At-home bodyweight back and biceps workout builds strength and lean muscle tissue in the lats, lower back, rhomboids, both heads of the biceps, and forearms.
The combination of bodyweight back and bicep exercise help to increase your muscle strength and endurance in the back and arm.
Back and bicep is a muscle pairing as old as the Pull-ups, chin-ups and rows. The back muscle is the main targeted muscle in most pull-ups exercises, and the bicep and shoulder are crucial synergistic muscles.
Training your back and biceps together is something very common in today’s bodybuilding training routines. It doesn’t matter whether you are a beginner or an advanced lifter. You need a good workout routine to optimize your muscle gains.
Here we talk about a back and bicep workout you can do at home without equipment to build muscle mass and strength.
Benefits of Bodyweight Back and Bicep Workout at home
There are a lot of good reasons to add bodyweight back and bicep exercises to your home workout plan.
- A bodyweight workout at home is safer and more flexible than other types of workouts.
- Bodyweight exercises are typically seen as beginner-friendly workouts, but with the variations and changes you can implement, you can really make them challenging for you, even if you are an advanced lifter.
- It gives you more options, which prevents physical and mental exhaustion.
- Bodyweight back workout allow the joints to move naturally within their range of motion by creating more joint stability.
- Bodyweight back and bicep workout are perfect for the at-home exerciser with the limited space.
Why you should train back and biceps on the same day without Equipment
I believe that, after years of bodyweight training, you don’t need sophisticated exercises or routines to get stronger or muscular. Simplicity was and still is the key to growing muscles and strength with bodyweight fitness, but it requires a tremendous amount of work, patience, and time.
Training back and bicep in the same workout is something that has been done for decades by people. The reason for training those muscle groups together is very straightforward.
Many targeted muscles work with other Synergistic and stabilizer muscles during a compound workout. Targeting one muscle may not fully engage the other supportive muscles, but they may be used to some degree.
Like when you are doing a pull-up, the back is one of the target muscles. However, there are many other Synergistic and stabilizer muscles acting in this motion, such as the Biceps, rear deltoid, traps.
It’s important that first, you train your back than your bicep during your home workout routine. This is because your back muscle will need your full energy and is most likely the heavies to train and gain in terms of muscle.
10 Best Bodyweight Back and Bicep Exercises for Home Workout
Here are 10 bodyweight exercises to help you build back and biceps without iron. You can use these as part of a regular workout or as a standalone circuit.
1. Inverted Row
The inverted row also known as bodyweight rows. The inverted row is easier to perform because it puts your body in a horizontal position.
It also works the back, shoulder, and biceps muscles from a different angle and improves scapular retraction.
You could also perform the inverted row at home by lying under a chair, holding the chair’s sides, and pulling yourself up.
How To Do
- Adjust the height of the chair and bar so that they are slightly higher than arm’s length from the floor.
- Lie under the bar with your legs and body straight. Hold the bar with an overhand grip that is a little wider than shoulder width.
- Keeping your legs and body straight, exhale as you pull your chest up to the bar. Hold for a count of two and squeeze your back muscles.
- Inhale as you lower your body until your arms and shoulders are fully extended. Repeat.
Pro Tips
- Do not allow your butt to sag. Tighten your core, and keep your body stiff from your head to your toes.
- Do not allow your elbows to flail. Hold the bar with your hands closer together and keep your elbows at an angle to your body, like you’re doing a bench press.
- Make sure you go down completely. Lower your body until the arms are fully extended, and then raise your body until the chest touches the bar.
2. Pull-Up
The pull-up is an upper-body strength movement that targets your back, chest, shoulders, and arms. Performing a pull-up is often a challenge for beginners and even experienced athletes.
The pull-up increases the strength, thickness, and width of your back, specifically your lats. The lats are what influences back width and form the “V” in the upper back.
How To Do
- Using an overhand grip, grab on to a pull-up bar with your hands spaced wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Hang from the bar with your arms fully extended and your chest high, while exaggerating the arch in your lower back.
- Pull yourself up by squeezing your shoulder blades together and contracting your lats until your chin passes the bar.
- Hold the contraction at the top for a second before slowly lowering yourself back to the starting position.
Pro Tips
- To decrease bicep involvement, use a thumbless grip.
- Go full range of motion and keep form correct.
- Avoid jerky movements and keep them controlled.
3. Superman
Superman is one of the best back exercises that you can do at home without equipment. It strengthens your upper and lowers back muscles.
If done regularly, the Superman may help alleviate back pain that is related to weak back muscles. In addition to strengthening back muscles.
Superman also works on your glutes and your hamstrings.
How To Do
- Lie down with your stomach flat on the ground. Extend your arms in front of you, with your palms facing downwards.
- Lift your head, raise your arms and chest as far as possible off the ground.
- Lift your thighs off the ground by bending your legs. (Try to make a big “U” with your back.)
- At this point, you should feel your back muscles, glutes, and hamstring muscles tightening up.
- Hold the contraction at the top for a second and then lower yourself back to the starting position.
Pro Tips
- Begin by holding for only 5 or 10 seconds your first time, and then work your way up to 30 seconds in future workouts.
- Do not hold your breath. Breathe regularly.
4. Good Morning Exercise
It is known as a good morning because of the movement in the erector spinae which resembles the rise out of bed to stretch.
The erector spinae muscles of the lower back work isometrically to keep the spine in an extended position, while the hamstrings and gluteus maximus work isotonically to perform hip extension.
You must add this body weight exercise to your back and bicep workout regimen at home.
To allow your lower back to adapt to the good morning exercise, start with a lightweight or with a stick and gradually add more weight.
How To Do
- Stand with a stick on the back of your shoulders and grasp it at each side. You can also do the exercise as in the bodyweight version.
- With your knees slightly flexed and your back and neck in a neutral position, breathe in as you slowly flex your hips, lowering your torso until it is close to or fully horizontal.
- Breathe out as you raise your torso back up to the starting position by extending your hips.
- Repeat the desired number of repetitions
Pro Tips
- Make sure you maintain a neutral spine throughout the exercise.
- It is recommended that the lifter avoid rounding (flexing) or rotation (twisting) at any point during the movement.
- Keep the movement slow, the form strict, and the weight light.
5. Bird Dog Exercise
The bird dog is an exercise that is very effective for training the abdominal muscles and lower back muscles. Other muscles, such as the glutes, are also worked on.
The bird dog is a great exercise for building a stable trunk. It owes its name to the position which alternates between sitting on hands and knees (dog) and stretching the arms and legs (bird).
How To Do
- Get into a kneeling position with your hands placed in front of your body at shoulder width.
- Raise one hand and the opposite knee slightly off the floor, while contracting your abs. You are now balancing on the other knee and hand.
- Now, extend your arm and leg as far as they will go. Try to make a straight line from your hand to your foot.
- Hold this position for about 10 seconds and then return to the starting position.
- Repeat the exercise with the other side.
Pro Tips
- This exercise gets harder when you perform the exercise on your toes instead of your knees.
- Don’t extend your leg or arm higher than your back. The exercise works best when you form a straight plane from your hand to your ankles.
6. Chin Up
The chin-up is a strength training exercise. This is a bodyweight exercise that can induce serious muscle growth of the biceps and back.
In this exercise, the palms are faced towards the body. Since the lifter is pulling their own bodyweight, the biceps are often exposed to loads heavier than what one can lift with a barbell.
How To Do
- Grasp a pull-up bar with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower.
- Straighten your arms, keep your knees bent and cross your lower legs.
- Retract your shoulder blades and pull your body up until your chin becomes aligned with the bar.
- Pause for one to two seconds at the top, with the biceps under maximum tension. Slowly lower to the start position.
Pro Tips
- It is counterproductive to do half reps and focus on numbers.
- Lower to almost full extension of the elbow, but avoid locking out completely.
7. Bicep Leg Curl
The bicep leg curl is a good bodyweight exercise for building arm muscle and strength. These exercises don’t require any equipment, only your bodyweight is needed.
We sometimes lack access to equipment, but that’s not an issue with the bicep leg curl, as you only need your arms and legs.
How To Do
- Begin by sitting on a chair as close to the edge as possible. Then, place your right hand under your left thigh at the crease between your hamstrings and calves.
