UPPER BACK - This is primarily the Trapezius muscle.

• Upright Row This exercise is done in a normal standing position with a barbell. It should be hanging toward your knees; held with a prone grip; and with your hands roughly six inches apart. Pull the bar, close to your body, up under your chin. Your elbows should point out laterally throughout the movement, they should be higher than your shoulders at the top of the lift, and your back should be slightly arched think of it as puffing up your chest as you pull the bar up, with your elbows moving both up and back as you reach the top of the lift (see Figure 5-1). Squeeze at the top, and slowly lower the weight to the initial position. That is one rep.

Figure 5-1

• Shoulder Shrugs This exercisehas undergone an evolution, of sorts, in the last few years. First, we were told to do this exercise with a rotational movement; then to raise our shoulders, and at the same time to move them rearward; but now most fitness experts say the movement should be a simple up-down. Raise your shoulders toward your ears; squeeze, then lower. That's one. Many lifters prefer dumbbells for this exercise, but a bar is okay too. You may need wrist straps since the weight you use can easily outstrip your grip strength mine, at least.

• Machine Row There are a number of these machines, but I will describe one. It has a seat with a vertical pad that you will rest your chest (sternum) against. There are a set of handles to grasp, with your arms fully extended. There is a set of horizontal, and a set of vertical, handles. For the upper back, select the horizontal handles, which allow you a higher and wider "pull." Pull back with your elbows pointed out at shoulder level. You will feel your scapulae moving toward each other. If you don't, pull back farther lower the weight if you have to this is essential to this exercise. Squeeze, then slowly return to the initial position, but don't let the plates touch, always maintain some tension; and achieve full elbow extension.

• Bent Row, Pull to Chest This exercise is performed in a standing position, but bent forward at the hips. Holding a barbell, with your elbows extended, and your butt "poked out" to maintain the slight inward curve in your lumbar spine; pull the bar up toward your chest, using a prone grip, and keeping your elbows pointed "out." Squeeze, then slowly lower it to the initial position. That's one.

  Alternatives: Because of the pronounced stress on your lower back, you may want to rest your forehead on something for support. In the old days gyms had padded tables scattered around, but I haven't seen one in decades. You'll have to find something else and improvise something like a padded Preacher Curl stand.

• Lat Pulldowns Using a high pulley station on a "Lat Machine," with an attached bar (There are a number of bar designs, but the exercise will be described as done with a standard straight bar with turned down ends, and rubber grips on each end.); seated, with thighs under the pads (Most gym-quality Lat Pulldown machines have a seat with an adjustable pad that goes across your thighs, and holds you down if you use heavy weights.). Grasp the bar with a wide, pronated grip. Now pull the bar down behind your neck, to the meaty part of your shoulders/ upper back (Be careful not to hit C7, the prominent vertebrae at the base of your neck.). Pull by lowering your elbows, and you should be squeezing your shoulder blades (scapula) together. Hold, then slowly raise the bar until your elbows are fully extended. That's one.

• Seated Cable Row Again, this exercise is typically done in a gym on a low pulley. Start in a seated position with your knees slightly flexed, your arms straight out in front of you, elbows fully extended, holding a handle which requires a close, neutral grip. Your shoulders should be pushed forward, with an erect trunk. Now, pull the handle toward your hips. Initiate this movement by pulling your shoulders back, and, at the same time squeezing your scapulae together. For the first few inches of this movement your elbows should not bend. When you have pulled with your back as far as you can, start to bend your elbows and pull the handles until you lightly touch your lower abdomen. Hold, then slowly let the handles move back toward the starting position. The rep is complete when your arms and shoulders are fully extended. The plates should not touch.

  Alternatives: First of all, there are a variety of handles/bars to use: neutral, close-grip handle; bars with neutral grips on the ends; and straight bars of varying lengths and downturn angled ends. In addition, there are a number of variations in the movements:

• Front Lat Pulldown This is the same as the previous exercise, except that the bar is pulled down to the upper chest; still without swaying your back or neck.

• "Lying" Lat Pulldown Grasp the bar with a wide grip, then lay back as far as you can. Pull the bar down toward your shoulders, pause, slowly return, but maintain the "laid back" position throughout the set no rocking use your back and rear deltoids, not your body weight.

