Studies have shown that as high as 80% of people will experience severe back pain at least once in their life. Pain or complications with the back can be paralyzing, making a person practically immobile. Because of this, participating in regular back exercises is suggested for everyone, not just those wishing to enhance their look or build muscle and definition.

There are more types of back exercises and variations than a person could do in an entire lifetime. To decide what back exercises are right for you, you need to identify your goals. Are you looking to keep your back healthy, to trim down, bulk up, or gain definition? How much time, money, and energy are you willing to dedicate to your workout? All these things dictate what back exercises you should chose for your regimen.

For those concerned primarily with staying healthy through a simple, low intensity regime of back exercises at home, simple exercises such as wall slides, leg raises, and leg swings are effective and only require a chair. Combined with abdominal exercises to strengthen the rest of the trunk, they should keep your back firm and functional if regularly practiced.

For those with more ambitious goals and willing to dedicate more effort to their workout, a variety of machine and equipment facilitated motions can help you work out your back as nothing else will. Some of best back exercises of all are chin-ups, rows, lat pull downs, and cable rows. The chin-up is a simple but demanding back exercise that requires only a secure bar above head height to perform. Chin-up bars can be purchased and many combination machines have a bar in place for this exercise. Rows are done by taking a weight and lifting it from flat against your body below the waist up to chest level, as if rowing a boat. This exercise requires some type of weight, either dumbbells or a barbell, and both are suggested as each method focuses differently on the muscles. The lateral (lat) pull down is an exercise most often found on machines with a cable-pulley system. While sitting down, hold the bar outstretched with the weight settled then slowly pull the bard down and in toward the chest, keeping the back straight. Different bar attachments, such as short grip bar, can also be purchased to target different areas of the muscle and vary routine. Finally, cable rows are another pulley based back exercise, though use-specific cable row machines are available as well. With cable rows you sit or stand and pull either a bar or handle straps in toward the chest while keeping your back straight; extending the arms once more settles the weight again.