Strengthening Your Posterior Chain Is The Key To Sculpting The Body All Over
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Few things in fitness are one size fits all. But when it comes to sculpting and strengthening your muscles, starting with the basics is key. So, if you're looking for a buzzy workout trend crossed with a simple approach, there's one bandwagon you'll definitely want to jump on—posterior chain-focused workouts.
Your posterior chain is a group of muscles that you use *all* the time (even if you don't realize it). It's especially important to tone these muscles to reduce your risk of injury in the gym, according to Sohee Lee, MS, CSCS.
Whether you've heard posterior chain before or it's a new term for you, there's a lot to learn about this muscle group and how it helps your body power through a sweat session—and life. Here's everything you need to know, plus the exercise moves that will help you tone everything from your head to your toes, according to a certified personal trainer.
Meet the expert: Sohee Lee, MS, CSCS, is an evidence-based fitness coach, certified sports nutritionist, and the author of Eat. Lift. Thrive.
What muscles make up the posterior chain?
The posterior chain is a group of muscles, connective tissues, and other structures that make up the entire posterior (or back) of your body—from your head to the arches of your feet.
Lee explains that most people tend to think of the posterior chain as just a few lower-body muscles. But it really includes everything, including:
Neck muscles
Lats (latissimus dorsi muscles)
Low-back muscles
Erector spinae muscles
Rear deltoid muscles
Upper traps
Glutes
Hamstrings
Calves
...and more. Think of the posterior chain as splitting your entire body down the middle—everything you can see in the mirror from the front is your anterior chain, while all of your other muscles make up your posterior chain.
What does the posterior chain do?
For starters, it's "involved in all of the hinging and pulling motions that you do in everyday life," says Lee. (Think: bending at the hips and using your arms to pull down.) Your backside also is a huge part of providing power and acceleration to your motions, and helps you successfully lift weights, according to a recent British Journal of Medical & Health Sciences study. It's like one giant support system.
Because they're hard to spot, posterior chain muscles are usually neglected in workouts, Lee says. Instead, people tend to tone their "mirror muscles," like chest muscles and quads that you see in the mirror when you sweat. This can result in an imbalance—meaning half of your body might be stronger than the other, which can cause all kinds of issues, visually and injury-wise.
But a strong posterior chain can also help prevent injuries. Specifically, the aforementioned research showed that strong hips from posterior chain strengtthening can lead to fewer low-back injuries. Plus, if you're a runner, toning your glutes can stop you from overworking (and injuring) your hamstrings.
How To Strengthen The Posterior Chain
The best way to target your posterior chain muscles is to nail down a solid total-body workout routine, according to Lee. She adds that the hip hinge (like when you do a deadlift, shown below) is one of the most basic movements that helps activate many of the posterior chain muscle groups. "It's probably one of the movement patterns that I'll teach even beginners right away," she says.
You'll want to make sure to focus on these points while practicing your hip hinge, Lee says:
Don't bend too much at the knees. This can compromise other parts of your form.
Keep your back neutral. Try not to round it, or your shoulders.
Concentrate on driving your hips back behind you.
Lee adds that, based on recent research in the fitness community, when focusing on building muscle, it's best to target one muscle group twice a week at the minimum. She says there are a few ways to spread out your workout routine to make this schedule work for posterior chain workouts:
Two total-body workouts per week
Three total-body workouts per week, all a day apart (like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
One upper body, one lower body, and one total-body workout per week
Two upper body and two lower body workouts per week
Remember to rest in between workouts to get the full benefit of each sweat session, Lee says.
5 Best Posterior Chain Exercises
Ready to level up your workouts? Lee recommends incorporating these exercises regularly into your workouts for a totally toned posterior chain. Aim for 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
1. Romanian Deadlift
How to:
Stand with feet hip-width apart. Hold the barbell (or medicine ball, dumbbells, etc.) out in front of you.
Keeping your back and legs straight, bend at the waist (not at the knees), sending your hips back as you lower the weight toward the ground. Maintain that position and lower yourself as far as your flexibility allows, ideally with the barbell landing halfway between the knees and toes.
Engage your glutes, contract your hips, and drive back to the starting position, locking your hips out at the top. You should feel a squeeze in your hips and quads as you lock them out. That's one rep.
2. Glute Bridge
How to:
Lie on your back with feet flat against the floor and knees bent.
Squeeze your glutes and lift your hips off of the floor until your body forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
Pause at the top, then lower back down to the starting position. That's one rep.
3. Barbell Row
How to:
Grasp a barbell with hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing out, arms fully extended.
Bend your knees slightly and hinge from the hips until your hands are in front of your knees. Keep abs engaged. Bring shoulder blades together, pulling the bar towards you until it touches your torso just above the bellybutton. (Don’t shrug your shoulders up towards your ears!).
Pause for two seconds, then slowly release the bar, until your arms are straight. That’s one rep. Maintain the forward bend position. That's one rep.
4. Calf Raises
How to:
Stand on a flat surface with your toes pointed straight ahead.
Lift your heels off the floor to flex your calf muscle.
Pause for moment, then slowly return to the floor. That’s one rep.
Start with two sets of 10 to 15 reps, resting 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
5. Bent-Over Rear Delt Fly
How to:
Start standing with feet hip-width apart, knees bent, hinged forward at the hips until back is flat and torso is parallel to mat, holding a pair of dumbbells with arms extended down toward floor, elbows softly bent and palms facing each other.
Raise both arms up and out to the sides while squeezing shoulder blades together.
Return to start. That's one rep.
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