Let’s start with the hardest move. Keep in mind you can always use a resistance band to assist in your pull-ups. Obviously, you need a bar of some sort, whether this is at home above the doorway or even the local playground using the monkey bars, anything sturdy enough to hang from, you have yourself a pull-up bar! Play around with hand position, don’t get too comfortable using the same width for hand placement. Your hand placement plays a major roll in putting more load on certain areas of the back. Challenge yourself and go wide, really wide and even super close to the point your hands touch each other!

This one is a great alternative to build-up to the high bar for the full dead hang pull up but also a great exercise to hit different areas of your back. Unlike regular pull-ups where you are hanging directly under the bar, Inverted pull-ups or “Australian pull-ups” as they are also commonly referred to have you underneath a lower bar (think stomach height) with your body on an angle and heels on the ground. Again, hand placement is key, play around with that and feel the different areas of your back working!

A great exercise to target the lower back and glutes which are often overlooked in back health. For this one, you don’t even need a bar. This is a zero-equipment exercise that should be done in a slow and controlled movement. At the top of the movement with your chest and thighs off the ground (that’s the aim) squeeze and pause for a split second.

This exercise does require some balance, but it brings the hips, hamstrings and glutes into play, all while working the lower back. Another exercise not to be rushed through, slow and controlled is the way!