Best Lat Exercises

I love supersetting with decline bench cable pullovers

Hi guys,

Ok, exercises besides the pull-up and rows that are good for developing the lats…

Well, honestly the best exercise out there for developing the lats would be a bodyweight “butterfly” on the rings. But, because of the extreme amounts of strength required to do this exercise, only about .05% of the population can do them.

If you want a slightly easier variation of this exercise check out Coach Sommer’s article “The Iron Cross for Bodybuilders” which can be found in the archives.

Next I would say the exercises would be rated in the following order:

Iron Cross Dip
Static Iron Cross
Straight Body raises
Front Lever Pull-up
Static Front Lever/One arm pull-up
Weighted pull-up
BarBell Row

Some might disagree with me, but from a biomechanical standpoint those are the most difficult exercises that focus on the lats.

Good training,

Sentoguy

what would happen if you just did the bottom potion of a chin ie: relax into a stretch at the bottom and pull yourself up as far as possible without bending at the elbow? you could use much more weight than a standard chin?

i havn’t tried these, and i am not necesarily saying they are good, i’m just asking some of the more experienced guys what these would be like.

[quote]WiZlon wrote:
I agree with the DEADLIFTS posting being good for the back, but I want to take that further with a question for the Deadlifting experts:

Do partial deadlifts do an even better job for the back? Given that I know I can lift a lot more weight if I put the bar up a few inches on blocks or on the power-cage pins, I reason it’s gotta help the back IF the load is safe?

I’m sure it doesn’t help the legs too much, because the range of motion is reduced, and your legs are in a stronger position. But your back, shoulders and arms are in the same non-moving position - just with a much heavier load.

Personally, I haven’t done these in a long time because I’m concerned about potential injuries, but maybe I’m being too cautious?

Does anyone do really heavy deadlifts (>PR weight for regular off-the-floor deadlift) regularly? If so, what did it do for you in terms of growth (not just back, but I guess that’s the main purpose of this thread :-)), and how did your joints take the aggravation?

WiZ[/quote]

  1. I haven’t experienced much with partial deadlifts, so I can only answer your first question from strictly a “what I think” perspective. Partial deadlifts would obviously make the bottom portion of the rep much easier, and the bottom portion is where leg drive is the key factor.

So by taking the bottom portion out of the equation, you’ve reduced the leg drive necessary to move the weight. I also feel that traps are affected throughout the entire ROM, but more so at the bottom and the top of the rep, so you’re reducing some of that too.

But to answer your question…I do not think that partial deadlifts would be “better” for overall back growth b/c you’re also eliminating alot of lower back development by shortening the range of motion. So for overall back development (lats, low back, etc.)…I’d stick with full deadlifts

  1. I deadlift heavy on a consistent basis, even when in pre-competition mode like right now, I go heavy on a regular basis (even though it may not be heavy at all…but it sure feels heavy!).

For deadlifts strength, I deadlift once a week and try and go heavy as often as I can (2-5 reps with challenging weight), but on the days when it just isn’t there, I would go in and use moderate weight for sets of 6-8. I tried to stay away from light working sets, as I feel that it serves little purpose in my quest for massiveness.

If you’re cautious about your injuries then I would suggest just doing the movement with light weight until your confidence improves. Don’t let potential injuries run your show. Beat them into submission!

Oh yeah…and anyone else who deadlifts heavy on a regular basis will probably agree with this…heavy deadlifts can tax your entire system for days, so keep that im mind with the rest of your split. Good luck

Bango

[quote]Lunchmeataphobia wrote:
what would happen if you just did the bottom potion of a chin ie: relax into a stretch at the bottom and pull yourself up as far as possible without bending at the elbow? you could use much more weight than a standard chin?

i havn’t tried these, and i am not necesarily saying they are good, i’m just asking some of the more experienced guys what these would be like.[/quote]

I believe these are scapula rotations. Where you grasp a chin bar about shoulder width apart and then try and do a chin w/o bending your elbows. The movement is only a few inches and it takes some getting used to.

I’ve done these before and still do them from time to time and I feel they are “hidden gem”. Great for mid-back thickness and lower lat development.

Good looking out lunchmeat…I fotgot all about these!

Bango

Thanks for the reply Jimmybango.

I think you’ve given me a lot of good reasons to stay away from partials. I’ll stick with the regular Deads. :slight_smile:

I agree with your parting comment though - it takes me days to recover from really heavy (for me) deadlifts. I actually do them about every two weeks for that reason (with squats and other lifts in between times). I’m in no rush to get big. :slight_smile:

Thanks again!

WiZ