How Strong Is Your Upper Back? Feedback/Help Wanted

I’ve talked extensively on this blog and in my articles about the importance of upper back strength. Trouble is, it’s sort of hard to quantify exactly what a strong upper back is. In the past some coaches have suggested that you should be able to chin-up as much as you can bench, meaning if you’re a 200 pound guy that benches 250, you should be able to knock out a chin-up with 50 pounds of added loaded.

The problem with this comparison is that I’m not so sure bench presses and chin-ups are the best comparison because 1) they occur in different planes and 2) when people test chin-ups, it often gets pretty ugly so it may not be a great gauge of upper back strength.

I think a better comparison may be pushups and inverted rows, both done with the feet elevated. I like this because both movements occur in a similar plane, and it’s harder to cheat inverted rows as compared to chin-ups. We had a discussion about this on Strengthcoach.com, and several of the members have tested themselves and some of their clients to see how they compare.

I would really like to get feedback from as many people as possible to see how their numbers compare so I can begin to get a better idea of what’s a good ratio.

That’s where you all come in. I’d really appreciate if you’d test yourselves and let me know your results. The more data we can collect, the better.

Here’s the ground rules.

Do a set of inverted rows with your feet elevated on a standard weight bench. The straps or bar (I prefer straps, but I understand not everyone has access to them) should be set at a level that when your arms are fully extended, your upper back is approximately two inches off the ground. If you’re using a bar, perform each rep so that your chest touches the bar and your arms fully extend at the bottom. If you’re using straps, your hands must touch your chest on every rep.

Next, rest 5-10 minutes and then do a set of as many feet elevated pushups as you can do, using the same bench you used for inverted rows. These must also be full range of motion pushups.

I prefer you do the rows first because they will not interfere with the pushups as much as the pushups would interfere with the rows if you did them first.

Record your numbers and let me know your results. Please be honest with the reps and don’t cheat. Also, please do this at the start of the workout. It’s just one set of each so it shouldn’t throw off the rest of the workout too much.

If possible, please tell me the total number you achieved in both exercises, as well as your ratio of pushups to rows. Meaning, if you got 50 pushups and 30 inverted rows, your ratio would be 1.66:1. Please also specify is the results are for a male or female.

You can leave your results from yourself and friends/clients in the comments below, or if you don’t feel comfortable with that, you can send me a private e-mail using the contact tab above. Remember, as results will be kept confidential if you want them to be. I’m just curious to see where people are at and crunch the numbers to see if we can start to quantify upper back strength a little better.

Thanks in advance for your help. I think this could be some very interesting information.

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Have a great day!