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Back workouts at home, no equipment

Back workouts you can do at home: one for when you have a pull-up bar, one with just a towel and a doorframe.

Your back has two jobs to train: vertical pulls (pull-ups and pulldowns) build the lats and the width of the back, and horizontal pulls (rows) build the thickness of the mid and upper back. A complete back workout includes both, plus some direct rear-shoulder work.

With no equipment, you make exercises harder by changing leverage instead of adding weight: raising your feet, using one limb at a time, slowing down, or pausing at the hardest point. Everything here needs only your body and, at most, a sturdy chair, a table or a doorframe.

Bodyweight back workout with a pull-up bar

The pull-up is the best back exercise there is, with or without weights.

  1. Pull-up
    Sets
    4
    Reps
    3–10
    Rest
    2 min
  2. Chin-up
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    5–10
    Rest
    2 min
  3. Inverted RowUnder a sturdy table or a low bar.
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    8–15
    Rest
    90 s
  4. Scapular Pull-up
    Sets
    2
    Reps
    10–12
    Rest
    60 s

Back workout with no equipment

Rows using a towel around a doorframe or post. Lean back further to make them harder.

  1. Bodyweight Standing Row
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    12–15
    Rest
    60 s
  2. Bodyweight Standing Row (With Towel)
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    10–15
    Rest
    60 s
  3. Bodyweight Standing One Arm Row
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    8–12 each side
    Rest
    60 s
  4. Bodyweight Squatting Row (With Towel)
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    10–15
    Rest
    60 s

Can’t do one of these?

Machine taken or training somewhere else? Each of these has substitutes that work the same muscles.

Tips

  • Lead each pull with your elbows, not your hands. Think of your hands as hooks; it keeps the biceps from taking over.
  • Pause for a beat with the weight pulled in. If you can’t hold the squeeze, the load is too heavy to train the back well.
  • Let your shoulder blades move. Reaching forward at the start of a row and up at the top of a pulldown gives the lats a full stretch.
  • When you can do more than 20 good reps, move to a harder variation instead of adding more reps.

Run this workout in SPLYT

Every exercise here is in SPLYT’s library. Save the workout as a template, log your sets on iPhone or Apple Watch, and next time your weights are already filled in from what you lifted.

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54 back exercises you can do at home

Every one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration. Swap any of them into the workouts above.

All bodyweight exercises →

Questions

How many back exercises can you do at home with no equipment?

SPLYT’s exercise library has 54 back exercises you can do at home with no equipment, including Chin-up, Pull-up and L-pull-up. Each one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration.

What is the best exercise for back width?

Pull-ups and lat pulldowns, which train the lats through a vertical pull. Rows add thickness to the middle of the back more than width.

Should I use straps on back day?

For heavy rows and deadlifts, straps let your back keep working after your grip gives out. Train your grip separately so it still improves.

Can you build muscle at home without equipment?

Yes, if each set ends close to failure. Bodyweight training builds muscle as long as you keep moving to harder variations as you get stronger.

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