If you are looking for the workout to add size and thickness to your back then you are in the right place. This article is about building the body part that is mostly neglected - back. That is because many lifters are interested only in muscles that they can see in the mirror like chest and arms, but they are not aware that they are making a big mistake.
Training upper back muscles including rear shoulders is very important for either proportional and good looking physique and also to have stronger and healthier muscle joints. Focusing only on your front muscles like chest and front deltoids can make your posture look bad and you can also end up with an injury. Also, a strong athlete physique demands developed back muscles same as chest and arms.
Now, check out these photos and think about it. Do you find having big and thick lats attractive? I am sure you do.
Training upper back muscles including rear shoulders is very important for either proportional and good looking physique and also to have stronger and healthier muscle joints. Focusing only on your front muscles like chest and front deltoids can make your posture look bad and you can also end up with an injury. Also, a strong athlete physique demands developed back muscles same as chest and arms.
Now, check out these photos and think about it. Do you find having big and thick lats attractive? I am sure you do.
I don't judge anybody, I also neglected my back muscles at the beginning but I hope that I will convince anyone to focus more on training all body parts equally. Legs too, don't avoid leg day or you will end up looking like a rooster.
Okay, back to lats. The latissimus dorsi often referred as just lats, is the biggest muscle in the upper body. The most effective way to build big lats is to get stronger by performing compound movements like pull ups and rows and progressively add more weight as you get stronger. Progressive overload is the best way for natural people to build muscle.
Pull ups are a bodyweight exercise that is probably the best option for building bigger lats alongside with bent-over rows. Contrary to popular belief, wide-grip pull ups are not that good for bigger lats because of the shorter range of motion. The pull up with a shoulder wide grip is the best pull up option and most effective for lats development.
Did you ever see anyone that can do up to 20 bodyweight pull ups in one set and that doesn't have thick and wide lats? Yeah, me neither. Pull ups are mainly a lat exercise but they also hit biceps, especially the underhand variation called chin up.
What's with the rows?
Bent-over and T-bar rows are great mass-building back exercises. Together with Deadlifts and Pull Ups, Rows are enough to fully develop your back. As for grip width, when it comes to bent-over rows stick with the shoulder-width grip which is the most effective for full activation and stretch of the lats.
The supinated grip (reverse grip barbell row) is shown as great for building biceps and interestingly has the better effect on lats.
So we covered rows and pull-ups, let's see some other exercises that are great for building big lats:
Perform Reverse-Grip Lat Pull Downs to fully contract and stretch your lats. Stick with the shoulder-width grip and keep your chest high while performing the exercise.
Seated Cable Rows are also great for building lats. To put more stress on your lats and lower the activation of biceps keep your chest high during all of your back movements.
Add Close-grip Lat Pull Downs and you have 5 exercises that you should include in your workout for bigger lats.
