Deadlifts For The Upper Back Muscles

Deadlifts, often viewed as a lower-back exercise, stress your upper back heavily. Your trapezius, the large muscle that covers most of your upper back, works to stabilize your spine and pull your shoulders back during a heavy deadlift. While the type of deadlift affects the involvement of your trapezius, the degree to which you bend your knees plays an even greater role. Consult a health-care practitioner before beginning any strength-training program.

Trapezius

Your trapezius muscle does more than cover your upper back --- it provides stability for the top two-thirds of your spine. Your trapezius, and some of the small muscles underneath, such as the rhomboids, assist with retracting your shoulder blades. Your trapezius covers your upper back, and extends nearly half-way down your spine. It remains one of the largest muscles in your upper body. Your trapezius also functions to shrug your shoulders.

Trapezius and Deadlifts

Your trapezius muscle contracts to keep your shoulders up instead of allowing them to dislocate during a heavy deadlift. Your trapezius also contracts to keep your spine neutral, instead of allowing you to collapse forward. At the bottom of a deadlift, where you lean forward more, the lower portion of your trapezius works more, according to a 2002 study published in "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise." The more vertical your torso, the more the emphasis shifts to the upper portion of your trapezius.

Extra Trapezius Work

To get extra work for your upper back, particularly your trapezius, you have more than one option. By performing deficit deadlifts, in which you stand on a box or platform no more than 4 inches high, you will increase your angles of knee and hip flexion. The further you bend forward, the more you work your the lower portion of your trapezius. At the top of your deadlift, when standing completely erect, you can shrug your shoulders up and down while holding the barbell. Do not bend your arms, and your trapezius will receive extra work.

Other Upper Back Muscles

Many smaller muscles of the upper back do not get heavily worked during a deadlift. The posterior deltoids, or the rear portion of your shoulder muscles, does not receive a great deal of stimulation. The small muscles of your external rotators do not come into play during a deadlift. As your arms should not rotate, nor should your elbows retract, smaller, stabilizing muscles do not receive the same degree of stimulation in comparison to some other back exercises, including chinups and rows.