# best lat exercises?



## rb79 (Mar 7, 2012)

whats the best exercise for lats, lat pulldown?


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## rsd147 (Nov 14, 2012)

rb79 said:


> whats the best exercise for lats, lat pulldown?


Wide grip pull ups!


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## onthebuild (Sep 3, 2011)

I like close grip bent over rows, squeeze the lats hard and its a killer.


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

For thickness I'd say bent over or single arm row

For width wide grip chins


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## Spragga (Feb 16, 2009)

rsd147 said:


> Wide grip pull ups!


x 2.... :thumbup1:


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## achilles88 (Aug 27, 2010)

imo pull ups for upper part of lats, chin ups for lower


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## Jason88 (Mar 24, 2013)

t bar rows wide grip seems to hit mine best


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## J H (May 13, 2012)

Wide grip pull ups and bent over rows for me


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## Ginger Ben (Oct 5, 2010)

Pull ups/chin ups with added weight once you get good at them at body weight and either tbar rows or db rows


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## Talaria (Jun 30, 2011)

what about if you don't have chin up access


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## solidcecil (Mar 8, 2012)

Tbar rows IMO


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## DazUKM (Nov 22, 2012)

Love a bit of t-bar rows, also close grip pull downs


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

there is no 1 exercise for building a big back but a collection of exercises. they are as follow...

partial deadlifts/rack pulls

pull overs

pull ups/lat pull downs

bent over rows

oh i pretty much named them all, thats because back like legs are the biggest muscle groups and are the most taxing w/o. this is why i always schedule a rest day the day after. now your goals will obviously effect how you perform these lifts. for the purpose of building a big back we use bodybuilding methods so if you want thickness you would start off using pull overs, followed by reverse grip pull ups, wide grip bb row and your partial deadlifts to keep the pressure on the trap and rhomboids. possibly pre weakening the traps with some db shrugs.

for width then we take a similar approach but with different grips. so pull overs, wide grip pull ups, dorian row and partial deadlifts. this is jist a quick sumary obviously you would change it according to your results, goals and ass your gains begin to plateau you would change things further and experiment wuth different angles etc etc. hope this helps.


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## solidcecil (Mar 8, 2012)

solidcecil said:


> Tbar rows IMO


I use a machine and grip close so palms are facing me not neutral.

My girlfriend took a picture of my rear lat spread for me at the weekend and I was surprised at how well my lats have come on since adding these into my routine


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## rb79 (Mar 7, 2012)

theBEAST2002 said:


> there is no 1 exercise for building a big back but a collection of exercises. they are as follow...
> 
> partial deadlifts/rack pulls
> 
> ...


thanks for this, and thanks all for your replys


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

rb79 said:


> thanks for this, and thanks all for your replys


np mate, whats your current back w/o like? whats your goals for your back?


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## MattGriff (Aug 21, 2012)

theBEAST2002 said:


> there is no 1 exercise for building a big back but a collection of exercises. they are as follow...
> 
> partial deadlifts/rack pulls
> 
> ...


Why out of interest?


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

MattGriff said:


> Why out of interest?


because the weak point in a back exercise is the biceps so pre weakening the lats before starting is a great way of building a great back. a pullover machine is prefered because it's a full range of motion and it's easier to squeeze on the static and emphesis the negitive. you'll also find that when you perform a pullover you'll pinch your traps and rhomboids like you do when performing a bench press to put yourself in a position where your mechanically strongest.


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

theBEAST2002 said:


> because the weak point in a back exercise is the biceps so pre weakening the lats before starting is a great way of building a great back. a pullover machine is prefered because it's a full range of motion and it's easier to squeeze on the static and emphesis the negitive. you'll also find that when you perform a pullover you'll pinch your traps and rhomboids like you do when performing a bench press to put yourself in a position where your mechanically strongest.


also it's a great way of pushing lots of blood into the fascia of the muscle too.


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

solidcecil said:


> I use a machine and grip close so palms are facing me not neutral.
> 
> My girlfriend took a picture of my rear lat spread for me at the weekend and I was surprised at how well my lats have come on since adding these into my routine


This is how I do mine... I rob an attachment meant for seated rows similar to this










Find I'm able to shift more weight with this grip also which can only be a good thing

Lets have a look at that pic bro... need to see if your Mrs's photography skills are up to scratch


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## GShock (May 1, 2011)

Anyone using one of these?


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## Kimball (Feb 26, 2012)

GShock said:


> Anyone using one of these?


Yes pretty much what we have at my gym.


