Back

Back exercises are numerous and I recommend trying out a lot of these and working them into your regimen. Backs are full of many different muscles and so, to have a well rounded back workout, you will need to use many different exercises. The back is not as simple as the chest. 

The first, and possibly most useful of these is the dead lift. This is a core lift in which form is crucial. Just like in a squat, you are going to stand with your feet facing forward about shoulder width apart and your back arched upwards. Stay postured up; if you bend or bow your back while preforming this exercise, you risk great injury. Squat down to the point at which your shoulders are back and your arms are fully extended as you grip the bar (same grip as bench press).

To preform a dead lift you simply stand up, lifting the bar without flexing your arms (easy, right?). Not exactly; the dead lift is one of the most misunderstood and dangerous exercises because it is so commonly done incorrectly. You want to try to keep your hips stationary as you lift (make your hips a fulcrum). Keep your knees slightly bent and keep your back straight through the entire lift. Keeping your back rigid, and flexing it backwards even as you finish each rep is very helpful. It will naturally take sometime to get this exercise right, but it is extremely useful and works almost every muscle in the back.

The next exercise is very useful as well. The form is a little easier to learn, but it's a very difficult exercise so start out with very little added weight. The bent over row is preformed by getting into the same starting position as the dead lift. The difference is that you stay in that position, and contract your arms to lift the barbell up to your chest (bring it all the way up).

The trick to maintaining proper form while lifting the barbell in a bent over row is that you have to maintain a straight back. Do not bend your back because again you risk great injury if you do. Keeping your head up, facing forward is a good way to help maintain proper form.

Above is another type of row, the seated row. While useful, it is more of an isolation exercise than the previous two. Although, as with the previous two, form is all about keeping your back straight through the entirety of each rep.

For each rep, pull the cable with the grip seen above towards you until your hands touch your body. It is very tempting to rock your body and use momentum to increase your power, but do not do this. Sit up straight, and don't sway. Also, don't use your legs at all. The goal is to isolate your back and biceps.

The machine exercise seen above is called a pull down. It is a variation of a pull up which follows this. This exercise is self-explanatory and most machines have diagrams to show you how to do the exercise, although some things they won't tell you are to put your thumbs above the bar along with the rest of your fingers (this helps you maintain proper form) and to stay sitting up straight the whole time.

As you can see in the picture above, you want to stay sitting up straight (as stated before) so that you're flexing your upper back and lats. Pull the bar down until it touches your chest for each rep.

Pull ups are a classic exercise, and may be the best upper body exercise you can do. Pull ups are a great  exercise for everyone. Don't rock your body. Preform pull ups slowly with your thumbs on top of the bar; wide grip is preferable.

Don't swing your legs when you lift your body and make sure to lift your chin all the way above the bar (hence them being dually named chin ups). Pull ups are best used at the beginning and/or end of your workout.

I hope that these back exercises help get you started and give you some options to explore as beginners.