For the ultimate back you have to switch things up.

Developing the ultimate body is pretty tricky to pull off. Most observers, ones who’ve likely never lifted a dumbbell in their lives, will say it’s not so hard. “Just lift weights, drink protein shakes, rinse and repeat.” What these apparent experts don’t understand is that rinsing and repeating is probably the one way to guarantee that you won’t be seeing some consistent development.

One of the hardest areas of the body to build up is undoubtedly the back. It’s not a part of the body that you readily see when you look in the mirror it’s more likely to get less attention in the first place. But a bodybuilder understands that in order to look complete you have to have symmetry and that means not only building a strong chest and abs, but a great and defined back as well. If you want to have the kind of mammoth back of a Brock Lesnar or Arnold Schwarzenegger then you’re going to have to work your back from all angles.

As a great man once said variety is the spice of life. It’s a notion that holds true, especially when it comes to bodybuilding. You can’t expect to build the ultimate back if you’re sticking to the same movements over and over. Besides it being boring as hell, you’re more likely to hit a wall and watch as your gains slowly but surely decrease until they stagnate. You have to switch things up once in awhile to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your training and avoiding the dreaded plateau.

Most just do the usual dumbbell or bent over barbell row for their back exercise and that isn’t a bad thing. Those movements are great for building an awesome back. But there are other exercises that should be explored in order to give your back as much improvements as possible. Enter the seal row. It’s indeed a row much like the exercises mentioned before, but the this adds a bit of variety for the movement and can ensure development for the entire back.

You perform the seal row by lying belly down on a bench. Using two dumbbells, you lift the weights up and pause at the top to get some good contraction. Lower the dumbbells down slowly to get the most out of the resistance, then repeat the motion for 8-12 reps. Keeping the legs elevated will help to engage your glutes and lower back as well.

Don’t know exactly what it should look like? Then check out the video below to get a clear picture of how you should be performing the exercise.

Is the seal row apart of your workout? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.