By level

Beginner Back Exercises

Fifty of the 77 movements in BackMaxx are rated beginner. The rating is about how much position you have to hold, not how much weight is on the bar.

· Written by the BackMaxx team

The short answer

Beginner back exercises are the 50 BackMaxx movements where something else holds your position — a pad, a bench, a machine track or the floor — so the pull is the only job. The tier covers all five stretches, all 10 equipment types and all five trainable zones, and 37 of the 50 run at home.

What makes a back exercise beginner

Not the load. Chest Supported Row asks the rhomboids for the same retraction a Barbell Row does; the pad just holds your torso so the hinge is not also your problem. Beginner means fewer things to manage at once.

Three features put a movement in this tier. Something outside you holds the position — a bench, a pad, a machine track, the floor. The range is short enough that you can feel where you are in it. And the load can start at nothing, which is why all five stretches and both assisted machines sit here.

That is also why the tier is so broad. All 10 equipment types appear in it, from a doorway to a barbell, and 37 of the 50 movements need nothing a home cannot hold.

The 50, and where to start in each zone

ZoneBeginner optionsStart withDefault
Upper Back14Chest Supported Row3 × 8–12
Lat Width12Banded Lat Pulldown3 × 12–15
Lower Back11Superman3 × 10–12
Rear Delts7Band Pull-Apart3 × 15–20
Traps6Dumbbell Shrug3 × 10–15

Each of those five is the one in its zone that asks least of your position while still loading the muscle through a full range. Start there, add the second movement in the zone once the first is boring, and keep the reps in the ranges above rather than chasing weight.

Where to start when a pull-up is not happening yet

Lat Width has 12 beginner movements and five of them are rungs on the same ladder, in this order:

  1. Dead Hang — 3 × 20–40s, just holding on
  2. Active Hang — 3 × 15–30s, shoulder blades pulled down away from your ears
  3. Scapular Pull-up — 3 × 8–12, the top inch only
  4. Negative Pull-up — 3 × 4–6, lowering under control
  5. Assisted Pull-up or Assisted Chin-up — 3 × 8–12, the machine subtracting what you cannot yet lift

Nothing on that list asks you to move your whole bodyweight in one piece. The Pull-up itself is rated intermediate and lives on the intermediate list with 16 others.

Two beginner habits that cost you the set

Rowing with the elbow and calling it done. The Rhomboids grow “from rowing where you actually squeeze the blades together and pause. Load second, retraction first” — so on every one of those 14 Upper Back movements, the pause at the top is the rep. The Rhomboids page has the rest of it.

Treating the small stuff as a warm-up. Seven of the eight Rear Delt movements in the whole corpus are rated beginner, which means the entire zone is trainable on day one and there is no harder version waiting. Band Pull-Apart defaults to 3 × 15–20 because the reps are the point; the Rear Delts exercises all run the same way.

Choosing between 50 without guessing

Fifty options is more freedom than most people want, and picking the movements you already like is how one zone gets trained three ways while another gets nothing. Scan your back and let the two lowest zone scores choose the first two slots of the session instead.

When one zone sits well below the rest, the lagging back muscles guide covers what to do about it. The grid below lists all 50 movements, and any of them is a legitimate first session.

Beginner (50)

