Build a stronger back at home with these five beginner-friendly exercises

I was chatting recently with a lovely personal training client of mine about what she wanted to work on in her new fitness plan, and she asked if I could include some back-strengthening exercises. She spends long hours at her desk and often holds a lot of stress in her upper body.

If, like my client, you spend long periods sitting at a desk, you probably notice your back and shoulders feeling stiff or fatigued from staying in the same position. And if you’re not doing much strength training outside work, the muscles that support your back may have begun to weaken as you get older.

Strength training isn’t a cure-all for back pain or stress-related tension, but combined with regular desk breaks, movement snacks and mobility work, strengthening your back muscles can improve postural control and make everyday movements such as lifting, bending and carrying easier.

If you think you may benefit from a stronger back, I’ve created a simple five-move workout that can help. It’s designed to be done at home, although you will need, at a minimum, one dumbbell.

How to do this home back workout

This is a circuit workout.

Perform an exercise for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds, then move on to the next exercise. Once you have performed all five exercises, you have completed one round. Perform two rounds in total.

You will need a single dumbbell for the pullover and you can add light weights to the other exercises to make it harder—but only after you have nailed the right form.

Here are the five exercises.

1. Quadruped arm raise
2. Prone Y-raise
3. Prone reverse fly
4. Prone W-raise
5. Dumbbell pullover

Here’s how to do each move.

1. Quadruped arm raise

Time: 30sec Rest: 30sec

• Get on your hands and knees, with your knees directly under your hips and your wrists directly under your shoulders.
• Engage your core.
• Lift your right arm to horizontal with your palm facing down.
• Return to the start with control, then repeat on the other side.
• Continue, alternating sides with each rep.

Make it harder: Hold light dumbbells, or for a greater core challenge, perform the arm raise from a high plank position.

2. Prone Y-raise

Time: 30sec Rest: 30sec

• Lie face down on a mat with your arms extended diagonally overhead to form the shape of the letter Y, with your thumbs pointing up.
• Engage your coe.
• Lift your arms, moving with control and reaching your hands forward rather than just lifting as high as you can.
• Lower with control.

Make it harder: Hold a very light dumbbell in each hand, but only if you can maintain the same controlled form.

3. Prone reverse fly

Time: 30sec Rest: 30sec

• Lie face down on the mat with your arms extended out to the sides, with a slight bend in your elbows.
• Engage your core.
• Lift your arms, squeezing your shoulder blades together, keeping your neck extended and your shoulders away from your ears.
• Lower with control.

Make it harder: Hold a very light dumbbell in each hand, but only if you can maintain the same controlled form.

4. Prone W-raise

Time: 30sec Rest: 30sec

• Lie face down on the mat with your arms out to the sides and your elbows bent to create a W-shape.
• Engage your core.
• Lift your arms and hands slightly from the floor while drawing your shoulder blades back and down—imagine you are moving your shoulder blades into the back pockets of your jeans.
• Pause, then lower with control.

5. Dumbbell pullover

Time: 30sec Rest: 30sec

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, holding one dumbbell in both hands above your chest, with your arms extended and a slight bend in your elbows.
• Engage your core.
• Carefully lower the weight behind your head as far as you can comfortably control without your lower back arching away from the mat—you do not need the dumbbell to touch the floor.
• Lift the weight back to the start.

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