13 of the Best Backs in Competitive Bodybuilding

There is an old adage in body-building that’s still relevant today: the show is won from behind.

A barrel chest and round arms are great, but the best bodybuilders in the sport are known for Back Double Biceps Poses that accentuate the vaunted v-cone and rear dorsal extensions that seemingly widen as the competition progresses.

There are countless athletes with phenomenal back development, but the 13 competitors below, listed in alphabetical order, stand out from the rest.

chris bumstead

Three times classical physicist olympia to bite chris bumstead he has become a mainstream superstar, with a physique that lives up to his billing. “CBum” has outstanding size, shape, symmetry, and detail across the back from top to bottom, and is wide from side to side. That is why he is at the top of his division and why so many people want to emulate him.

Bumstead isn’t afraid to go heavy and hard with dumbbellsbut machines allow him concentrate on the finer details. many of his training The videos present exercises such as seated machine rows and variations of the lat pulldownshowing off his tried and true approach to back workouts.

Ronnie Coleman

Ronnie Coleman always gets credit for his huge arms and legs, but your back He was arguably her most amazing asset on stage. He helped lead him to 26 professional wins, including eight Mr Olympia Titles and 2001 classic arnold championship.

Coleman concentrated on heavy lifts with free weights throughout their training. and the videos of him barbell row 500 pounds and dead weight Fans are still watching £800 for a stuntman decades after they were filmed.

Franco Colon

The late Franco Columbus has the unique distinction of being a Mr. Olympia winner and a participant in the inaugural World’s Strongest Man Contest in 1977. Although he competed at less than 200 pounds, his density more than made up for his weight.

Columbu defended the wide grip dominated during his back training, and is credited with deadlifting around 750 pounds at his peak. In the 1977 movie pumping ironshowed his back (and posterior chain) forces the masses when he lifted the rear bumper of a car and pulled it out of a parking spot.

shanique scholarship

If you ever wanted to see an athlete custom built for you physical contestslook no further than Shanique Grant. The two-time Women’s Physique Olympia champion had an unmatched frame that she showcased through shredded conditioning. And she carried her peerless figure to two Olympia titles before her 26th birthday.

When Grant faced the curtain, his back was sharp, wide and had incredible detail, and his lower body matched it, making anyone who wanted to top her the game. He has not competed since 2020.but fans are still waiting for a return.

kay green

kay green he really broke through in bodybuilding after winning the 2009 Arnold Classic, evoking memories of the great Ronnie Coleman as he hit his arsenal of back poses. Greene was shorter than the eight-time Mr. O, but both had similar wow factors.

Greene won three Arnold Classic titles and participated in one of the most notable rivalries in bodybuilding history with the seven-time Mr. O phil heath. Greene’s back development is still revered today, almost six years after his last competition. And while his competitive future remains a mystery, he still maintains a physique that could be considered stage worthy.

lee haney

When Samir Banout won the 1983 Mr. Olympia, his wide upper back and the signature “Christmas tree” on the lower back were two of its most prominent features. But the following year, lee haney it came along with an even more impressive package. He was taller, bigger, and even wider than Bannout, and though he was big from every angle, his back was the highlight.

Haney won eight consecutive Mr. Olympia titles from 1984 to 1991. Although his overall physique improved during that reign, his back was still his greatest weapon. His training philosophy was “stimulate, don’t annihilate”, which means that trained with high volume while using moderately heavy weights. This helped him in moves like the reverse. barbell shrugwho built those beefy traps.

phil heath

The best bodybuilder of the 2010s would have to be Phil Heath. “The Gift” was also known as “Mr. Saturday Night” because he would show up to the Mr. Olympia final with full muscles, ripped skin and a back that would slam the door on any opponent hoping to snatch the Sandow trophy from his hands.

Heath worked with the trainer hanny rambodand was a defender of Rambod’s FST-7 system. Doing seven sets with short rest periods at the end of workouts helped him add a ton of volume quickly. The results spoke for themselves, as his seven Mr. Olympia titles are tied for second with the most arnold schwarzenegger.

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flex lewis

James “Flex” Lewis he was a teenage prodigy before he became the greatest 212 bodybuilder in History. Even early in her career, she struck impressive back poses that became more impressive as the years went by.

His trainer, Neil Hill, changed training styles frequently so that Lewis’s routine would not become stale. He did heavy sets of six to eight reps a week and supersets 20 reps the next. The muscle confusion may or may not be real, but the Welsh Dragon results certainly were. Lewis retired from racing in 2022but its impact will last for decades to come.

lenda murray

In the early days of Mrs Olympia, size was not the name of the game. After, lenda murray arrived After the retirement of six-time champion Cory Everson, the more muscular Murray was considered a drastic change, and fans loved it.

Murray gracefully dominated the stage and struck his poses with intensity. When he turned around for the rear shots, you could see that his months of training, including endless push-ups and pull-ups, had paid off. He won eight Olympia titles before ending his career in 2004.

Andrew Shaw

When Andrew Shaw took the stage at the 2020 Ms. Olympia, fans knew that women’s bodybuilding was back. As she faced the back of the stage, she clenched her fists and pushed her elbows to flex her upper back, fans knew the competition was over. The following year she returned the same results, as Shaw further improved her back.

Shaw’s lower back it’s on another level, and it’s clearly something he spends countless hours perfecting in training. It’s hard to say how many Ms. Olympia titles she could rack up before calling it a career, but she already has one of the best backs in the sport in any division.

joel stubbs

This may be the only name that leaves fans scratching their heads, but Joel Stubbs is on the list for good reason. Stubbs competed as a professional from 2005 to 2010 and, although he never won a show, he had one of the biggest backs in the sport at the time. And he remembers, this was when bodybuilding was dominated by the likes of Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Markus Rühl and others. massive monsters.

Stubbs, who also worked as a pilot while competing on stage, was 6’3” and reportedly weighed around 300 pounds in his off-season. Unfortunately, he had underdeveloped legs that prevented him from seeing victory. His most high-profile contest was the 2009 Mr. Olympia, where he failed to place. However, Stubbs’ career in the sport is not over: he is currently the president of the Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (BBFF).

Sarah Villegas

Sarah Villegas she is the woman who defeated Shanique Grant for the Women’s Physique Olympia title in 2020. (And successfully defended the title the following year.) In addition to her ability to become super skinny, her lats are an important part of her physique. Even when she strikes frontal poses, you can see her width, which makes her waist look even smaller.

Once Villegas turns around and shows off the rippling detail on his upper and lower back, it’s a tough act to follow. He expects him to maintain his reputation as one of the best running backs in the sport as he continues his dominance of the division.

Dorian Yachts

Dorian Yachts had a method training approach. He used specific exercises, built a total working set to complete failure, and moved on to the next. His “Blood & Guts” version of high-intensity training, combined with moves like the Nautilus pullover machine and the Yates row, helped him create a back that was ahead of his time in the 1990s.

Yates’ only loss at Mr. Olympia was to Haney in 1991. From 1992 until his retirement after his sixth win in 1997, no one touched him. Most of the time, he would shut the door on his opponents as he turned around to show off that dense, grainy back he sculpted at his Temple Gym in Birmingham, UK. To date, he is the only UK Men’s Open Olympia champion.