When it comes to building muscle with nothing but your own bodyweight, some body parts undoubtedly make it easier for you than others. Your chest, for example, is historically well catered for by the humble push-up and its variants, while building a bigger set of shoulders can require a little more creativity.

Your back, however, is a bit of an outlier when it comes to bodyweight training.

Provided you’ve got somewhere sturdy enough to hang from, you could make a pretty convincing argument that your back is the easiest muscle group to build without weights.

After all, for most gym-goers, pull-ups and chin-ups are already in heavy rotation, even if they have access to unlimited weights. And for good reason. You’re lifting almost your entire bodyweight with every rep, which is considerably more resistance than a lot of people ever manage to load onto a cable row or pulldown.

Throw in a few changes of grip, some inverted rows and a little ingenuity, and you’ve got everything you need to train your lats, traps, rhomboids and rear delts, building a bigger, wider and thicker back without a single sniff of a dumbbell.

A pull-up bar is a worthwhile investment. But a set of gymnastics rings or a suspension trainer opens up even more options, and neither needs to cost the earth. Find yourself a sturdy tree to hang them from, or head to your local calisthenics park, and you’ve got everything you need to build a bigger back.

You might not yet be strong enough to pull yourself all of the way up and over the bar, but chances are if you start from the top, you can fight gravity on the way down. Negatives allow you to overload your pulling muscles eccentrically, building strength through the same range you’ll eventually need for full pull-ups and helping you unlock complete reps.

• Use a box or jump to position yourself at the top of a pull-up, with your chin above the bar.
• Create tension through your whole body and slowly lower yourself, fighting to resist gravity for as long as possible.
• Once your arms are fully extended, step back onto your box and reset.
• Aim to make each descent as slow and controlled as possible.

If you could only pick one upper-body movement to perform, period, you’d be hard-pressed to make a better choice. But when it comes to building a bigger back, there’s no contest. Pull-ups allow you to load your lats with almost your entire bodyweight, while your biceps, traps and upper back work hard to help you get your chin over the bar.

• Hang from a pull-up bar with your palms facing away and your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Pull your shoulders down away from your ears and drive your elbows towards your hips, lifting your chest towards the bar.
• Once your chin clears it, slowly lower yourself back to a full hang before repeating.

Taking your hands further apart changes the angle of your pull and can increase the challenge through your upper back. The shorter range of motion doesn’t necessarily make it a superior lat-builder, but what it does offer is another way to keep your pull-up training varied and demanding.

• Grip a pull-up bar with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart, palms facing away.
• Begin from a dead hang, then pull your elbows down and back as you lift your chest towards the bar.
• Raise yourself as high as you can without swinging or craning your neck, then slowly lower back to straight arms.

Flip your grip and suddenly your biceps can contribute considerably more to the movement. That often makes chin-ups a little easier than their overhand cousins, allowing you to accumulate more reps while still giving your lats a serious workout.

• Hang from a bar with your palms facing towards you and your hands around shoulder-width apart.
• Brace your core and pull your elbows down towards your ribs, driving your chest upwards until your chin clears the bar.
• Squeeze hard at the top before slowly lowering to a full hang.
• Avoid kicking your legs to create momentum.

For plenty of people, a neutral grip – palms facing one another – feels more natural on the wrists, elbows and shoulders than either overhand or underhand pulling. That makes it a useful option for accumulating plenty of hard, high-quality reps, especially if you’re working around injury.

• Grip a pair of parallel pull-up handles with your palms facing each other.
• Hang with your arms fully extended and brace your core.
• Pull your elbows down towards your pockets, raising your chin up between your hands.
• Pause briefly at the top before slowly lowering yourself back to the starting position.

A pair of gymnastics rings is one of the best small investments you can make for training. Unlike a fixed bar, the rings allow your hands to rotate naturally as you pull, while demanding more control from your shoulders and upper back. This makes it easier to find a comfortable range of motion that’s both effective and pain-free.

• Hang from a pair of rings with your arms straight and palms facing one another.
• Pull your shoulders down and drive your elbows towards your pockets, lifting your chest towards your hands.
• Allow your wrists to rotate naturally as you rise, finishing with your chin above your hands.
• Lower slowly back to a dead hang, keeping the rings controlled throughout.

If regular pull-ups are no longer much of a challenge, archer pull-ups offer a way to shift considerably more of your bodyweight onto one arm without completely removing the assistance of the other. This provides a serious test of unilateral back and biceps strength.

• Hang from a pull-up bar with a wide overhand grip.
• Pull your body towards one hand, bending that elbow while keeping your opposite arm as straight as possible.
• Aim to bring your chin towards your working hand before lowering under control.
• Repeat on the opposite side, resisting the temptation to swing between reps.

If simply getting your chin clear of the bar for multiple reps has started to pose less and less of a challenge, sternum pull-ups take things further. Each rep asks you to lean backwards and pull your chest towards the bar, increasing the contribution from your upper-back muscles as you approach the top.

• Hang from a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width grip.
• Begin pulling as normal, driving your elbows down towards your pockets.
• As you rise, lean your torso backwards and arch your back, continuing to pull until your lower chest approaches the bar.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together before lowering yourself slowly to a full hang.

