15 Best Dumbbell Back Exercises for a Bigger, Stronger Back

Pete Williams, C.P.T.

1 month ago

We spend hours hunched over phones and computer monitors day in and day out. It’s no surprise we have an epidemic of back pain. Unless you’ve herniated a disc in your lumbar spine, there’s a good chance your discomfort has little to do with injuries and more to do with your lifestyle. Luckily there are plenty of dumbbell back exercises that can strengthen your back, minimize pain, and achieve the aesthetic you want.

The best back exercises can be done with a variety of equipment (e.g. barbells, machines, and resistance bands) or none at all (see best bodyweight back exercises), but we like how user-friendly back exercises with dumbbells are. They’re easy to scale so beginners can progress.

All you need to strengthen and stabilize are a few back exercises with dumbbells and a bench.

How to Warm Up Your Back Before a Workout

Use a foam roller or tennis/lacrosse ball to work out knots in your traps, lats, middle and lower back. Avoid directly rolling a ball on your spine, though.
You don’t need to stretch before the session, but you may see faster muscle gains if you stretch immediately afterward. Instead, hang from a pullup bar for one minute to decompress the discs in your spine.
Grab onto something sturdy, bend forward at the hips, and arch your back. Hold for one minute. The point is to stretch the connective tissue around your muscles in order to make room for them to grow.

Many of the movements in dumbbell back workouts target the muscles that build a broad, V-shaped back. They’ll also work ancillary stabilizers.

Muscles Worked in Dumbbell Back Exercises

Trapezius (traps): When most people think of traps, they envision the upper part of the trap. After all, it’s what they see in the mirror. But the trapezius are two of the biggest muscles in your back. They run all the way from the occipital bone (back of the skull) to the lower thoracic vertebrae (mid-back), and all the way out to the spine of your scapulae. Some anatomy textbooks will even divide them into the upper, middle, and lower sections, although they’re really all one big sheath of muscle. Traps are responsible for maintaining posture, stabilizing the upper body, and protecting the neck and spine.
Latissimus dorsi (lats): This is a set of large, flat muscles that span from the low back that runs along the sides of the body, under the arms. Lats help move the shoulders and arms and stabilize the back.
Erector spinae: This is a group of muscles that run along either side of the spine. They’re responsible for stabilizing the entire spine and rotating the back.
Levator scapulae: This is a large muscle that runs from the upper back to neck. As the name suggests, it helps elevate and rotate the shoulder blades (scapulae).

Best Dumbbell Exercises for a Bigger Back

1. Dumbbell Renegade Rows

Why It’s Effective

It’s a simple yet challenging free-weight back exercise that hits the back, as well as the shoulders, triceps, and biceps.

How to Do It

Start in the top position of a pushup with your hands on dumbbells shoulder-width apart.
Row one dumbbell toward the side of your body while balancing on the opposite hand and foot.
Pause for one second at the top and return the weight slowly to the start position.
Repeat on the other side.
Complete 3 sets of 15 reps.

2. Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Why It’s Effective

Though better known as a triceps exercise, it also builds coordination between the tris and upper back.

How to Do It

Lie supine (on your back with your face upward) on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand.
Place hands shoulder-width apart with palms facing down and wrists straight.
Raise the dumbbells above your collarbone.
While keeping your shoulders stable, slowly bend at the elbows, bringing the weight down just past your head until your elbows are bent 90 degrees.
Then, straighten your elbows, pushing the weight back to the overhead starting position.
Perform 3 sets of 12 reps.

3. Dumbbell Incline Rows

Why It’s Effective

With your chest down, it emphasizes moving from your posterior side, providing the intended benefit to the back and shoulders.

How to Do It

Lie chest down on an adjustable bench set at a comfortable angle between 30 and 45 degrees, to start.
With a dumbbell in each hand, bring your shoulder blades back and together as you row the weights to your sides.
Return to the starting position.
That’s 1 rep.
Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

4. Bent-Over Dumbbell Reverse Flye

Why It’s Effective

It hits your rhomboids, which support shoulder movement, open up the chest, and help give you a broad back.