• Close-grip Front Pulldown This can be done with either a neutral, close-grip handle; or a supine, close-grip with a regular bar. You should think of the "pull" as pushing your elbows toward the floor. The pull should be close to your body, with elbows close together, and your hands should reach your upper chest. Pull down, pause, then fully extend your elbows, but without letting the plates touch. That's one.

• Straight-arm Pulldown This exercise requires a high pulley with a straight bar. Grasp the bar with a pronated grip at shoulder width. With your elbows fully extended (but soft), move the bar down to your thighs, pause, then return to the 90 degrees point. The remainder of your set consists of contractions between the 90 degrees and 180 degrees positions.

• Machine Pullovers This exercise is done on a machine, in a seated position. Reach behind your head and grasp the bar your elbows will be supported by small pads and push it forward and down using your elbows, in an arcing movement, until the bar lightly touches your lower abdomen. Note that at this point you are pushing with heavy triceps involvement. Pause, then return to the behind-the-head position, but without banging the weight plates together.

• Bent Row This exercise is performed like the Bent Row listed under "Upper Back," except that a supinated grip is used, and the pull is toward the lower abdominals/hips, rather than straight up toward the shoulders.

• 1-Arm Row This is an excellent choice for anyone who has a "bad" back, but insists on doing Bent Rows. Position yourself with one knee on a bench, along with the hand (elbow extended) on the same side. This gives good back support during the exercise. Now, keep your back "flat" (no side-to-side rolling, or "humping" your back), and pull a dumbbell back and up toward your waist as high as you can. Pause, and slowly lower the dumbbell, and move it forward at the same time. The movement of the complete repetition may be characterized as "sawing a log." Do the same number of reps on each side.

• Pull-ups (Chin-ups) This is one of the Super Four (push-ups, lunges, crunches, and pull-ups) that can be done at home, and strengthens a large number of muscles, both primary and supporting. To execute this exercise find a bar to hang on and use either a wide or narrow grip; pronated or supinated. Pull yourself up until the bar is at your upper chest, or as high as you can get. If you can't do one, try a "negative" stand on a chair while holding the bar with your elbows bent so that you are in the normal "up" position. Now step off the chair and resist your inevitable decent. Get back on the chair and do it again, and again, and _____. Also, you may have a friend help you. Hang from a bar with your knees flexed 90°. Your assistant will push up on your legs, ankles, ??, while you pull. Grip strength can be a problem for those of us who aren't in the best of condition, but stick with it. It gets better.

• Stiff legged Dead Lifts Standing upright, holding a barbell across your upper thighs; bend forward and lower the bar as far as you can, while maintaining a "flat" back and a neutral head/neck position. Pause, then straighten up. Keep your legs as straight as you can (but "soft") throughout this exercise, and it is critical that you maintain the correct back position don't "hump" it or lift slightly sideways. Keep your back happy.

  Alternatives: This exercise may be done with a barbell or dumbbells, and it may be done from some sort of elevated platform to allow a lower bend the fullest ROM that you can do. Other modest changes that may be made involve using different grips: 1) you may find it easier to handle a heavy weight with one hand pronated and the other supinated;, or 2) you may find a "hook" grip to your liking that is, as you grasp the bar, your fingers encircle both the bar and your thumbs.

• "Good Mornings" This colorfully named exercise is begun in a standing position with a light barbell held across your shoulders and the meaty part of your upper back. Bend forward at the hips, to 90°. Yes, you're right "flat" back, and your face facing the floor. Pause, then straighten up. That's one.

• Back Extensions (Back Hyperextensions) This unfortunately named exercise comes from an earlier, more primitive stage in the formal development of exercise. This exercise is typically paired with a Back Hyperextension "machine" more of a rack or bench, really. It has no moving parts. The movement to be performed is a back extension, not a hyperextension. You will get on this contraption in a prone position, with your hip bones (Iliac Crests) just past the front pad, and your ankles are under the rear pad. You are now stretched out flat, with you upper body unsupported. Now lower your upper body until it is vertical. You should be looking back toward your feet, because your neck, of course, is in a neutral position. [This exercise description was starting to sound eerily familiar, when I finally realized why. This same exercise was identified in the February 1995 MAF FITNESS NEWSLETTER as part of the abdominal cavity series. It more appropriately belongs here in the "Back" issue, although it is okay as a back stretch after an abdominal workout.] Now raise your trunk back to a horizontal position parallel to the floor, not higher the hyperextension variant of the exercise forces the posterior aspect of the lumbar vertebrae to squeeze together, and can result in disc damage.

