Pro tips to stimulate lat growth

[SAVAGEPMHNP]

If you’re really struggling to develop a MMC, give these guys a try

View attachment 206201

Start by decreasing the weight significantly. And when you apply the hooks to the bar/machine do not hold on with your hands at all. Let them go limp and just dangle. This will completely remove any forearm and bicep activation, allowing you to concentrate on just contracting your lats

When performing the lift, initiate all movement from the elbow. For example, if you’re doing a lat pulldown, don’t think about just bringing the bar down to your chin/clavicle. Imagine you’re trying to drive your elbows into your pockets, while squeezing your lats as aggressively as possible

Once you have a good connection with your lats, i would ditch the hooks and go back to regular straps, as the hooks will become more and more awkward as the weight really starts to climb. Just my opinion, but if you like the hooks better, then stick with them

Hope this helps

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually think I bought some of these a while ago and never tried them out! I'll have to dig them out of the garage!

 

[Mr_Squirrel]

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually think I bought some of these a while ago and never tried them out! I'll have to dig them out of the garage!

Oh perfect, won’t cost you a dime then!

I personally used this approach a while ago when my back was a major weakness (from a development standpoint) and couldn’t make any progress at all

I always lifted excessively heavy without any intent or precision. And while I was decently strong, my back looked like poop. I couldn’t actually feel anything going on in my back. Once that MMC was fully engrained and became second nature to me, my back blew the fuck up. I don’t have a pic of what I looked like previously, but here’s roughly where I’m at now after a solid year or 2 of back training after using the hook technique to initially develop the MMC. This should hopefully reinforce that I’m not full of crap



I have one more tip for you that also helped develop my back. And that would be to perform DC loaded stretches. Rather than explain it, watch this video, as it sums it up perfectly for your use case

And know that this demonstration applies almost identically to lat pull downs as well

But as far as order of importance, developing that MMC is number one. Once you got that down, then would be a good time to experiment with intensity techniques such as DC loaded stretches

 

[b-boy]

Im not too sure if you have thought of this persepective when going through this thread
devils advocate......

there are many threads here and other boards stating bodybuilders in general arent as good as the past
with that said, not saying I personally agree, or not, not too many people did crazy hip turning one arm cable attachement rows: or rowing up to the elbows level with the torso, but going back towards the pockets etc etc back in the era everyone romaticises about

Im sure: all you saw was the basics, over and over again. strong guys, moving heavy weights with thier straps around a dumbell or a bar of some sort.
Ive also see every high school kid in the gyms I've gone to, do these single arm body torqueing cable rows or turning sideways on every hammer stgrenght machine to change the angle for many years: and I havent seen any of them hit the stage.

LOL YES ^^

I've always said, when I was young all I did for back was pullups, bent over barbell rows, and cable rows and I built a back to be happy about

 

[b-boy]

LOL YES ^^

I've always said, when I was young all I did for back was pullups, bent over barbell rows, and cable rows and I built a back to be happy about

3 exercises ^^^
A whopping 165lbs bodyweight..LMAO

 

[madg]

LOL YES ^^

I've always said, when I was young all I did for back was pullups, bent over barbell rows, and cable rows and I built a back to be happy about

Same and i still do the same

 

[madg]

BDB 18 yo

teamBboy

Team80steens

 

[jl9987]

I would suspect its your form. Probably not really pulling with your lats. Main thing I learned is to keep my shoulders down on every movement, that's when you are actually on your lats. Keeping shoulders locked down, pulling with elbow on a pulldown, I can feel my lats fire all the way to the bottom near my ass.

Watch a few Mike Van Wyck videos, he explains it really well on a variety of machines. I adjusted my form based on his tips, and my back get ridiculous pumps now every workout. Can feel every fiber firing.

First time I’ve seen him and he seems mega!

 

[jl9987]

Joe Bennet is one of the few people who actually knows what he's talking about when it comes to training.

He kinda goes against the Mike guy as Joe looks like he's super locked in and fixed

 

[bbxtreme]

Im not too sure if you have thought of this persepective when going through this thread
devils advocate......

there are many threads here and other boards stating bodybuilders in general arent as good as the past
with that said, not saying I personally agree, or not, not too many people did crazy hip turning one arm cable attachement rows: or rowing up to the elbows level with the torso, but going back towards the pockets etc etc back in the era everyone romaticises about

Im sure: all you saw was the basics, over and over again. strong guys, moving heavy weights with thier straps around a dumbell or a bar of some sort.
Ive also see every high school kid in the gyms I've gone to, do these single arm body torqueing cable rows or turning sideways on every hammer stgrenght machine to change the angle for many years: and I havent seen any of them hit the stage.

