Central to successful lifting and winning is the consistent practice of addressing one’s weaknesses; finding them through cold and honest assessment, and eliminating them by the disciplined execution of a plan.

This has been said many times by the pundits but bears near infinite repetition due to our innate tendency to overlook our weaknesses.

Let us then draw focus upon a particular weakness prevalent amongst a large majority:

The ERECTOR SPINAE.  Or, spinal erectors.  The muscles seen and explained in this image:

These muscles function like a contractile suspension bridge between the upper and lower segments of the body.  This is the oft-hyped ‘core’ of your backside.

“Well I do deadlifts.” You might be thinking.

Better than nothing and key to overall physical development, but the deadlift is insufficient for addressing the development of these muscles over the long term.  Would you be satisfied with only pull-ups for bicep development?  Would you be satisfied with only bench pressing for triceps?

The spinal erectors need volume and frequency for optimal development.  I suggest inserting back extensions of some kind into every lower body training day.  I personally hit back extensions 2-3 times a week, not necessarily with much volume or intensity every time, often just a few sets of bodyweight repetitions, but the regular frequency is key.

Back extensions are something like the ‘sit-ups of the lower back’, except unlike sit-ups, few people actually do them on a regular basis.  They are therapeutic for desk jockeys, protective and strength-enhancing for athletes and strength junkies, and stunningly impressive for the physique conscious.  Have you had nagging back pain that won’t go away with stretching or tissue therapy?  You may simply be weak in the spinal erectors.

You can do back extensions on a glute ham bench, a 45 degree station, standing with a weight held to the chest or a band running under your feet and behind your neck.  There are a million ways to load and modify the movement, and there are other movements to target the spinal erectors such as good-mornings and kettlebell swings- hit YouTube if you want some ideas.  The point is to start training the spinal erectors in a direct manner if you are not already doing so.  Start with bodyweight sets or light weight and increase volume, intensity, and frequency in a reasonable manner.

Finally, here is a video of the venerable Klokov doing back extensions to get you fired up: