. This causes your elbows to move farther away from your body, as well as mitigating the use of your biceps. As a result, wide grip pull-ups place greater stress on the lats as they must compensate.
- Pull Up To One Side & Finger Pull Ups: Similar to the other exercises that you have you pull to one side, these will have you pull your body laterally so that the middle of your chest goes to one hand. You can also then begin taking your fingers off the pull-up bar.
- Archer Pull Ups: An archer pull-up gets its name due to its resemblance to an archer. It's an extreme form of a pull-up to one side as you completely take one hand off as you go pull to the other side. Instead of using a finger, put your hand on top of the bar with your palms facing down with an open hand. With this, you won't be able to use much force as it will merely act as a sort of lever for support. Pull your body up to the active hand while rotating the support hand farther and farther over the bar. At the top position, your chest should be on one hand while the other is fully extended out in a straight line.
- Chest-to-Bar: Chest-to-bar pull-ups are the one major exercise to learn as you train for your first muscle up, requiring you to pull the bar down to at least your sternum. At this point, your elbows are fully flexed, and your hands are above your shoulders. To ensure you get as high as you can, begin pulling until the bar reaches almost the top of your head. At this point, you are starting to transition into your strongest position, and you will explode. Get the bar to at least your sternum but feel free to try and go even lower. As these are explosive, we like to perform fewer reps and focus on 100% force each rep.
4) Climbing (Rope Work):
If you have a rope, climbing is an awesome back workout. It will depend on what you have available, but if you can climb a rope, learn to climb.
You can also do a pull-up using ropes or even a rope row (not sure if that's the name but that's what we're calling it!)
Start by laying down on the ground under the rope. Then, keeping your feet planted and torso erect, pull your body up as if it's a pendulum before lowering yourself down.
Advanced Calisthenics Back Exercises
For those with advanced skills, welcome to your section. If you're not at this level yet, use these exercises as a goal, or just learn how many exercises and strength gains are possible.
1) Peg Boards:
Pegboards are tough, which is why you often see them in wrestling rooms or boxing gyms. It's also going to require some equipment, mainly a huge, solid piece of wood with holes drilled into it. It will also come with two small wooden dowels.
Your goal is to climb up the entire board by sticking the dowels in the holes. You place one in snugly and then remove the other so you can place it in a higher hole. Continue this process until you reach the top.
Once that becomes easy, you can then climb down as well.
2) Pull Up Row:
I'm going to be honest. I'm not sure what to call these, but a pull-up row seems to describe them well. To perform these, you need advanced strength in both your back muscles and core.
Use an underhand or overhand grip (or alternate the two) and grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Start to pull yourself up but rotate your body position back. Lean back until your back is parallel to the ground or as close as you can get. Your legs will be straight, extending upward.
To make this move harder, your legs can also be extended straight, so your body is in a straight line. You should be able to get in a position where you can do a horizontal row. It's basically an Australian pull-up with your entire body in the air.
Once in position, pull your body up as high as you can go.
3) Head Bangers:
Head Bangers are visually very impressive and are a great exercise to train the core, focus on body control, and of course, emphasize your back muscles.
Pull yourself up to the top position and hold yourself there. Now, instead of lowering yourself down, push your body backward. As you push yourself back, you want to try not to lose any height. Push yourself as far back as you can go, and then pull yourself back to the bar.
Ideally, you want to do this in a slow and controlled manner. However, that takes a lot of time, so you can go fast at first.
4) Muscle Ups:
Even though muscle ups are at the end of pull-up progressions, I'm listing it as its own exercise. That's because, in reality, these are unique as they're a power exercise, similar to a clean and jerk. You can train the muscle up for power, and then use the pull-up (or progressions) for strength training or muscle hypertrophy.
Above, I mentioned the chest-to-bar. Once you're efficient at that (chest to low sternum), you're ready. Perform a chest-to-bar pull-up and try to get as high as possible. At the top position, the bar should be at least to the bottom of your chest, ideally farther.
At the top, you will quickly flip your elbows over so that you're in a front bar dip position. To do this, you must stay close to the bar and get your weight over it at the top.
From here, you will perform a dip and push your body all the way up.
Build Your Physique With This Calisthenics Back Workout
As you see, while you may be more limited exercise-wise compared to the gym, these calisthenics back exercises using your own body weight are more than enough to build your back muscles for an awesome physique.
By nature, calisthenics can be mentally trying as they take a long time to significantly progress. It's harder to see smaller progressions as you're not physically putting more weight on a barbell.
But I promise you that if you stick with calisthenics, you will become stronger and more athletic than you ever thought possible.
Looking for more great calisthenics workouts? Check out our Legs Calisthenics Workout, our Beginner Calisthenics Workout, our Chest Calisthenics Workout, and the Best Calisthenics Workout Program!
Interested in some equipment to elevate your calisthenics training? Our article on Calisthenics Equipment For Your Home Gym will help you find the best option for your needs.
12 comfortable grips and various handles allow you to perform wide, hammer, close-grip exercises...
References:
-
Youdas, James W; Amundson, Collier L; Cicero, Kyle S; Hahn, Justin J; Harezlak, David T; Hollman, John H. Surface Electromyographic Activation Patterns and Elbow Joint Motion During a Pull-Up, Chin-Up, or Perfect-Pullup™ Rotational Exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181f1598c
Garett Reid
Author