Best post of the thread IMO.

When I want to grow my back more I simply lift heavier weights to contract them harder, but more importantly to stretch the eccentric harder.

If you want width apply it to pull downs.

If you want thickness apply it to barbell or meadows rows. OR chest supported row if you have low back issues.

If you want lower lats apply it to dumbbell rows.

I do a lot of pump work and stretch work, but the above exercises are what have built my back from shit to my best bodypart. And when I want to grow it more I simply crank it up on those.

My favorite line that rings in my head is from Charles Glass when asked what exercises he prefers to bring up lagging body parts- “whatever is available.”

 

[juiceball44]

I like that Wesley breaks down the details on each exercise and not to mention he's got a pretty decent back himself

 

[Doitagain]

He kinda goes against the Mike guy as Joe looks like he's super locked in and fixed

If you're not familiari with Joe "Hypertophy Coach" I definitely recommend checking some of his YT videos.

 

[Sectør]

I like that Wesley breaks down the details on each exercise and not to mention he's got a pretty decent back himself

wesley is a good dude.

I found the tip about dropping your shoulder a bit to get a better mind-muscle connection and contraction on the 1 handed cable row to be helpful too.

Going to check out some of his other videos.

 

[SAVAGEPMHNP]

I like that Wesley breaks down the details on each exercise and not to mention he's got a pretty decent back himself

Thanks! He's probably one of my favorites right now! Love his physique and just the whole classic physique look in general!

Oh perfect, won’t cost you a dime then!

I personally used this approach a while ago when my back was a major weakness (from a development standpoint) and couldn’t make any progress at all

I always lifted excessively heavy without any intent or precision. And while I was decently strong, my back looked like poop. I couldn’t actually feel anything going on in my back. Once that MMC was fully engrained and became second nature to me, my back blew the fuck up. I don’t have a pic of what I looked like previously, but here’s roughly where I’m at now after a solid year or 2 of back training after using the hook technique to initially develop the MMC. This should hopefully reinforce that I’m not full of crap

View attachment 206212

I have one more tip for you that also helped develop my back. And that would be to perform DC loaded stretches. Rather than explain it, watch this video, as it sums it up perfectly for your use case

And know that this demonstration applies almost identically to lat pull downs as well

But as far as order of importance, developing that MMC is number one. Once you got that down, then would be a good time to experiment with intensity techniques such as DC loaded stretches

Thanks brother! I started using the strap/hooks last week and dropped the weight on most of my back exercises. I love the strap/hooks and you can literally just not even grip the weight and focus on pulling from the elbow so I'm really liking them! I also started incorporating cable pullovers as a first exercise to get the blood flowing good in the lats and added in pull-ups. I am definitely feeling the lats more these last couple of weeks!

Do you guys find when you pull too high say for example on dumbbell rows the load is transferred more to the bicep than the lat? I notice when I don't pull as high and just focus on contracting the lat fully my forearm and bicep are at a ninety degree angle and can really feel the lat better that way.

 

[juiceball44]

Thanks! He's probably one of my favorites right now! Love his physique and just the whole classic physique look in general!


Thanks brother! I started using the strap/hooks last week and dropped the weight on most of my back exercises. I love the strap/hooks and you can literally just not even grip the weight and focus on pulling from the elbow so I'm really liking them! I also started incorporating cable pullovers as a first exercise to get the blood flowing good in the lats and added in pull-ups. I am definitely feeling the lats more these last couple of weeks!

Do you guys find when you pull too high say for example on dumbbell rows the load is transferred more to the bicep than the lat? I notice when I don't pull as high and just focus on contracting the lat fully my forearm and bicep are at a ninety degree angle and can really feel the lat better that way.

With rows I always pull to the lower stomach / hip. I use the versa grip pros and they are pricey but the quality is top notch. With back you have to try different width grips and angles to find the best mind to muscle contraction.

There are some hammer strength high rows that I just can’t feel, guess because I’m tall with long arms the angle is off, I’m moving the weight but the connection is just not there. There are machine rows where I get the seat height perfect and set up correctly, chest high, roll shoulders forward to open the back and get a full stretch and roll shoulders back when pulling to squeeze it’s an amazing exercise.

For pull downs try all the grips; close, medium, wide, neutral. Chest up, full stretch to open the back up, when pulling down pay attention the the elbow angle, lot of guys flare them out. I like to keep elbows in close to my body.

