Upper back exercises
13 exercises in GymVim train the upper back as their primary muscle. 3 are rated beginner, 7 intermediate and 3 advanced.
Exercises
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Upper Back with
Other muscles
- Glutes, 125 exercises
- Quads, 122 exercises
- Abs, 70 exercises
- Lats, 68 exercises
- Front Delts, 65 exercises
- Chest, 63 exercises
- Traps, 39 exercises
- Hamstrings, 38 exercises
- Biceps, 31 exercises
- Triceps, 30 exercises
- Calves, 25 exercises
- Side Delts, 17 exercises
- Forearms, 16 exercises
- Rear Delts, 11 exercises
- Adductors, 9 exercises
- Lower Back, 8 exercises
About the upper back
Upper back is a working label rather than a single muscle. It covers the rhomboids between the shoulder blades, the middle fibres of the trapezius, and the teres muscles at the outer edge of the scapula. What they share is that they move and stabilise the shoulder blade itself rather than the arm: retracting it towards the spine, holding it flat against the ribcage, and controlling it while the arm works.
That distinction matters when choosing exercises. A row trains the upper back when the shoulder blade is allowed to travel, and shifts towards the lats when the torso and scapula stay locked and the arm does the moving. Face pulls and reverse flyes isolate retraction more directly. This group also does a great deal of unseen work during pressing and overhead lifting, where its job is to give the arm a stable base to push from.
Good to know
- How many upper back exercises does GymVim have?
- 13 exercises train the upper back as their primary muscle. Every one has a video, step-by-step instructions and the mistakes people actually make, free in the app.
- What equipment do upper back exercises need?
- The most common are bodyweight, machine, cable machine, dumbbell. 6 of the 13 need no equipment at all.
- Are there beginner upper back exercises?
- Yes. 3 of the 13 are rated beginner, 7 intermediate and 3 advanced. The filters at the top of this page narrow the list to one level.