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## Pancake' (Aug 30, 2012)

Pull ups from a dead hang is the best builder IMO, however i like the rear delt machine, single arm DB rows.


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## Heath (Mar 3, 2011)

I get best mind muscle connection with hammer grip lat pulldowns


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## solidcecil (Mar 8, 2012)

Breda said:


> This is how I do mine... I rob an attachment meant for seated rows similar to this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah I can lift more with a neutral grip but feel it more the other way.

Will try and get the photo up, it's on her phone


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## DoIEvenLift (Feb 10, 2011)

onthebuild said:


> I like close grip bent over rows, squeeze the lats hard and its a killer.


do you do overhand grip or underhand?


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## onthebuild (Sep 3, 2011)

DoIEvenLift said:


> do you do overhand grip or underhand?


Overhand mate, and more stood up than a normal bent over row (a yates row)

I tried for about 10 mins to find the video of dorian explaining how they target the lower lats a lot better, but couldn't. It is out there somewhere as I've watched it!


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## DoIEvenLift (Feb 10, 2011)

onthebuild said:


> Overhand mate, and more stood up than a normal bent over row (a yates row)
> 
> I tried for about 10 mins to find the video of dorian explaining how they target the lower lats a lot better, but couldn't. It is out there somewhere as I've watched it!


yeah yeah i believe you .. :whistling: :lol:

iv always done overhand too, but my training partners just said about doing them underhand thats all.

but pulling it up into your stomach area yeah? not right up to chest or anything.


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## onthebuild (Sep 3, 2011)

DoIEvenLift said:


> yeah yeah i believe you .. :whistling: :lol:
> 
> iv always done overhand too, but my training partners just said about doing them underhand thats all.
> 
> but pulling it up into your stomach area yeah? not right up to chest or anything.


Yeah I never row to chest area as I stand up a fair bit straighter. Seems to take the pressure of the lower back and I can use more weight.

So I always row to the stomach area tbf. Ive tried underhand too, every now and again I throw them in to mix things up, but tbh I more often than not feel my forearm twitch/pull slightly, and feel biceps straining a bit too, so prefer overhand for that reason.

Probably best doing a combination of both tbh though, like everything its all about hitting the muscle from every possible angle.


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## Heath (Mar 3, 2011)

Yates idea is to always put the biceps in the strongest position as they will fail before the lats


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## rb79 (Mar 7, 2012)

theBEAST2002 said:


> np mate, whats your current back w/o like? whats your goals for your back?


at the moment im doing

3x10 deads or 3x5 heavy rack pulls

3x10 bentover row

3x10 lat pull down

alot of the exercises named on here i dont know, pull overs for instance?

ive started to see abit more muscle under my armpits which im guessing is the top part of the lat, but nothing much more at the moment


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## anabolik (Aug 19, 2010)

Chin ups. WG pull ups take the focus off your lats and spread more onto your traps/rhomboids.


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

rb79 said:


> at the moment im doing
> 
> 3x10 deads or 3x5 heavy rack pulls
> 
> ...


look up dorian yates blood and gut back. it'll also demonstrate how to perform each rep effectively.


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

anabolik said:


> Chin ups. WG pull ups take the focus off your lats and spread more onto your traps/rhomboids.


the lats are the big movers in any pull down/up exercise. due to the rhomboids being a smaller and weaker muscle you feel the stress more so here like when your doing reverse grip rows you feel a lot of the strain in your biceps. hence why for size the reverse grip bb row is the most effective mass exercise closely followed by close grip pull ups. that is also why i always pre weaken my lats with pull overs so that my biceps do not fatigue before my back.


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## rb79 (Mar 7, 2012)

theBEAST2002 said:


> look up dorian yates blood and gut back. it'll also demonstrate how to perform each rep effectively.


just watched it mate, good vid is that.... having said that i always thought pull overs were for chest


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

rb79 said:


> just watched it mate, good vid is that.... having said that i always thought pull overs were for chest


did you watch the one where he's training kris gething or where he is training when he was mr olympia?

when done on the pull over machine it is an amazing way to isolate the lats without bicep involvement, also you have full range of motion and allow you to really emphesis the negitive.


