what are some exercises (other than lat pulldowns) to bring up your lats?
So far when I think about my lats these are what I consider the exercises:
Wide Pullups
Bent Rows
I think perhaps some other muscles are taking over for those movements. Perhaps a hand position change or something would activate more of the lats than I’m currently using?
Thanks for the help
I built a lot of lat with chins (supine, shoulder width grip…). I think sternum chins could be useful, but right now I find it impossible to touch the bar to my sternum, and as you mentioned you do/did pulldowns, I think think you’ll have the same problem. And you could always try pinky chins 
. As I can only do a few reps I use them for the strength component of my training, though. O r perhaps pinky chins where you let go the pinky for the negative (the negatives really built mass in my case)
I just do tons of pullups, and that usually get’s em pretty good. Also you can try pulldown rows with a pronated grip. Keep the elbows in nice and close so that they rub your lats with them as you pull.
You could try some isolation movements too. One exersize that usually makes my lats sore is this:
Stand in front of a lat pulldown, use maybe half the weight you would for lat pulldowns. While standing, grab the bar at shoulder width or wider, keeping your palms down and arms strait. Now push the bar down keeping your arms strait and focus on contracting the lats. This can be done with a triceps rope too, the trick is to just move at the shoulder joint.
[quote]got_beer? wrote:
You could try some isolation movements too. One exersize that usually makes my lats sore is this:
Stand in front of a lat pulldown, use maybe half the weight you would for lat pulldowns. While standing, grab the bar at shoulder width or wider, keeping your palms down and arms strait. Now push the bar down keeping your arms strait and focus on contracting the lats. This can be done with a triceps rope too, the trick is to just move at the shoulder joint.[/quote]
That is a good exercise, and it doesn’t take a ton of weight. It definetly is the veggies or potatoes and not the entree as Dan John would say. What do people think of pull overs?
Slightly wider than shoulder width chins (supinated). And eat more!
I could be wrong, but I don’t necessarily think that wider grip equates to wider lats… for instance, narrow grip won’t build narrow lats right?
Weighted pullups/chins are my exercise of choice for lats.
pullovers, they hit the lats.
but I personally like all sorts of pullups/chinups/pulldowns and rows, remember to go as heavy on them as you would on a bench press, that should help balance out the size of your back compared to that of your pecs.
Deadlifts
Chins
Rows
those will build lats. As far as chins go, change the grip up.
beef
[quote]CU AeroStallion wrote:
pullovers, they hit the lats.
[quote]
I agree w/CU, I couldn’t get my lats to widen until I added heavy pullovers & rows to my workouts.
Shoulder width chins, supinated grip. Rows of all types (barbell, dumbell, cable; standing, seated, bent-over). Deadlifts.
How about levers/ lever progressions?
Actually I never do lat pulldowns.
But the only back exercise I do really heavy are weighed chins.
So I’m going to switch it up and do my pullups wider and heavier.
Along with heavier bent rows, actually I think i need to bring my rotator cuff’s up because I can’t bent row what I can bench.
My upper back (traps, rhomboids?) are BIG, but I have almost no lats its kind of funny looking.
I ‘feel’ pullovers in my shoulders more so than my lats.
I think certain muscles are taking the brunt of the load instead of my lats. So I’m going to switch some stuff up.
More unilateral work, heavier back work, and bring up my external rotators.
You could also do some pre-exhaustion (I think thats what they are called) on sets of mmuscles that you feel are taking the brunt of it. Also having a spotter poke the target muscles helps activate them. Just don’t try that with the sphinchter crunches.
xen,
your problem with small lats is prolly cuz you’re not as vertical as allowable when doing chins or pullups or pulldowns. this will be why other muscles are taking over (the closer to parallel to the floor you are the more your rhomboids and traps take over).
dont go wide grip. go slightly wider than shoulder grip.
if you can row as much as you can bench you’re a bench weakass. the idea that one should row and bench the same weight is wrong. when he’s up on PrimeTime, ask Cressey. he’s stated why comparing the two lifts isn’t valid somewhere but i dont remember.
[quote]mindeffer01 wrote:
Also having a spotter poke the target muscles helps activate them. Just don’t try that with the sphinchter crunches.
[/quote]
it’s “sphincter SQUEEZES”. gawd, get it right!
It is right if you are using brazil nuts.
[quote]mindeffer01 wrote:
It is right if you are using a brazillian’s nuts.
[/quote]
LMAO
Xen,
I also think that you are doing the wrong thing by going wider with your grip. Slightly wider than shoulder width is the bomb. There’s no way you should be able to row what you bench, the levers are different.
How about doing a couple of sets to failure with your bodyweight after your weighted chins. I really like heavy rack pulls for lats, but they tend to hit a little bit of everything.