{Fit and Strong Day 6}: Strong, Sexy Back

My dumbbells

Let's get to the back of things, literally.  The back is one of my problem areas, not so much as the back flabs I have there.  Those flabs don't really bother me that much, except probably when I wear tight-fitting tops, which I don't remember doing.  But what does bother me is the back pain I get from sitting too long in the office.  I don't exactly have the best back posture and to be honest, I tend to slouch.  It's what I am always conscious to correct, more so when I'm running.  A slouching runner is such an eye sore right? 

I mostly turn to back exercises to relieve back pains from long sitting.  But it surely wouldn't hurt to have toned, well-defined and strong back muscles.  I think the strong muscles contribute to better posture as well.  

You must have noticed that most exercises I feature in this series has got something to do with dumbbells or just the body weight.  That's because, those are the only available things I have.  I don't go to the gym for the more sophisticated equipment.  But if you are a gym rat, good for you!  Keep it up.  

Here, we're doing it the simple way with the bare essentials.  You can even substitute the weights with bottles of mineral water (as suggested by the readers), maybe even canned goods, if you like.  Be creative.

The back workouts that I currently do are just variations of the arm row:

• One arm row
• Kneeling one arm row
• Wide row
• Back fly

To see the illustrations and other variations, you could check out Dumbbell-exercises.com  By the way, you don't have to do all of these at once.  Just choose the ones that feels great for you and gives you a good back workout.

To complete the whole muscle group for the perfect V-shaped back, try your hands on some pull ups,  and these back exercises for women.

Visit: 31 Steps to Fit and Strong for the days you've missed in this series.


Note: Don't get confused with the days. This is an advance post for tomorrow since I'll be running in Run United Leg 3.  

Happy weekend everyone!