How to Do It

Hold a dumbbell in each hand with feet shoulder-width apart, to start.
Keep your back straight as you lean forward, hinging at the hips.
Hold the weights together and then slowly bring them out to the sides.
Keep your arms slightly bent and pull your elbows out behind.
Complete 3 sets of 12 reps.

5. Alternating Dumbbell Rows

Why It’s Effective

It’s another simple yet challenging movement that stabilizes and strengthens the back.

How to Do It

To start, stand with a dumbbell in each hand.
Similar to a Romanian deadlift, begin by sitting back with your torso, bending forward at the hips.
Row one dumbbell to your side.
Lower it and repeat on the other side.
Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

6. Dumbbell Upright Row

Why It’s Effective

It’s a simple, familiar yet effective compound movement that strengthens and stabilizes the upper back and shoulders while also challenging the triceps.

How to Do It

To start, stand with feet hip-width apart and hold dumbbells with your palms down in front of your body.
Keep your shoulder blades back and chest up and then raise the dumbbells vertically, lifting your elbows to the ceiling.
Return to the starting position.
That’s 1 rep.
Complete 3 sets of 15 reps.

7. Dumbbell Burpee

Why It’s Effective

A burpee is a full-body movement that works the legs, core, and many muscles in the upper body.

How to Do It

Stand with feet outside shoulder-width apart with a dumbbell in each hand.
Bend down into a squat position and place your hands with the dumbbells on the floor.
Thrust your legs behind, you so you end up at the top of a pushup position.
Bring your legs back up so they land outside your hands, and then jump up quickly with your dumbbells in tow.
That’s 1 rep.
Complete 3 sets of 8 reps.

8. Farmer’s Carry

Why It’s Effective

Ever seen a farmer without a broad back? Us either! Their big backs come from hours of walking upright with two heavy buckets of milk, grain, gravel, and more and you can get a similar effect from carrying equipment in the gym.

How to Do It

Stand between a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells as if they were suitcases.
Squat at the hips, no bending at the back, and lift the weights.
Start by walking a short distance for 30 seconds, perhaps once or twice around the room.
Try to gradually work your way to longer distances or heavier weights.

9. Goblet Squat

Why It’s Effective

A full-body maneuver that takes the pressure off your back while strengthening it, the goblet squat is more accessible than a traditional barbell squat. The counterbalance with the weight in front of the body allows you to sit back more easily, encouraging proper form.

How to Do It

To start, hold a dumbbell with two hands against your chest as if preparing to drink from it – like a goblet.
Squat by sitting the hips back and down, keeping your weight in the middle of your feet.
Maintain contact between the kettlebell and your chest.
Your knees should touch the elbows.
Extend powerfully through your hips and come back to the starting position.
That’s 1 rep.
Complete 3 sets of 15 reps.

10. Two-Point Row

Why It’s Effective

A variation on the traditional one-arm row, this has you bent over with your non-lifting handout to your side. It’s one of our favorite dumbbell exercises for back gains while also challenging your hamstrings.

How to Do It

Grasp a dumbbell with one hand and push your hips back, allowing your knees to bend slightly so your chest is parallel with the floor.
Raise your free hand out to the side and, without moving your torso, row the dumbbell to your ribs.
Drive your elbow toward the ceiling.
Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

11. Dumbbell Deadlift

Why It’s Effective

Deadlifts are a full-body movement that specifically targets your hips, glutes, back, and core. To strengthen your whole body these are must-adds to your back dumbbell workout.

How to Do It

To start, stand with your feet hip-width apart and place a pair of dumbbells on the floor in front of you on either side of your feet.
Reach down and grab the dumbbells with a neutral grip as you drop your hips.
Keeping a flat black, extend your hips to stand up, and pull the dumbbells up along your body until lock-out, as your hips drive through and your shoulders move back.
While pulling, keep your eyes on the ground a few feet in front of you.
Carefully lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
That’s 1 rep.
Complete 3 sets of 12 reps.