Pull-ups are fantastic for building width, but horizontal pulling deserves just as much attention if you want a complete back. Inverted rows hammer your rhomboids, traps, rear delts and lats, and can be made harder simply by changing the angle of your body or elevating your feet so that you’re rowing more of your bodyweight with each rep.

• Position yourself beneath a secure horizontal bar, gripping it slightly wider than shoulder-width with your palms facing away.
• Keep your body rigid from head to heel in an inverted plank position.
• Pull your chest towards the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top.
• Slowly lower yourself until your arms are straight.

As with chin-ups, switching to an underhand grip allows your biceps to contribute more to the movement. It also encourages you to keep your elbows closer to your body, creating a slightly different pulling angle from the traditional inverted row.

• Lie beneath a secure bar and grip it with your palms facing towards you, hands around shoulder-width apart.
• Get into your inverted plank position.
• Pull your chest towards the bar, keeping your elbows tucked close to your sides.
• Pause at the top before lowering slowly until your arms are fully extended.

Rings or a suspension trainer give you all the benefits of inverted rows, with the added freedom to rotate your hands naturally throughout each rep. They’re also incredibly easy to scale: simply walk your feet forwards to make the exercise harder, or backwards to make it easier.

• Grip a pair of rings or suspension handles and lean backwards with your arms extended.
• Keep your body rigid and pull your chest towards your hands, driving your elbows behind you.
• Allow your palms to rotate naturally as you pull.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together before slowly extending your arms again.

Removing one hand dramatically increases the demands on your working-side lats, traps and rear delts, while your trunk has to fight to stop your torso twisting towards the floor. A suspension trainer or rings make this easier to set up and scale than a fixed bar. Walk your feet forwards or backwards to adjust the difficulty.

• Grip a secure ring or suspension handle with one hand and lean backwards with your feet planted.
• Keep your body straight and your shoulders square.
• Pull your chest towards your working hand, driving your elbow backwards while resisting rotation through your torso.
• Lower under control and complete your reps before switching sides.

You don’t always have to bend your elbows to train your back. Scapular pulls focus on the first part of a pull-up, teaching you to actively depress and control your shoulder blades while strengthening the muscles responsible for initiating the movement.

• Hang from a pull-up bar with your arms straight and shoulders relaxed.
• Without bending your elbows, pull your shoulder blades downwards, away from your ears, allowing your body to rise slightly.
• Pause in this active hanging position before slowly relaxing back into a dead hang.
• Keep the movement small, deliberate and controlled throughout.

You don’t need a set of dumbbells to train the smaller muscles of your upper back. Using a suspension trainer or gymnastics rings, Y-raises allow you to challenge your lower traps and the muscles responsible for controlling your shoulder blades, while simply adjusting the angle of your body lets you increase or decrease the resistance.

• Grip a pair of suspension handles or rings and lean backwards with your arms extended in front of you, as you would for an inverted row.
• Keeping your elbows almost straight, raise your arms upwards and outwards into a wide ‘Y’ shape, pulling your body towards an upright position.
• Focus on controlling your shoulder blades rather than shrugging towards your ears.
• Slowly reverse the movement, keeping tension throughout.

Think of this as a stripped-back version of the back extension machine, requiring nothing more than a little floor space. By keeping your legs planted and lifting only your upper body, you can focus on the muscles responsible for extending your spine, building strength and endurance through your lower back.

• Lie face down with your legs extended and your hands resting lightly beside your head or across your chest.
• Keeping your glutes engaged, slowly lift your chest a short distance off the floor, extending through your back without throwing your head upwards.
• Pause briefly before lowering under control.
• Keep the movement deliberate and avoid forcing an exaggerated arch.

Not every back exercise needs to involve pulling. Reverse planks challenge your posterior chain isometrically, with your upper-back and shoulder muscles working to maintain position. They won’t replace pull-ups or rows for building size, but they’re a useful addition when equipment is limited.

• Sit on the floor with your legs extended and your palms planted behind your hips, fingers pointing forwards or slightly outwards.
• Press firmly through your hands and lift your hips towards the ceiling until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to heels.
• Squeeze your glutes and maintain a strong position through your upper back before lowering under control.

Reverse hyperextensions are a great way to put your glutes and hamstrings to work while challenging your spinal erectors to stabilise your lower back. Unlike a traditional back extension, it’s your legs that move rather than your torso, making this a useful alternative for building strength across your posterior chain without needing additional weight. Reverse hypers usually require a specialist machine, especially if you want to add weight, but bodyweight alternatives can be cobbled together with a little creativity.

• Lie face down across a sturdy bench or raised surface, with your hips close to the edge and your legs hanging freely.
• Grip the sides for support, brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes to lift your legs until they’re roughly in line with your torso, putting you into a ‘superman’ pose with your body straight.
• Pause briefly before slowly lowering under control.
• Avoid swinging your legs or excessively arching your lower back.

Looking for a way to put the best of these moves together? Try this bodyweight-only back workout that guarantees pumped-up lats in just 20 minutes, no gym membership necessary.

20-Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible)

Complete as many high quality rounds as possible in 20 minutes of the following back-busting protocol. Record your finishing reps and rounds and aim to beat in subsequent sessions.

3 x Pull-Up

6 x Chin-Up

9 x Inverted Row

30-sec Reverse Plank