Back (Lats & Mid-Back)

Heads and regions

Lats
Rhomboids
Teres major
Rear-chain stabilisers

What it does

Shoulder extension
Shoulder adduction
Scapular retraction

How to train it

Vertical pulls (pulldowns, pull-ups) build width. Horizontal pulls (rows) build thickness. Do both.
Think about driving the elbows, not squeezing the hands — the arms are hooks.
Back is a large, recoverable muscle group. It tolerates more weekly volume than chest or arms.

Common questions

How many sets of back a week?

14 to 22 hard sets, spread over 2-3x per week. A hard set is one taken close to failure — warm-ups and easy back-off sets do not count towards it. Below that range you are maintaining rather than building; above it, for most people, the extra sets cost more recovery than they buy.

How often should I train back?

2-3x per week. Splitting the week's sets across more than one session means each one is done fresher, and the quality of the last set matters more than the number of them. With 13 movements to choose from there is no need to repeat the same session twice.

Where should a beginner start?

8 of the 13 movements here are rated for a beginner. Learn the compounds first — they teach the pattern and they load the muscle hardest.

What else works the back

13 other movements in the library train the back as a secondary mover rather than as the target. That volume is real and it counts: if a week already contains a lot of these, the direct work needed to reach 14–22 sets is at the lower end of the range, not the upper.

1 more, across the whole library.