If you ever wondered what the real reason your lats won’t grow is, this is a must watch video. Here I am going to show you what you likely have been and have not been doing when it comes to your back training that is leading to you not getting the back gains that you’re looking for. With just some simple modifications to your workouts, you will be on your way to building bigger lats.
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The first thing you have probably been doing when it comes to your back workouts is that you’ve only been lifting heavy weights. This usually comes in the forms of rows, lat pulldowns, and weighted pullups. There’s nothing wrong with performing these exercises with heavier weights, but you are likely relying on something that comes with the heavy weight, especially in back training, and that is momentum.
Momentum is easy to take advantage of with back training in comparison to pushing exercises such as the bench press or a seated overhead press. In those two cases, if you can’t push the weight up, it’s not going anywhere. With a row or lat pulldown, you can use some body english and momentum to move that weight when you normally might not be able to.
While this can be helpful for building top end strength in the lifts that require it and may have given you some size to go along with that strength, the size of your lats might not have reached their full potential yet. This likely also has to do with the fact that you are also cutting short the range of motion in order to be able to manipulate that weight in space.
So, knowing that we are limiting our lat development based on the use of momentum and a shortened range of motion, we can introduce ways to fix these shortcomings.
First, let’s look at decreasing the weight we are using with our back workouts. While you might think that lowering the weight is counterintuitive, it’s actually going to be more beneficial than you realize. By lowering the weight, you will be able to have better command of it in space to create a greater stretch and contraction - realizing the benefits of full range of motion. With full range of motion of the lats, you can better unlock muscle growth by tapping not into just a greater contraction, but also achieving a greater stretch.
Now, when it comes to using lighter weights with your back workouts, it becomes even more essential that you start training your lats to failure in the higher rep ranges. I’ve mentioned before that as the rep range increases to include more than 12 reps, the more important it is that you train to failure on that exercise. Doing so will actually lead to better gains and more hypertrophy in the muscles you are trying to target.
We can also modify our training to not only include lighter weights, but utilize exercises that take your lats through full range of motion. The first exercise I like to mention is the rocking lat pulldown. This unilateral version of a standard pulldown allows for a greater contraction of the lats by being able to abduct the target arm.
The kneeling one armed pulldown is another great unilateral option for targeting the lats that will require even lighter weight to be used since you don’t have the assistance of the other arm to initiate the movement like you do in the rocking pulldown.
Next, we have the one arm high cable row (of my favorite back exercises of all time). Not only does this exercise allow you to target one side at a time, but the nature of the exercise takes you through full range of motion and a hard contraction with the elbow tight against the body as well allowing you put the muscle on full stretch at the top of each rep.
Another exercise option for your next back workout is the straight arm pushdown. Another exercise that allows you to target the lats effectively through a good contraction and allowing for the lats to be put on stretch at the top end in the range of motion while sitting the hips back. A slight tweak you can make to this exercise to further enhance the stretch on the lats is to simply perform this exercise in a kneeling position.
Lastly, an alternative to the standard pulldown to grow your lats is the underhanded version. Simply changing the orientation of your hands on the bar is enough to create to accentuate the stretch that you get on the lats at the top of the rep - again, going after that range of motion!
If you are looking for a complete workout program that help you to build bigger lats if you struggle to build them now, then be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below and use the program selector to find the training plan that matches your exact goals now.
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