Start light to feel it out, half of your working weight

 

[Mr_Squirrel]

Thanks brother! I started using the strap/hooks last week and dropped the weight on most of my back exercises. I love the strap/hooks and you can literally just not even grip the weight and focus on pulling from the elbow so I'm really liking them! I also started incorporating cable pullovers as a first exercise to get the blood flowing good in the lats and added in pull-ups. I am definitely feeling the lats more these last couple of weeks!

That’s great to hear! Sounds like you’ve just about figured out the hard part. Keep this up until you’re consistently feeling your lats on every single rep of every set.

Once you’re at that point, it’s all about progressive overload going forward. Keep incrementally adding weight and/or reps each session, but make sure you’re not sacrificing your newly developed MMC as a result. The second part is critical.

Rinse and repeat for the next 5 years. After that, good luck finding shirts that don’t explode while reaching across your body

Do you guys find when you pull too high say for example on dumbbell rows the load is transferred more to the bicep than the lat? I notice when I don't pull as high and just focus on contracting the lat fully my forearm and bicep are at a ninety degree angle and can really feel the lat better that way.

When pulling higher up, the load should be transferred from your lats to more of your upper back (rear delts, terres major/minor, mid traps, rhomboids). Not your biceps

If you’re feeling your biceps more when pulling high, your body is compensating for a weak upper back

It sounds like you’re confusing training the lats with training the upper back. And while they’re all technically part of the back, it can be helpful to think of them as entirely different muscle groups

 

[st114]

As someone already wrote here you don't need to focus on "lats" or any other single muscle because you simply don't have much muscle mass. You need tons of it because you don't even have a good muscle base, so stick to the basics
-bench press/dips, fly's
-dumbbell/barbell rows, deadlifts
-squats variations, leg press, lunges, rdl's

that's what you need, not focusing on "lats"

Came here to post this. Everyone is giving you good advice on various nuances and form fixes and obscure exercises..
But in my opinion, start hammering Deadlifts, Barbell Rows, and Pull-ups in varying rep ranges and PROGRESS them in reps and weight. You need to build a base and get strong first, then if your back is still lagging come back and look at some of the other vids posted in this thread.
And ignore anyone if they say deadlifts don’t grow your back

 

[SAVAGEPMHNP]

Just wanted to update you all on my back progress! I’ve been utilizing a lot of the tips from this thread the last couple of months! I think I’m finally making a little progress with it! The top picture is from this morning at around 238-240 lbs.

 

[copypastemuscle]

Some more thoughts--Even tho i like the wide grip STRAIGHT bar for pullups/pds, I also agree with Dorian that keeping the elbows in on rows and pulldown does help work the lats, so I like closer grip pull-ups and rows.. I worked up to very heavy cg pull-ups and worked the stretch on those.

As many have said grip needs help no matter what on back and straps are at the minimum what you should use, now I really like the figure 8 straps for back work as someone mentioned, and I also had some hooks that worked called "the hooker"… Most hooks don't work because the hook is facing away from you and the bar wants to fall out. But "the hooker" hooks face you and the bar is between the hook and your hand, they help a lot.

Hope this helps. I felt like I had a pretty good lat spread and back double at 6'5"and 300+ pounds, I wasn't great as a bodybuilder, but I do feel I had a pretty complete back after just a couple years of training.

I'm really focused on getting stronger at weighted pull-ups right now, and I'm aiming to train them 2-3 times a week. I was wondering how you progressed your own weighted pull-up strength. I saw a YouTube video where this guy had a really interesting approach. He started with 3 sets of 3 reps, then worked his way up to 3 sets of 5 reps. Once he could consistently hit those 3 sets of 5, he'd increase the weight by 10kg.

 

[youngtuck713]

for lat pull downs make sure to disengage your shoulders at the top so it fully stetches the lat's you'll feel the difference immediately, controlling the eccentric, as well as not leaning at all and going straight up and down. I hear people talk about 90 degree partials to work just the tops but while would i just fully disengage and do the full rep to work all the lats rather than the tops

 

[qbkilla]

Chin-ups, chin-ups, chin-ups. Pronated, supinated, parallel grip, I don’t care . . . just do them.

Do pushups in between. (Old school, chins and presses.) The presses will aid in your recovery between chins. True story.

Machine pullovers immediately, as fast as you can, do a set of rows; called pre-exhaust but the time between the two must be minimal for it to be truly be maximally effective.

Do what you want after that if you have any energy . . . but if done correctly you won’t want to.

This is pretty much what I did. Not the greatest back but better than it was.

How do you program the chins? I believe you like full-body 3x, something like 3 sets m,w,f a different variation? Aim to increase reps or weight on the first set?