  Alternatives: The gentlest form of this exercise is to just lay on the floor and raise either your shoulders or legs to tighten the low back muscles. Both may be raised simultaneously, but be careful not to excessively hyperextend your back. Your arms may be in any position that is comfortable; for the bench version, arms are typically crossed on your chest, or your hands may be behind your head (elbows out to the sides), or you may increase the intensity by holding a weight plate, dumbbell, etc. Note that mild hyperextension is okay, only extreme hyperextension is contraindicated.

• Horizontal Back Twist The initial position for this is the same as for Back Hyperextensions, except, the hip bones should rest on the pad, not extend past it. While extended out past the pad, in a horizontal position, slightly hyperextended, twist your shoulders from side-to-side. Twist under control, and attempt to make your shoulders perpendicular to the floor. If you can't, don't worry, just work within your normal ROM. You can hold a stick across your shoulders if it helps.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q I have been exposed to some confusing information about eating, both before and after exercise, and about glycogen (see Note 2) replacement after exercise. Can you enlighten me?
M.C.A.C., Sunnyvale, CA

A After talking to Dorie Krepton, M.S. of the Health and Fitness Institute (HFI) in Hayward, CA, and Gail Butterfield, Ph.D. an acknowledged expert in sports nutrition; and some additional research, I can offer you the following information. First, eating within 90 minutes of exercise. It is best not to (there are some physiological reasons not to), but it won't kill you, and as Donald Chu, Ph.D. (HFI) says, "eat when you can." For instance, a friend and I used to run a hilly 7-miler with his fast, 50-year-old uncle, immediately after he ate dinner. Most people couldn't tolerate that. On the other end of an exercise session, it seems that eating 50-100 grams of carbohydrates facilitates rapid glycogen replacement. There seems to be a two-hour "window" after exercise, and the quicker it is used, the more efficient it is. Studies have been done with two, four, and six hour windows; and the stored glycogen was greatest after two hours. It should be noted that rapid glycogen restoration is only significant for those who do two-a-day sessions, or long endurance events, like running a marathon. For a 40 minute aerobics class, or a normal weight training session, glycogen wouldn't ordinarily be depleted to a significant level. A normal diet, and normal subsequent glycogen restoration should be sufficient.

Q I have been told that aerobic exercise and weight training are "incompatible." What does that really mean?
A.S., WA D.C.

A The answer to your question depends on your goal. If, for example, you are a runner, weight training may improve your performance. Many college or Olympic level runners (and more casual runners, as well) include weight training in their fitness programs. If strength development is your goal, it appears that weight training isn't adversely affected by running, or any other aerobic activity. However, if muscle growth is your goal, aerobic activities can have a negative effect. But, even professional body builders do some aerobics, for cardiovascular fitness and to "burn" fat get cut up. This information is supported by a recent study done by the U.S. Army, as reported in the March 1995 Penn State Sports Medicine Newsletter. For those who want to do both activities, it is recommended that they be divided into separate sessions different days, or different sessions (four or five hours apart) on the same day. If you have to do them together, do the highest priority activity (aerobics, or weight training) first, because the initial activity may leave you too tired to get the most out of the second one.

Q There is supposedly a large genetic factor involved in how fat one is. Does that mean that weight management is doomed to failure?
N.M.K.F., Las Vegas, NV

A No! There are still many mysteries regarding body composition, and the X-factor. The genetic component is not fully understood, but at least one thing seems fairly clear, and that is that one's genetic "map" seams to determine where an individual will store fat. There is the "android," or male-fat-patternwaist, abdomen, which isn't exclusively male; and the "gynoid," or female-fat-pattern hips, thighs, not limited to women. This genetic distribution seems to be related to a hormone called Lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which seems to be essentially a fat storing hormone. Where a person tends to get fat has been found to contain an abundance of this hormone, but, it doesn't necessarily make you excessively fat, unless your diet and activity level are out of synch. There is no "final word" here; research is still going on. But one thing seems clear, and that is that no matter what your genetic predisposition is, it is still your option to make the best out of what you've got.

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Note 2 Glycogen is the storage form of glucose, which is the resulting fuel source from carbohydrate metabolism. The brain can only be fueled by glucose, and fat is only burned in the presence of glucose. It is easy, therefore, to understand the need for glycogen restoration after exercise. It should also be noted that the capacity for glycogen storage is not unlimited, unlike fat.
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