The 9 Best Back Exercises You Can Do at Home

Contrary to popular belief, when it comes to back exercises – you don’t always need to have access to a huge gym, with rows of weights, or multiple machines. Sure, having the ability to use equipment, like a lat pull-down machine, or cable machine, is helpful, but in fact, there are many simple and basic exercises that can help you build stronger back muscles wherever you are, including at home. The beauty of home back exercises is that as you progress over time, you can eventually adapt the moves to create more of a challenge. Some simple ways to increase the intensity of home back exercises are to try using resistance bands, or to incorporate load with dumbbells or kettlebells.

Overall, the muscles of the back can be broken down into three groups, as outlined in the medical information resource StatPearls: deep intrinsic muscles that connect to the vertebral column (which are considered the “true” back muscles), the superficial muscles, which assist the neck and shoulder, and the intermediate muscles, which aid thoracic movement. Home back exercises that aim to strengthen these muscle groups can help you perform other exercises more easily and can also ward off back and neck pain.

In this list, we’ve rounded up 9 of the best home back exercises that don’t require any special fitness equipment. They work with bodyweight or light weights only, but most can be modified with the addition of a heavier dumbbell, kettlebell, or band. Get ready to work!