Muscle groups / Back
Back: exercises and weekly sets
Back landmark: 14 working sets a week on the Zyra Workouts dashboard — 9 exercises train it as the primary muscle and 5 credit it at half weight. The full lists, the counting rule and the related groups are below.
Also searched as: lats, upper back, mid back.
Landmark and half-weight rule: Zyra Workouts dashboard defaults. Typical rest = the most common default rest among the primary exercises above (the catalog's per-exercise value; the app lets you override it).
Exercises that train back
Primary exercises credit back with a full set each; secondary exercises credit it with half a set. Open any exercise for its rep targets, progression step and alternatives.
Primary (9)
- Conventional DeadliftBarbell · ×1
- Romanian Deadlift (Barbell)Barbell · ×1
- Bent-Over Row (Barbell)Barbell · ×1
- Single-Arm Row (Dumbbell)Dumbbell · ×1
- T-Bar RowMachine · ×1
- Lat PulldownCable · ×1
- Seated Cable RowCable · ×1
- Pull-UpBodyweight · ×1
- Chin-UpBodyweight · ×1
Secondary (5)
- Rear Delt FlyDumbbell · ×0.5
- Face PullCable · ×0.5
- Farmers CarryDumbbell · ×0.5
- Romanian Deadlift (Dumbbell)Dumbbell · ×0.5
- Good MorningBarbell · ×0.5
How secondary work is counted
The app credits every working set to the exercise's primary muscle in full and to each secondary muscle at 0.5. So a week's back total is primary sets × 1 + secondary sets × 0.5, and its coverage bar is min(total ÷ 14, 1). Warm-up sets are excluded before anything is counted. In the 4-day upper/lower template that comes to 6 + 3 = 9 for back, below the landmark.
In plain terms: a set of a big compound movement that merely involves back is worth half a set of an exercise built around it. This is the app's bookkeeping rule, not a measurement of anything — a way to make one number comparable across muscles. Check a planned week with the weekly sets calculator.
Frequently asked
How many sets a week for back?
The Zyra Workouts dashboard uses 14 working sets a week as the back landmark — the target its coverage bar for back fills toward (coverage = sets ÷ 14, capped at 100%). It is the app's default for reading a week, not a prescription; a coach or your own log can set a different target.
Which exercises train back?
9 exercises in the catalog train back as the primary muscle — Conventional Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift (Barbell), Bent-Over Row (Barbell), Single-Arm Row (Dumbbell), T-Bar Row, Lat Pulldown, Seated Cable Row, Pull-Up, Chin-Up. 5 more list it as a secondary muscle (Rear Delt Fly, Face Pull, Farmers Carry, Romanian Deadlift (Dumbbell), Good Morning); each of their sets counts half toward the back total.
Do secondary exercises count toward back sets?
Yes, at half weight: every working set of an exercise that lists back as a secondary muscle adds 0.5 to the weekly back count, against 1 for a primary exercise. Reaching the 14-set landmark from secondary work alone would take 28 such sets. Warm-up sets never count.
Related muscle groups
Other groups in the upper body — pull region:
Compare all 11 muscle groups →
Guides for back
Track back sets automatically
Zyra Workouts counts every logged working set toward its primary muscle and half toward each secondary one, and shows this week's back coverage against the 14-set landmark on its dashboard. It is in development and not yet on the App Store.
Zyra is a training and nutrition tracking tool. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a diagnosis, or an individual prescription. The numbers are estimates from published formulas and the apps' own rules — consult a qualified professional for decisions about your health, and a coach for your training.