- Slowly curl your right up as high as you can. Exhale during this portion of the exercise.
- Hold for a couple of seconds. Then, slowly lower your leg back down, so your foot is just above the ground. Inhale during this portion of the exercise.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps. Repeat the exercise with your left arm.
Pro Tips
- Try to get as much range of motion as possible.
- You can perform a variation of the bicep leg curl lying down.
8. Towel bicep curls
You can perform this exercise by standing with your back against the wall and grabbing both ends of a towel while putting one foot on a sling.
How To Do
- Stand with your knees slightly bent, and your abs tucked in, your non-dominant arm down at your side with your palm facing forward. Put your opposite palm over your wrist.
- Make a fist with your working hand and execute a biceps curl with that arm while resisting it with the other.
- Shift the resistance on the way, so your palm pushes the working arm down. Return to the starting position.
- Finish your set, then repeat, with the other arm doing the work.
Pro Tips
- Keep your core tight and your shoulders down while doing this exercise.
9. Isometric Chin-ups
The Isometric means that the muscles don’t get longer or shorter, they just stay the same shape.
Isometric holds for biceps are like holding bags of groceries in your hands with your elbows bent at 90-degrees. In this position, your biceps are fully flexed and holding the bags stationary.
How To Do
- Place your hands on the pull-up bar with your palms facing you and your hands about shoulder-distance apart.
- Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar. If you are unable to do a chin-up, you can still do this exercise by using a chair or step to jump.
- Your chin should be above the bar. Hold for 5 seconds, then lower to 90 degrees and hold for 5 seconds, then lower again to just before the bottom.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Pro Tips
- Keep the scapula retracted
10. Reverse Grip Push-Ups
The reverse grip push-up is a fun and great variation of the standard push-up. The exercise is done with your fingers facing your feet (your palms outward).
It’s considered the “bicep push-up” by many because of the hand position, it emphasizes a little more on your biceps than the standard push-up.
How To Do
- Get down into a press-up position with your hands placed so your fingers are pointing towards your toes.
- Take a big breath in and slowly start to bend your elbows. Do not let your elbows move outwards (away from your body).
- Lower yourself until you are about an inch from the floor. Pause the movement when you are at the bottom for a second.
- Push through your palms like you would try to push the floor away from yourself, extending the arms but maintaining a slight bend in the elbow.
- Repeat this for however many repetitions you wish to perform.
Pro Tips
- Always make sure to do a proper warm up especially focusing on warming up and stretching your wrists
- Keep your neck in a neutral position to avoid stressing and hurting it.
- Take it slow and easy when lowering yourself and really explode back up!
Sets And Reps bodyweight back and bicep exercises
Of course, the number of sets and reps will be determined based on your fitness journey, but here is a great starting point:
Sets
- Beginners: ~10 sets per week.
- Intermediate: ~15 sets per week.
- Advanced: ~20 sets per week.
Reps
- 6-8 reps for strength
- 8-15 reps with hypertrophy
- 15-20+ for endurance
Back and biceps workout plan at home without equipment.
- Inverted Row: 4 sets of 8-10 reps.
- Pull-Up : 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
- Superman: 3 sets of 6-8 reps.
- Chin Up: 4 sets of 8-10 reps.
- Bicep Leg Curl: 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Bodyweight Back And Bicep Superset Workout Plan
- Inverted Row: 4 sets of 6-8 reps, superset with,
- Chin Up: 4 sets of 6-8 reps.
- Bird Dog Exercise: 3 sets of 6-8 reps, superset with,
- Towel Bicep Curls: 3 sets of 8-10 reps.
- Superman: 3 sets of 4-6 reps, superset with,
- Reverse Grip Push-Ups: 3 sets of 6-8 reps.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Back And Bicep Training.
How can I train my back and biceps at home?
All the above exercise are best options for back and bicep bodyweight workout at home. Having a V-taper back and big Gun are accomplished through building your back and biceps, and is a sign of dominance.
Conclusion
We’ve already told you about the best bodyweight back and biceps exercises that you can do at home without equipment for building muscle mass.
I strongly urge you to make sure you do these exercises correctly because that will have a big impact on your progress.
Best Back Exercises And Workout at Home
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