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Putting Meat on the Spinal Erectors

How to help your lower back muscles stand out

Dorian Yates was an English bodybuilder who was impressive in any lineup of physique contenders; but when he turned around, he set himself apart from all others with his tremendous back development. Besides his great lats, Yates’ thick, cable-like muscles that ran down the backside of his body were one of the qualities that enabled him to win six consecutive Mr. Olympia competitions. But training the lower back has more benefits than simply winning physique competitions.

This major lower back muscle group, the erector spinae, works with the glutes, hamstrings and other posterior-chain muscles to help extend the trunk. Further, forgotten research from East German sport scientists from four decades ago shows that developing these muscles has the positive side effect of increasing strength throughout the entire body. And I say “forgotten” for good reason.

Just a few decades ago, bodybuilders and strength athletes alike often had impressive lower back development because the deadlift was a key exercise in their workouts. Franco Columbu, an IFBB Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981, had one of the best backs in bodybuilding, one that would measure up to the best of today. At a bodyweight of 185 pounds, Columbu reportedly had hoisted 780 pounds in the deadlift, which exceeded the amateur world record and has only been exceeded by a few athletes at that bodyweight since. Although there are a few notable exceptions, such as eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, who can be seen on YouTube deadlifting 800 pounds for a double, most modern bodybuilders avoid the exercise.

Powerlifters have always had great lower back development because the deadlift was one of their competitive lifts. Now many powerlifters who excel in the squat and bench press prefer to focus on single-lift competitions, as the anatomical qualities that make an individual excel in these two lifts, such as relatively short arms for the bench press, are often detrimental to performing the deadlift. Further, because the supportive equipment used enables athletes to lift tremendous weights, with 1,000-pound squats and benches being commonplace, a big deadlift doesn’t help the total much – and the equipment doesn’t help the deadlift much. For these reasons, many powerlifters don’t focus as much attention on the deadlift.

In the strength and conditioning profession, core training is the focus of many workout programs for athletes, but the attention tends to be more on the abdominal muscles rather than on those of the lower back. Furthermore, some strength coaches fear the deadlift, as there is a tendency to round the lower back when using heavy weights, a technique that places harmful stress on the discs.

Bigger Faster Stronger, Inc., which has a popular workout program that has been used by high school football players for more than three decades, proposed getting around this problem by means of a “spotted deadlift.” This technique involved having a training partner place one hand on the trainee’s lower back and the other across their chest, applying pressure in both directions to prevent the back from rounding. However, the spotted deadlift proved impractical, and consequently the organization revised its training philosophy to promote the Hex bar deadlift instead, which involves the erector spinae less, as the torso is held more upright.
 
Whatever the reason the deadlift has lost its popularity, it’s not necessary to perform the exercise for maximal development of this important muscle group. Further, it’s difficult to perform higher reps in the deadlift, so only one type of fiber type can be developed to its maximum.

In an article published in Sports Medicine in 2004, author Andrew C. Fry reviewed studies comparing the muscle fiber types of bodybuilders, weightlifters and powerlifters. What Fry found is that weightlifters had the highest percentage of Type II (high threshold) fibers when compared to the other two groups, and bodybuilders had the highest percentage of Type I (low threshold) fibers. Because the erector spinae are made up of a mix of muscle fiber types, this research suggests that a variety of training protocols will be necessary to fully develop this muscle group.

It should also be noted that in regard to any relationship between back pain and strength, there is little research showing any direct correlation between strength training and the resolution or prevention of lower back pain. However, there is a significant correlation between back pain and muscular endurance, suggesting that the slower muscle fibers are more important for back health. For more information about this subject, I recommend Stuart McGill’s newest book, Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation (Human Kinetics). McGill has written more than 200 studies on lower back pain, and this book is very readable and well illustrated.
 

Total Erector Spinae Training
To train all the fiber types found in the erector spinae, it’s best that you alternate between two types of routines: one that focuses on activating the high-threshold motor units with heavy loads and one that activates the lower-threshold motor units by prolonging the time under tension. To show how this can be accomplished, I’d like to present a workout that alternates between two distinct training protocols.

The first protocol in the workout, Routine A, uses a compound exercise performed for low reps, multiple sets and long rest intervals to work the high-threshold fibers. This is the type of program a powerlifter would use for hypertrophy. Routine B makes use of the same bodypart supersets but with short rest intervals to work the lower-threshold fibers. This is the type of workout a bodybuilder would use.

Routine A
Snatch-Grip, Bent-Knee Deadlift, on podium, 5110, rest 4 minutes
2 x 3
2 x 5
2 x 8

The snatch-grip, bent knee deadlift is a favorite lower back exercise of mine. I like to perform it while standing on a small podium (about four inches, so that the feet can just fit under the barbell), to further increase the range of motion of the movement. I believe it is one of the most important exercises a sprinter can use because of its effect on developing the muscles of the posterior chain, especially the glutes and hamstrings.

Make sure to pause the bar on the floor between reps, and do not use a belt. Also, do 6-8 progressively heavier low-rep warm-up sets before tackling the first set of heavy triples. If, for example, your best triple on the snatch deadlifts is 275 pounds, your warm-up pattern could look like this: 135 x 5, 185 x 3, 205 x 2, 225 x 2, 245 x 1, 265 x 1.

Routine B
A-1: Romanian Deadlift, 3 x 10-12 reps, 4020, rest 30 seconds
A-2: Back Extension, 3 x 12-15 reps, 2012, rest 120 seconds

With the Romanian deadlift, make certain to keep the arch in the lower back throughout the entire range of motion and maintain a 25-degree bend in your knees throughout the entire exercise. If you get to a point in the eccentric lowering where you need to round your back, then you are not performing the exercise properly. If you are not sure how to do this exercise correctly, enlist the help of your local PICP certified coach.

With the back extension (note: NOT hyperextension), if you are strong enough, perform the exercise with a loaded barbell across the shoulders – weightlifters have been known to routinely use weights exceeding 200 pounds in this exercise for reps. Because the back extension exercise overloads the erector spinae in the shortened position, it is very important that you pause in that range for the prescribed count of two seconds. You can substitute reverse hypers for the back extensions. Finally, a word of warning: After these three supersets you will probably feel about four inches shorter!

Using these two routines alternately will pack on size not only on your erector spinae but also on all the other major muscles of the posterior chain. You’ll not only look better from the back but also perform better to keep you in front of your competition!