Build a Bigger Back and Biceps: Resistance Band Workout

It’s safe to say that most men who lift weights want to build a bigger back and biceps. Building bigger biceps is a simple way to increase the size of your arms, which is an appealing focus if you’re naturally skinny. Building your back helps to increase strength, and create a wide, masculine physique. As quoted by Men’s Journal, “a wide upper back will have much more impact on your presence than an overtrained chest”. In this article we will help you build a bigger back and biceps with resistance bands.

But if you’re one of the 59 percent of Americans who cancelled their gym membership after COVID, you’re probably wondering: can you build muscle at home? The answer is yes, as long as you do it right. In this article we’re going to share a back and biceps resistance band workout to build muscle at home or in the gym.

Why should you train back and biceps together?

‘Back and bis’ is a popular workout split for good reason. Training these two body parts together is arguably the most efficient way to train your upper body because they both work to pull resistance towards the body. This is the push/pull/legs split that T-Nation considers the “ultimate split” in bodybuilding.

Combining pulling muscles together in one workout is more effective because of the overlap. For example, many back exercises also recruit the biceps as secondary muscles, and vice versa. Another benefit is that you can rest the other ‘pushing’ muscles, while doubling down on the ‘pulling’ muscles.

What muscles are in the back?

The back consists of 40 muscles, which can separate into 20 muscle pairs, symmetrical on either side of the spine. These muscles can be separated into groups based on their depth: superficial, intermediate, and deep muscles.

For the sake of fitness training, we only really talk about the superficial layer of muscles. Superficial muscles are the largest and have the greatest influence for physical strength and muscular development. These muscles include:

• Latissimus dorsi (lats)
• Deltoid (delts)
• Trapezius (traps)
• Teres minor/major
• Rhomboid minor/major

It is helpful to understand some of this basic anatomy before attempting to build your back muscles. This is because certain exercises will be more effective at isolating certain muscles on the back. Following a back workout plan that targets each of these muscles will give you faster results.

Benefits of building back and bicep strength

1. Aesthetics

We’ve already touched on this so we won’t dive too much further. In short a wide, well-developed back and prominent biceps are one of the most obvious signs of an athletic physique. Why do you think the phrase ‘curls for the girls’ became so popular?

2. Injury prevention

A strong back helps to prevent injury – in life and during your workouts. This is because your back muscles connect to the rest of the body, stabilizing other movements. For example, whether you’re doing heavy squats or lifting a suitcase in the overhead compartment; your back is stabilizing and supporting the movement of other muscles.

3. Helps to highlight a small waist

This doesn’t just apply to men, women who build out their back muscles help to give the illusion of a smaller waist. This is known as the V taper. Both men and women in the fitness industry desire the elusive V shape – and it’s all made possible by training back and bis.

4. Lift heavier

Strong biceps help your arms to pick up more weight. Not only will this help you in your day-to-day life, but it will also equate to some impressive PRs (personal bests) in other compound lifts. The same can be said for a strong back. Your lats are the most important multi-directional stabilizers of the lower spine, and so the stronger they are, the heavier the load they can manage.

How to build a bigger back and biceps

At this point you understand some of the basic science and benefits of building your back and bis. Now it is time to get your questions answered: how can you build a bigger back and biceps?

Research shows that the most effective way to build muscle is repeatedly doing the same movements and exercises. What has to change with each workout is the intensity of the exercises, forcing your muscles to work and adapt. This is the concept of progressive overload.

When you increase the intensity – whether through an increased load or decreased rest time, it forces your muscles to work harder, triggering hypertrophy. But if you’re training at home, lifting heavier weights becomes difficult after a while. This is where resistance bands come in.

Using resistance bands for back and bicep workouts

Resistance bands are an intensity strategy, helping to fulfill the demands required for progressive overload. Resistance bands provide resistance throughout the range of motion, across multiple movement planes. This maximizes mechanical tension and causes a ‘variation’ in the load being lifted. Ultimately, helping you to activate dormant muscles, recruit a maximal amount of muscle fibers and build muscle in your back and biceps.

Back and Biceps Resistance Band Workout

Resistance band deadlift: 3 sets – 25 reps

• Stand upright with a resistance band above your ankles or knees depending on the resistance of the band
• You can hold on to something for support
• Flex foot and abduct leg outwards until failure on each leg

Resistance band bent over row: 3 sets x 15 reps

• Hinge at the hip and keep knees neutral
• Grab the resistance band that you are standing on, with feet hip width distance
• Pull band towards your hips

Resistance band lat pull downs: 3 sets x 25 reps

• Kneeling, with a resistance band tied to something higher than your head,
• Pull each handle towards you, contracting your lats

Resistance band bicep curl: 3 sets x 25 reps

• Standing on the resistance band, hold the handles and curl handles towards your shoulders to activate your biceps

• Keep elbows tight to the body

Resistance band hammer curl: 3 sets x 20 reps

• The same as the standard bicep curl, but instead of an underhand grip, choose an overhand grip with thumb facing up
• Keep elbows tight to the body

Seated concentration curl resistance band: 3 sets x 25 reps

• In a seated position with legs wide, hinge at the hip, leaning into your inner thigh
• Position the band either below you (under your feet) or to the side of you, knee height
• Grip the band and curl your hands towards you for a bicep curl

We hope this helped give you some inspiration to build a bigger back and biceps using resistance bands only! Good luck.

Need bands to perform the exercises? Click Here to Purchase Your Resistance Band Exercise Set.

Want more resistance band workouts? Click here to learn how to build bigger glutes with resistance bands.