Back exercises with home gym

My home gym looks something like this:

p1153769reg.jpg


There's a list of exercises that was included with it, two for the back. One consists of sitting on the seat, and pulling the bar from the top down to your chest.

The other consists of attaching the bar to the pulley at the bottom. It says to stand facing the equipment, bend your knees, and bend over so you're at a 45 degree angle to the floor, keeping your back strait. I then pull the bar up toward my chest.

I've found that neither of these exerciese really work my back. Am I doing them wrong? Are there other back exercies I should be doing with the equipment.?

Thanks.
 
The one where you sit and pull the bar to your chest is called a "lat pulldown" as it targets your latissimus muscle. The weight might not be enough, or your form might be slightly off.

The chosen weight should be enough that your last repetition is a true struggle. As for form, lean back just slightly and pul straight down with your elbows out and back and just squeeze at the bottom.

The other exercise is a half assed attempt to do a bent over row. This is just difficult to do with a pulley system. True this instead:

Attach the bar to the bottom pulley, stand straight up with your chest out, pull the bar up underneath your chin, this is called an upright row. Its not quite as effective as a true rowing motion with a bar bell or dumbells, but should be a good exercise in your case.
 
Back
Top