Middle Back Exercises

72 middle back exercises with photo demos and step-by-step instructions.

The mid-back is what makes a back look thick from the side: the rhomboids, mid-traps and rear delts that pull the shoulder blades together. They are trained by horizontal pulling, and the detail that decides whether they work is the elbow path — flare the elbows out to roughly 45-70 degrees and finish the rep by squeezing the shoulder blades, rather than driving the elbow past the ribs (which biases the lats). Chest-supported and seal rows are the most reliable options because the torso can't swing, and face pulls or rear-delt flyes finish the job at low cost. Six to twelve hard sets per week on top of your lat work is enough for most lifters, kept in the 8-15 rep range with a one-second hold at peak contraction.

How often should you train middle back?

Two sessions per week, 6-12 sets of horizontal pulling, sits comfortably inside a normal back routine. Keep the loads honest enough that you can pause for a beat with the shoulder blades retracted.

Common middle back training mistakes

• Using too much momentum on rows — keep the torso braced and pull the elbow back, not the hand up.
• Not pulling the elbows back far enough — full lat engagement requires the elbow to travel past the torso line on every rep.
• Skipping lower traps and rhomboids — face pulls, prone Y-raises, and band pull-aparts (5-10 min per week) prevent rounded shoulders.

Frequently asked questions about middle back training

All Middle Back Exercises

• Alternating Kettlebell Row
• Alternating Renegade Row
• Band Assisted Pull-Up
• Bent Over Barbell Row
• Bent Over One-Arm Long Bar Row
• Bent Over Two-Arm Long Bar Row
• Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row
• Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row With Palms In
• Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover
• Bodyweight Mid Row
• Cable Incline Pushdown
• Catch and Overhead Throw
• Chair Lower Back Stretch
• Chin-Up
• Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown
• Dumbbell Incline Row
• Dynamic Back Stretch
• Elevated Cable Rows
• Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown
• Gironda Sternum Chins
• Incline Bench Pull
• Inverted Row
• Inverted Row with Straps
• Kipping Muscle Up
• Kneeling High Pulley Row
• Kneeling Single-Arm High Pulley Row
• Latissimus Dorsi-SMR
• Leverage High Row
• Leverage Iso Row
• London Bridges
• Lying Cambered Barbell Row
• Lying T-Bar Row
• Middle Back Shrug
• Middle Back Stretch
• Mixed Grip Chin
• Muscle Up
• One Arm Against Wall
• One Arm Chin-Up
• One Arm Lat Pulldown
• One Handed Hang
• One-Arm Dumbbell Row
• One-Arm Kettlebell Row
• One-Arm Long Bar Row
• Overhead Lat
• Overhead Slam
• Pullups
• Reverse Grip Bent-Over Rows
• Rhomboids-SMR
• Rocky Pull-Ups/Pulldowns
• Rope Climb
• Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown
• Seated Cable Rows
• Seated One-arm Cable Pulley Rows
• Shotgun Row
• Side To Side Chins
• Side-Lying Floor Stretch
• Sled Row
• Smith Machine Bent Over Row
• Spinal Stretch
• Straight Bar Bench Mid Rows
• Straight-Arm Pulldown
• Suspended Row
• T-Bar Row with Handle
• Two-Arm Kettlebell Row
• Underhand Cable Pulldowns
• Upper Back Stretch
• V-Bar Pulldown
• V-Bar Pullup
• Weighted Pull Ups
• Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
• Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck
• Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up

Related pull exercises

Back exercises · Lower Back exercises · Lats exercises · Traps exercises · Biceps exercises · Forearms exercises

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