12. Dumbbell Hang Clean

Why It’s Effective

Much like the deadlift, the hang clean is a full-body movement that can help develop strength and power. While they don’t solely focus on your entire back, when added to your dumbbell back workout they can help to bulletproof your lower back muscles.

How to Do It

Start by holding the dumbbells on your shoulders with your hands shoulder-width apart.
Keeping your back in its natural curve, bend your hips and knees (as you would in a squat), lowering the dumbbells to just above your knees.
Explosively extend your hips as if jumping, while at the same time shrugging your shoulders and pulling the dumbbells straight up in front of your torso.
As the dumbbells reach chest level, bend your elbows and flip your wrists to dumbbells at shoulder level.
Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

13. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Why It’s Effective

Perhaps the most recognizable hamstring move, and for good reason; it’s effective in building the proper activation patterns in your hamstrings and glutes, which in turn strengthen your back.

How to Do It

To start, hold a light dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs.
Make sure your feet are stable and stay underneath your hips.
Send your hips behind your heels keeping your back flat as if you were shutting a door with your butt.
Throughout the movement make sure you keep your knees above your heels and your shins vertical to the floor.
Lower the weight until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
When the weight gets below your knees return to the starting position.
That’s 1 rep.
Perform 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.

Pro Tip

The form is especially key to getting the full benefit from the RDL; don’t think of the exercise as bending forward but rather as sitting back with your torso moving forward instead of staying upright.

14. Dumbbell Arnold Press

Why It’s Effective

Although the Arnold press is a shoulder exercise, the upper back and biceps play a secondary role in the movement. Free weight back exercises like this will have you reconsidering barbell-only routines.

How to Do It

To start, sit upright either at the end of a flat bench or leaning against the back of an incline bench holding dumbbells in each hand.
Rest the dumbbells on the tops of your thighs with your palms facing in.
Kick your knees up to bring the weights into the start position—arms bent at 90 degrees, palms facing you, as if at the end of a biceps curl.
Inhale and squeeze your shoulder blades together at the start of the lift to ensure proper alignment and posture.
Exhale as you press the dumbbells up while rotating your palms to face out. Your elbows should move laterally to move the weights in one continuous motion.
Stop once the weights are overhead before your arms are fully locked out and your biceps close to your ears.
Pause at the top, then reverse the movement back to start.
Perform 3 sets of 8 reps.

15. Dumbbell Shrugs

Why It’s Effective

Dumbbell shrugs are the king of building your upper traps making them a top contender in the best dumbbell back exercises. They not only help you to build a bigger upper body but also improve your posture.

How to Do It

To start, grab two dumbbells and place them on the outside of your thigh.
Drive your shoulders up and contract your traps for 2 to 3 seconds before lowering the dumbbells back down.
Perform 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps.

What Back Exercises Get Rid of Back Fat?

First, a disclaimer. If you’re struggling to figure out how to get rid of back fat, know you can’t spot-train. Fat will only disappear with a commitment to clean eating. Without the nutrition piece in place, no amount of dumbbell exercises for your back will help you lose your love handles. If you’re eating clean, then back movements that strengthen the core will be especially effective at eliminating the appearance of back fat.

Can You Work Out Your Back With Just Dumbbells?

Absolutely. Most barbell moves can be done with dumbbells. Oftentimes, it’s actually preferable because dumbbells generally challenge your stability and mobility, which in turn builds the core strength that results in a strong and stable back.

What Are the Benefits of Doing Dumbbell Back Exercises?

Not only are you building the broad, powerful, V-shaped back that looks good in a shirt, you’re also creating the core strength that will keep you from becoming another statistic in America’s epidemic of back pain. Additionally, while a solid back workout with dumbbells is a good place to start, you also have to train your hips, glutes, and hamstrings as they play a major role in the health of your trunk and strengthen the back as a byproduct.

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