Elusive mind/muscle connection...

[Yamsan]

In all my years of lifting Ive never been able to get a consistent mind muscle connection while doing back exercises. Ive gone over my form, done negative reps, tried the mirror, etc ad naseam....
Gains have been good. Still cant help but feel like I could be getting more out of my workouts. Any tips?

 

[Heavy Iron]

If you have a partner to work out with having them simply tap or touch the target area while at your full range of motion/squeeze helps.

Also I'm getting better at it, but not recruiting your scapula when you do back, like one arm seated cable rows for example.

 

[bob357sig]

Maby just keep trying different back exercises and stick with what you feel more connection with. For me some things I just can’t feel or make a good connection with, barbell rows and one arm dumbell rows I just don’t care for but anything cable or especially T bar rows” real ones, not supported “ i can make that connection with. Experiment i say.

 

[Sniggles]

I perform shoulder girdle retraction most consistently with cable rows. It's not as easy to perform retraction with standing dumbbell or bar rows because of the angle, you're somewhere between retraction and shoulder shrugs. If you perform back hyper-extensions with a Roman chair then try supinating your feet, it helps to target your erector spinae.

 

[Xlgx]

Jordan peters has a good video on how to develop a better mind muscle connection for back.

 

[Vipera1]

Try to stretch on the eccentric movement and squeeze on the eccentric. Take your time and very the weight and speed of the movement. If you still don't feel the connection then either your muscles are not developed enough or the weight is too heavy and you are using other muscles to support the exercise, so try different things until you get it right.

Pre-activation could work as well. Post a picture of your back.

 

[Mac11wildcat]

My guess is you’re referring to lats, because most guys can easily pull their shoulders back and feel traps/rhomboids/etc.

The movenent you need to master is movement of your elbow towards your hip when bent over. And the key is to think of it as a swing back to your hip rather than a pull upwards. Might be hard to conceptualize with just words.

Meadows rows, one arm DB rows where your elbow never gets tighter than 90deg, etc.

One great activation is “Joe Rows.” Sit on a Cable Row Bench with a cambered bar attachment. Grab it under hand a bit more narrow than shoulder width. Sit upright, slight arch in your back, head neutral/slightly up. Now think about pulling the bar down to your thigh/hip WITHOUT YOUR BICEP. literally moving the bar just by the rotation of your shoulder joint. Like you’re trying to drag it along your thigh. The cable should be coming down off the pulley, not flat or up.

 

[TX_Hempknight]

My guess is you’re referring to lats, because most guys can easily pull their shoulders back and feel traps/rhomboids/etc.

The movenent you need to master is movement of your elbow towards your hip when bent over. And the key is to think of it as a swing back to your hip rather than a pull upwards. Might be hard to conceptualize with just words.

Meadows rows, one arm DB rows where your elbow never gets tighter than 90deg, etc.

One great activation is “Joe Rows.” Sit on a Cable Row Bench with a cambered bar attachment. Grab it under hand a bit more narrow than shoulder width. Sit upright, slight arch in your back, head neutral/slightly up. Now think about pulling the bar down to your thigh/hip WITHOUT YOUR BICEP. literally moving the bar just by the rotation of your shoulder joint. Like you’re trying to drag it along your thigh. The cable should be coming down off the pulley, not flat or up.

Another tip on activating lats on certain exercises, is the pistol grip. Seth feroce talked in some of his videos on pulldowns and low rows to pull using your middle finger through your pinky finger to pull instead of using your pointer finger and thumb to take some of the effort off of your other muscles. Or to simplify, make a finger pistol with your hands and make that motion. Probably not making it as clear as he did, but I have noticed an increase in my lat activation from doing this. Now I can feel it more and activate at will. Sometimes i practice flexing them in the mirror just to keep that connection.

 

[LeoTC]

^This^

Your hands are just meathooks. The harder you grip the bar with your hand, the more recruitment you'll see in the arms.

Ditch the thumbs and pull through your ring finger and elbows.

 

[Yamsan]

Thanks for all the tips! The hand/grip actually helped quite a bit.

 

[LeoTC]

PM'd ya.

 

[cfreetenor]

I just went for this feeling with mid back today. It helped me to tuck my chin and kill the tension in my shoulders, let them hang forward during seated cable rows. From there I just made myself use my back only to bring my elbows behind me, and I know it worked because I’m suffering from the mid back pump right now.