Underdeveloped upper back

[Squaggleboggin]

I finally went to a sports medicine doctor today for a shoulder injury from about six months ago. When it happened, I had to stop doing certain movements, things like flies and military presses. Well, I haven't been doing anything big with the shoulders since then, and this doctor told me that my upper back wasn't developed enough and that my shoulders slumped forward some when I was sitting. Of course, I was sitting relaxed, but this still angered me because ever since I started training, I've been trying to avoid just this with a ton of back work (I only have one chest exercise). So I started doing Yates rows a week ago, and she said that should help immensely. Do you think my upper back will grow into proportion, or is there something I should be careful of doing (maxing out on squats or anything else that uses the upper back to support the weight)? If I hadn't been injured, I never would have had this problem because I would have been working those muscles appropriately the whole time, I just didn't realize that the deadlift didn't hit the upper back enough at all.

 

[ihateschoolmt]

Yates rows will help. Deadlifts deffinatly arn't enough.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Do you think my upper back will eventually catch up, or is it probable that it will always lag behind because of this? It's not the end of the world, I've only been neglecting it for six months, but that's six months too long.

 

[ihateschoolmt]

You will be fine.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Ok.

 

[Mudge]

Yep yep. Just keep doing some row work, deads are absolutely not enough. I've worked around doing deads forever

 

[The Monkey Man]

Upper back??

Do some high pulls

or when you hit a row machine go pronated medium wide
and drop the seat all the way down, practice pulling in the same plane as the shoulder
parallel to the floor (if your back is perpendicular to the floor)

DO some chins or a motion where you are pulling from above your body
down into the body, this will be somewhat opposite from the deadlift motion

JMO -

 

[Squaggleboggin]

I never use machines, but I do still have some pull up negatives in my routine (I noticed before that that part of my back was weak; I can hardly do a single pull up), those plus the yates should be pretty good. Plus I'm gonna be doing some physical therapy a couple times a week, so I don't think it'll take too long.

 

[CowPimp]

A friend of mine had this problem simply because he, genetically, has large anterior delts relative to his posterior delts. He started shifting more of his work to his posterior delts and this helped to pull his posture back into balance. I'm not saying this is your problem necessarily, but you should consider it.

 

[MyK]

in my opinoin you can't work out your upper back enough!!

to an extent that is!

this thread is yet anouther reason why a total body workout is optimal!

 

[Squaggleboggin]

I agree, but understand that I neglected this area due to an injury not even related to working out, not from undue research. I had at least two exercises that worked it directly, but had to cut all of them because of the injury.

 

[swordfish]

i know your goals are for strength, but heres something that has a little isolation in it for upper back hypertrophy,

seated shoulder press, upright rows, bent laterals, pullups, db shrugs, db rows,seated rows.

there are many exercises but those are some great ones, i would 2-3 sets of 8-10 and pick a few of those.

 

[P-funk]

when i have someone with this problem I organize their upper body training with a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of pull to push. So if we do 3 sets of bench press we do 6-9 sets of rows or back work. So for upper body it may be:

bench press- 3 sets
cable row- 3 sets
pull down- 3 sets
rev. peck deck- 2 sets
then legs.

I do this for a few weeks, maybe 4-6, and things start to even themselves out naturally.

 

[MyK]

I do this for a few weeks, maybe 4-6, and things start to even themselves out naturally.

really, that quick?? I'm sure it depends on the degree of unevenness (is that a word?), but that seems really fast!

 

[P-funk]

really, that quick?? I'm sure it depends on the degree of unevenness (is that a word?), but that seems really fast!

yea, defenitly how bad it is matters. I didn't say it corected itsefl totally though. All I said was thing start to even out.

Also, this is not like once a week training. This is 3 times a week total body workouts. So 6-9 sets for back is really 18-27 per week! That is pretty high volume.

 

[racoon02]

mmmmmm dead lifts

 

[CowPimp]

when i have someone with this problem I organize their upper body training with a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of pull to push. So if we do 3 sets of bench press we do 6-9 sets of rows or back work. So for upper body it may be:

bench press- 3 sets
cable row- 3 sets
pull down- 3 sets
rev. peck deck- 2 sets
then legs.

I do this for a few weeks, maybe 4-6, and things start to even themselves out naturally.

Phew, that's, relatively speaking, a lot of pulling movements. That's definitely important to remedy though. Unbalanced opposing muscle groups can certainly leads to injuries.

 

[P-funk]

Phew, that's, relatively speaking, a lot of pulling movements. That's definitely important to remedy though. Unbalanced opposing muscle groups can certainly leads to injuries.

It is a lot. That is why after 4 weeks I start to scale it back. Basically I just need them to lie off the pressing and get more balance because I don't want to load up the anterior.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

The strange part is that I only do one movement for chest - bench press. I do the yates rows, pull ups, deadlifts, squats, farmers walks, and clean and presses, which all involve the back at least indirectly. I may start trying military presses again and see how that goes with my shoulder as well.

 

[P-funk]

The strange part is that I only do one movement for chest - bench press. I do the yates rows, pull ups, deadlifts, squats, farmers walks, and clean and presses, which all involve the back at least indirectly. I may start trying military presses again and see how that goes with my shoulder as well.

clean and press....that is your millitary pres right there. They are a total anterior exercise also.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

That's what I always thought, but aren't the delts taken out of it to some degree because of the extra push you get with your legs?

 

[CowPimp]

Try taking a wider grip during your rows and making your elbows more perpendicular to your body as opposed to parallel. Or, add in a set of perpendicular rows. This will hit your posterior delts a little more and possibly help balance out your posture.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Shouldn't the yates rows take care of this?

 

[P-funk]

cable rows will be better than yates rows since you aren't in that bent over position you can really focus on making clean reps. Also, perform more rows with your arms parallel to the floor to really work the rhomboids and rear delts. Face pulls are great too. Scapular retraction either vertically or horizontally are also beneficial for you.

 

[P-funk]

and do a search for YTA's. I have written about them before. They can help hit those back muscles and keep the shoulder girdle healthy.

stretching your pecs and lats can really help you out too.

 

[CowPimp]

Shouldn't the yates rows take care of this?

Well, they will hit your rear delts, yes. However, if yours are lacking in development, then they may need some special attention. So, you should try rowing with your arms perpendicular to your body. This moves away from scapular retraction (Lats are the prime mover here) to transervse extension (Posterior delts are the prime mover here). Granted, both of these muscles are active in each of the aforementioned functions, but you most likely want to bring up your rear delts more than anything.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

It found your journal for YTAs, but it didn't say exactly what they were. It said they use a stability ball though, so do you try to balance yourself as if doing a push up on the ball or something?

Thanks for the info, it's been very helpful and I appreciate all the responses.

 

[P-funk]

I will try to find my posts on it tomorrow. I am so tired. sorry.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're helping at all.

 

[MyK]

This is why P-FUNK is the mod!!!

good thread!