Best Lat Exercises

http://gymratz.co.uk/weight-training-gym-equipment/usrimage/t-bar-in-use.jpg

I’ve given a similar reply before but I think it bears repeating.T-bar rows are my favorite back movement since I get a good stretch in my lower and outer lats and thickness building qualities of BB rows.

Hammer strength wide grip chest supported row, cable jockey rows, pulldowns (heavy as well as light), one arm pulldowns/low rows. Toss in elbows-flared pullovers whenever you can.
The deadlift is great but rack deads ABOVE the knee are better for this purpose.
Also if youre DLing/rackdeading mixed grip, your lats will eventually look lopsided so switch it up.
Pullups are great for overall back development but not always ideal for lats.

great suggestion, dude. Rack chins are way easier to progress on compared to regular weighted chins.

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Regarding Pullups/Chinups:
Rack chins should be better imo, easier to progress when also gaining bodyweight at the same time…
[/quote]

Pullups much?

pullups, there are lots of variations.

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
i dont know, whatevers heavy for me. like 140-50ish for 8-12 on the pulldown.

deadlifts are the last of my problems lol. my back thickness isnt what im worried about its getting my width up.[/quote]

no wonder

im assuming you’re over 190lbs

get up to 200lbs 3/5 x 12

Could somebody tell me what rack chins are please? I’m putting on weight pretty fast and my chins are the only exercise not progressing. These could be useful.

Also, what’s the point of rack deads? Isn’t it just a deadlift with a smaller range of motion?

[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
I think the cable row deserves an honorable mention here.[/quote]

cable rows dont work well for my back width just traps, and rhomboids and shit. i can move decent weight on that too, 200 on the stack for 12.

last time i did deadlifts i got 405x2 too and that was about a month or more ago. i rack pull 405x8+ and RDL 315x6 but they all hit my traps and back thickness not width.

i suck at pullups too, i noticed i pull different with my left side than right, idk why. but yeah i cant do more than 10 pullups, chinups, w/e and thats just bodyweight.

i did some really close grip pull downs today and that seems to have triggered something since i finally got some DOMS in my lats again.

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
i dont know, whatevers heavy for me. like 140-50ish for 8-12 on the pulldown.

deadlifts are the last of my problems lol. my back thickness isnt what im worried about its getting my width up.

no wonder

im assuming you’re over 190lbs

get up to 200lbs 3/5 x 12

[/quote]

I really think you can probably do a higher weight at lower reps and work your weight or reps up. Right now I do lat pull downs at 140-150 for a set of 8, I know you can do more :slight_smile:
I find the HS lat pull down very useful, I can really feel my lats with this more so then with tradiational lat pull downs.

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
i dont know, whatevers heavy for me. like 140-50ish for 8-12 on the pulldown.

deadlifts are the last of my problems lol. my back thickness isnt what im worried about its getting my width up.

no wonder

im assuming you’re over 190lbs

get up to 200lbs 3/5 x 12

[/quote]

This doesn’t happen often… but I agree with ZeusNathan here. Like we talked about in the “myths” thread to me strength gains coupled with the food to recover will be your best way to increase lats. If you take that pulldown from 150x8-10 to 300x8-12 your lats will have no choice but to grow. Learn to flare and force a deep stretch at the top and you’ll be even happier.

Try some heavy weighted static holds at various points of the chin up as well (dead hang/Midway).

[quote]Artem wrote:

Also, what’s the point of rack deads? Isn’t it just a deadlift with a smaller range of motion?[/quote]

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always used rack pulls to work on problems with hitching at high weight.

The point of rack deads is to overload

If someone can pull 405x10 from the floor but 515x10 from a little below knee level which is going to give him a thicker upper back?

[quote]Scott M wrote:
The point of rack deads is to overload

If someone can pull 405x10 from the floor but 515x10 from a little below knee level which is going to give him a thicker upper back?[/quote]

Good point. I use them when I hit a weight that I can’t lift from the floor without a significant amount of hitching. After a workout or two using said weight for rack pulls, the original DL weight is usually not a problem. I might try what you said though. I just generally don’t like using overly-high weight if it compromises my form on back lifts.

A big problem with them is people want to turn them into a quasi shrug/quarter squat to lift the heaviest weights. Stay strict with them and the weight will come.

Snatch grip deadlift

Wide grip bench, with arch

Front squat

Deadlift

Those are a few unconventional exercises that work well, other then the ‘pull downs, pullups, chin ups ext’

i got fuckin bitched at today for doing rack pulls. the fitness director and his boss or someshit come over to me and start crying that im making too much noise slamming weights, blahbalh. im like well i didnt intentionally do it, i went for another rep and could get it all the way up so i had to drop it.

blahblah this isnt a powerlifting gym. im like well when i signed up i was told it wasnt a problem to be loud and slam weights because i would have never signed up if it were going to be an issue. oh well who signed you upblablah…i aint trying to get no one in trouble.

then this dude comes up to me again like yea you were making too much noise on those again blahblah…im like well why didnt you stay around like i asked you to incase it was too loud? then he hands me some paper with rules and regulations. oh wait, then he tells me the preacher curl isnt even used for that and that if i cant put the weight down slowly maybe i shouldnt be using that much weight…im like well first off, its not a deadlift its a variation and the eccentric isnt that important since theres no hamstrings involved anyway, and im NOT a powerlifter.

fuck them, i swear theyre just out to get me ever since day one of training, then they fired me a week later, now they wanna bitch cause im “making too much noise”. i fucking hate this gym drama bullshit. if the only other half decent gym wasnt a half hour away by bus i wouldnt deal with their shit.

and the good thing about rack pulls, you cant cheat. i was off about an inch on my footing today and in the middle of the set i couldnt get another rep, like i wasnt even budging the weight. then i changed up a bit and it was nothing.

[quote]Scott M wrote:
ZeusNathan wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
i dont know, whatevers heavy for me. like 140-50ish for 8-12 on the pulldown.

deadlifts are the last of my problems lol. my back thickness isnt what im worried about its getting my width up.

no wonder

im assuming you’re over 190lbs

get up to 200lbs 3/5 x 12

This doesn’t happen often… but I agree with ZeusNathan here. Like we talked about in the “myths” thread to me strength gains coupled with the food to recover will be your best way to increase lats. If you take that pulldown from 150x8-10 to 300x8-12 your lats will have no choice but to grow. Learn to flare and force a deep stretch at the top and you’ll be even happier. [/quote]

Yes I think the answer’s right there. I’m not trying to poke fun at you (for once) but that’s a warm-up weight.

I think the pulldown is a lot like the leg press in that what feels heavy is usually nowhere near your limits. Try doing it with 200 pounds and see what happens, I think you’ll be surprised.