Active Hang illustration Active Hang Pull-up Bar · Lat Width · beginner Assisted Chin-up illustration Assisted Chin-up Machine · Lat Width · beginner Assisted Pull-up illustration Assisted Pull-up Machine · Lat Width · beginner Banded Lat Pulldown illustration Banded Lat Pulldown Resistance Band · Lat Width · beginner Child's Pose illustration Child’s Pose Bodyweight · Lat Width · beginner Close-Grip Lat Pulldown illustration Close-Grip Lat Pulldown Cable · Lat Width · beginner Dead Hang illustration Dead Hang Pull-up Bar · Lat Width · beginner Lat Pulldown illustration Lat Pulldown Cable · Lat Width · beginner Negative Pull-up illustration Negative Pull-up Pull-up Bar · Lat Width · beginner Scapular Pull-up illustration Scapular Pull-up Pull-up Bar · Lat Width · beginner Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown illustration Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown Cable · Lat Width · beginner Back Extension illustration Back Extension Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Cat-Cow Stretch illustration Cat-Cow Stretch Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift illustration Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Dumbbell · Lower Back · beginner Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift illustration Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift Dumbbell · Lower Back · beginner Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift illustration Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift Kettlebell · Lower Back · beginner Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift illustration Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift Machine · Lower Back · beginner Superman illustration Superman Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Superman Hold illustration Superman Hold Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Torso Twists illustration Torso Twists Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Band Pull-Apart illustration Band Pull-Apart Resistance Band · Rear Delts · beginner Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise illustration Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise Dumbbell · Rear Delts · beginner Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch illustration Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch Bodyweight · Rear Delts · beginner Rear Delt Fly illustration Rear Delt Fly Dumbbell · Rear Delts · beginner Reverse Pec Deck illustration Reverse Pec Deck Machine · Rear Delts · beginner Banded Face Pull illustration Banded Face Pull Resistance Band · Traps · beginner Dumbbell Shrug illustration Dumbbell Shrug Dumbbell · Traps · beginner Face Pull illustration Face Pull Cable · Traps · beginner Farmer Carry illustration Farmer Carry Dumbbell · Traps · beginner Barbell Shrug illustration Barbell Shrug Barbell · Traps · beginner Banded Row illustration Banded Row Resistance Band · Upper Back · beginner Chest Supported Row illustration Chest Supported Row Machine · Upper Back · beginner Doorway Row illustration Doorway Row Doorway · Upper Back · beginner Dumbbell Bent Over Row illustration Dumbbell Bent Over Row Dumbbell · Upper Back · beginner Inverted Row illustration Inverted Row Bodyweight · Upper Back · beginner Machine Row illustration Machine Row Machine · Upper Back · beginner One-Arm Dumbbell Row illustration One-Arm Dumbbell Row Dumbbell · Upper Back · beginner Prone T Raise illustration Prone T Raise Bodyweight · Upper Back · beginner Prone Y Raise illustration Prone Y Raise Bodyweight · Upper Back · beginner Reverse Snow Angel illustration Reverse Snow Angel Bodyweight · Upper Back · beginner Scapular Push-up illustration Scapular Push-up Bodyweight · Upper Back · beginner Seated Cable Row illustration Seated Cable Row Cable · Upper Back · beginner Towel Row illustration Towel Row Towel · Upper Back · beginner Bird Dog illustration Bird Dog Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Arm Circles illustration Arm Circles Bodyweight · Rear Delts · beginner World's Greatest Stretch illustration World’s Greatest Stretch Bodyweight · Lower Back · beginner Banded Straight-Arm Pulldown illustration Banded Straight-Arm Pulldown Resistance Band · Lat Width · beginner Banded Rear Delt Fly illustration Banded Rear Delt Fly Resistance Band · Rear Delts · beginner Kettlebell Shrug illustration Kettlebell Shrug Kettlebell · Traps · beginner Kettlebell Single-Arm Row illustration Kettlebell Single-Arm Row Kettlebell · Upper Back · beginner

Frequently asked questions

What makes a back exercise beginner rather than advanced?

Position and skill, not weight. A beginner movement has something else holding your torso — a pad, a bench, a machine track or the floor — so the pull is the only thing you manage. A Chest Supported Row can be loaded heavier than a Barbell Row and still be the beginner version.

How many beginner back exercises does BackMaxx have?

50 of the 77. They break down as 14 Upper Back, 12 Lat Width, 11 Lower Back, 7 Rear Delts and 6 Traps, and 37 of the 50 can be done at home.

Can a beginner do pull-ups?

The Pull-up is rated intermediate, but the ladder to it is entirely beginner: Dead Hang, Active Hang, Scapular Pull-up, Negative Pull-up, then Assisted Pull-up or Assisted Chin-up on a machine. Banded Lat Pulldown trains the same pattern with no bar at all.

How long should you stay on beginner back exercises?

There is no set period, and the marker is positional rather than calendar-based. When you can hold the position for all three sets without the support doing the work — chest never leaving the pad, hips never drifting — the unsupported version of that same pattern is the next step.

Which beginner back exercises are stretches?

All five stretches in the corpus are beginner and available both at home and in a gym: Child’s Pose, Cat-Cow Stretch, Torso Twists, Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch and World’s Greatest Stretch. They default to 2 sets rather than 3.

Which of these do you actually need?

BackMaxx scores six zones and eight muscles from one photo, then picks the movements that fix the lowest number — from the same 77-exercise library.

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Back exercises at home The 46 home movements, indexed by the gear already in the room. Newbie rank A Back Score under 38, and the tagline that goes with it: everything is upside from here. Traps & Rear Delts Three weeks on the two zones where beginner movements are the whole ceiling.