So I gave the compound row mentioned in the big lats article a go today and liked them very much.I could really feel it in my upper lats.Has anyone else been doing these or tried them.
Just started the routine. First time ive ever really had sore lats. haha i love it.
Plan to incorporate it today into my lactate session - which it looks ideal for. Can’t wait. Glad to hear it’s doing the job for you chaps.
If I ever saw somebody doing those in the gym I’d laugh my ass right off the bench.
Why the hell would I do those when lat pull downs, pull overs and regular rows work just fine?
Further, this is a back exercise. If you are using any other cable other than the one used for lat pull downs then you are either extremely weak (and need to focus on more basic movements anyway) or you won’t be accomplishing much in the way of growth.
I think I would find out first why you couldn’t feel your “upper lats” before this exercise considering all of the better movements for that muscle group.
I understand this is the new fad, but trying to incorporate as many muscle groups as possible with every movement does NOT make them better especially when the goal is DEVELOPMENT as well as strength.
I tried them yesterday out of interest. They just felt kind of… silly.
How the hell are you supposed to work up to any kind of big weight on that exercise? Looks fine for warming up, though.
I would use it only as a finisher personally. Works both mid back and lats and since it can mostly done for light weight doing a good rep out at the end of a workout with this exercise would be nice.
i like lat pulldowns with the nuetral attatchment
That looks like a good warm up exercise. It might help you get a good mind-muscle link before moving on to a compound movement. It doesn’t look like you could use much load without falling forward though.
Whats funny is that you have those who grumble when those who’ve built above-average back width use some lower back “play/oomph” to maintain the “groove” when trying to full contract the back muscles when pulling down a LOT of weight for reps - and then the same grumblers proceed to use a movement adding their lower back to the mix as a fuckin’ PRIME MOVER - but to move a ridiculously light weight (considering the weight isn’t pulling them forward when their feet aren’t anchored.
So we’re supposed to do super-strict pulldowns with our backs welded at a 90 degree angle to the horizontal (usually with a little girl weight) but its okay to sway like a cypress tree when “compound rowing” the same little girl weight. Gotcha…
in any case, to the OP, I think the movement has merit if you anchor your feet and use a lifting belt. While consciously adding as many muscles to the mix as possible is questionable for developing a certain group - bringing in an auxiliary muscle group to cleverly “assist” the prime movers to ensure the prime movers contract under as much weight as possible is where its at.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Why the hell would I do those when lat pull downs, pull overs and regular rows work just fine?
Further, this is a back exercise. If you are using any other cable other than the one used for lat pull downs then you are either extremely weak (and need to focus on more basic movements anyway) or you won’t be accomplishing much in the way of growth.
I think I would find out first why you couldn’t feel your “upper lats” before this exercise considering all of the better movements for that muscle group.
I understand this is the new fad, but trying to incorporate as many muscle groups as possible with every movement does NOT make them better especially when the goal is DEVELOPMENT as well as strength.[/quote]
I tried it yesterday by incoporating it into a 6-exercise lactate circuit. Personally, I thought it was an excellent choice and to me activated greater overall muscle stimulus than, for example, a BB Row.
The compound row appears to me like a regular pulldown movement (with a specific handle) just like you would do at the regular pulldown station, except you “lay back” during the contraction. I always thought this was a form of cheating, but I do see a lot of advanced lifters lean back during the contraction, so maybe I’ll try it. But those two movements appear to be identical in form, as far as path of motion, angles etc. Am I wrong?
I also don’t see how any significant weight can be used, performing the movement ‘free-standing’ as described.
[quote]K2000 wrote:
The compound row appears to me like a regular pulldown movement (with a specific handle) just like you would do at the regular pulldown station, except you “lay back” during the contraction. I always thought this was a form of cheating, but I do see a lot of advanced lifters lean back during the contraction, so maybe I’ll try it. But those two movements appear to be identical in form, as far as path of motion, angles etc. Am I wrong?
I also don’t see how any significant weight can be used, performing the movement ‘free-standing’ as described.[/quote]
Check Nick T’s demonstration in the article: you lean back (you have to or the weight would pull you forward). It’s unlike a pulldown because you are standing several feet back from the pulley. Once your lower body is anchored in the desired position, it doesn’t move and instead your upper body pivots. I find it stimulates upper back, as well lower back and abs because of the pivoting motion. So together with the natural stress on arms, as well as focussing on keeping the lower body tensed, I think it is a great compound exercise.
[quote]JamesBrawn007 wrote:
K2000 wrote:
The compound row appears to me like a regular pulldown movement (with a specific handle) just like you would do at the regular pulldown station, except you “lay back” during the contraction. I always thought this was a form of cheating, but I do see a lot of advanced lifters lean back during the contraction, so maybe I’ll try it. But those two movements appear to be identical in form, as far as path of motion, angles etc. Am I wrong?
I also don’t see how any significant weight can be used, performing the movement ‘free-standing’ as described.
Check Nick T’s demonstration in the article: you lean back (you have to or the weight would pull you forward). It’s unlike a pulldown because you are standing several feet back from the pulley. Once your lower body is anchored in the desired position, it doesn’t move and instead your upper body pivots. I find it stimulates upper back, as well lower back and abs because of the pivoting motion. So together with the natural stress on arms, as well as focussing on keeping the lower body tensed, I think it is a great compound exercise.[/quote]
That wouldn’t be sufficient for above-bodyweight work and probably not bodyweight.
That fact wouldn’t make it useless of course. But I’m having a hard time seeing it as likely to be superior to more common methods. It doesn’t have enough promise (to me) for me to want to try it.
[quote]cally wrote:
I would use it only as a finisher personally. [/quote]
Personally, I would go with a figure-4 leg lock, actually quite painful but I’m sure the lurking combat brethren will have issue with me (cheeky post cause I’m still reading the thread…)
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I understand this is the new fad, but trying to incorporate as many muscle groups as possible with every movement does NOT make them better especially when the goal is DEVELOPMENT as well as strength.[/quote]
C’mon bro, you know this is more functional than just doing a row…
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
That looks like a good warm up exercise. It might help you get a good mind-muscle link before moving on to a compound movement. It doesn’t look like you could use much load without falling forward though.[/quote]
I think it looks like an exercise that would give you a headache with the postural changes in blood pressure with the silly bending movement involved.
[quote]JamesBrawn007 wrote:
I tried it yesterday by incoporating it into a 6-exercise lactate circuit. Personally, I thought it was an excellent choice and to me activated greater overall muscle stimulus than, for example, a BB Row.
[/quote]
Ummm, if you want choices for an overall stimulus (not sure why we’re talking about this in a bodybuilding forum), just go for a power/olympic lifting movement.
Ok, done reading. Waste of time for building mass. Just do a seated row. If you want to train lower back, go do … (insert your favorite and more appropriate lower back exercise here).