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## rb79 (Mar 7, 2012)

yeah he was training another lad, by machine do you mean on the cable/lat pull down machine or is there a spercific one that is a pull over machine


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

http://m.youtube.com/#/results?q=dorian%20yates%20back&search_sort=relevance&search_type=search_all&uploaded=

the first machine he uses is a pullover machine...if your gym doesn't have one then a db or bb pullovrr is an alternative


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## WilsonR6 (Feb 14, 2012)

What ever they are called, or maybe bent over rows


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

Hey guys was wondering if anyone has any tips for how to really get a good muscle mind connection for my lats I try and just focus on squeezing them but I seem to be lacking the width I want. I am tall and wide and so I have a big space to fill but anyone with some strong tips on how to really fatigue them and get a good contraction it would be greatly appreciated


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

rack pulls

pull overs

pull ups/lat pull downs

bent over rows

Great advice for overall back supremacy


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

heavy ass t bar rows and loads of pulldown variations


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## itsme1 (Dec 7, 2010)

eezy1 said:


> heavy ass t bar rows and loads of pulldown variations





xpower said:


> rack pulls
> 
> pull overs
> 
> ...


cheers guys will make sure i have all these in my routine. Do you think i should deadlift every week or every other week as i do straight leg deads every week already


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## Yeahbuddy0211 (Dec 4, 2012)

xpower said:


> rack pulls
> 
> pull overs
> 
> ...


Thanks, will use these when I do my back tomorrow. I usually do chest and back together, but then leave my deadlifts until arms day.


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## Fletch68 (Mar 17, 2013)

Are seated cable rows a good exercise? I always try and do them on back day...along with T-Bar rows.


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## Bear2012 (Jan 19, 2012)

Dead lift, Wide grip pull downs, close grip and really let it stretch at the top of the movement, cable rows, single arm rows

I do that and even after all these years I still ache like hell the next day.


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## essexboy (Sep 7, 2008)

The ideal combination is Nautilus or Hammer pullovers combined with close grip, palms up chins.The pullover bypasses the weak link of the biceps, and directly targets the back.

Close grip chins affords a greater range of motion than a wide grip.A palms up grip, naturally supinates the biceps to work in their strongest position.

Most pulldown machines, are terrribly unbalanced.The Hammer leverage, Nautlius Nitro are the most efficient.


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## Dark sim (May 18, 2013)

Bear2012 said:


> Dead lift, Wide grip pull downs, close grip and really let it stretch at the top of the movement, cable rows, single arm rows
> 
> I do that and even after all these years I still ache like hell the next day.


A lot of exercises mentioned, but from what I can see only 1 person mentioned the stretch ^^, which in my opinion is most important part. Without the stretch the lat is not fully engaged or worked fully and will be under developed. All to often see guys doing half reps, using body english to shift the weight.

Try single arm movements too, single arm t bar row, single arm lat pulldown (neutral grip). These will emphasis lower lats.


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## Bear2012 (Jan 19, 2012)

Dark sim said:


> A lot of exercises mentioned, but from what I can see only 1 person mentioned the stretch ^^, which in my opinion is most important part. Without the stretch the lat is not fully engaged or worked fully and will be under developed. All to often see guys doing half reps, using body english to shift the weight.
> 
> Try single arm movements too, single arm t bar row, single arm lat pulldown (neutral grip). These will emphasis lower lats.


That's the best bit about training lats is feeling the stretch, feels like they are going to rip off your torso and makes sure you have got the full range of motion, same as cable rows I pull back so the heads of the traps in the upper middle of my back are squeezed together.


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## XXVII (Jul 29, 2013)

Wide grip pull ups/chins.


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## dbaird (Sep 2, 2012)

sure I have my form wrong on wide grip lat pull downs, not made progress in ages :thumbdown:


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

dbaird said:


> sure I have my form wrong on wide grip lat pull downs, not made progress in ages :thumbdown:


 Use a closer grip.increases ROM & gets a better stretch IMO


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/inside_the_muscles_best_back_and_biceps_exercises may be of interest too


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2013)

Nautilus Pullover, CG Pulldowns and BO Rows


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## murphy2010 (Dec 17, 2010)

deadlift + wide grip pullups

always get the best pump from seated row though


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## Chunkee (Sep 1, 2012)

I've been using hammer grip chins of late, seems to be hitting them better than normal chins.


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## dbaird (Sep 2, 2012)

xpower said:


> Use a closer grip.increases ROM & gets a better stretch IMO


I was going to switch to a machine based version to lock in my ROM a bit, or assisted wide grip pull ups until I get strong enough to manage more than a couple lol. I was hoping to get that strength from lat pull downs but its not happening.

I will try a closer grip first... been stuck at the same weight for ages. sure I must be engaging my biceps more or something. All other rows etc are coming on well.


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