widen my lats!!

[fallenangel]

I was looking at myself in the mirror today and i'm coming on Ok everywhere for my frame and weight but i noticed (other than my upper chest which i'm gonna hammer with inclines) my lats aren't wide enough. They are Ok in terms of thickness but has anyone got a routine for widening to help the old v taper. cheers

 

[fallenangel]

bump

 

[GARAGE GORILLA]

weighted wide gripe pullups. Addd those to your routine and watch your back grow.

 

[neo1605]

Wide grip pullups until you can do 50..........then do weighted pullups.

 

[Your_Moms_Kneepads]

People are going to tell you to do alot of wide grip pulldowns but a medium grip on it will overload it just as well if not more.
Heres something I reccomend:

--Chins ( 2 sets)-use weight if you can
-Rack Deadlifts from just below the knee---stand up with it and tense your lats at the top. You will feel the whole lat get SWOLE.
- Nautilus Pullovers

 

[Your_Moms_Kneepads]

Wide grip pullups until you can do 50..........then do weighted pullups.

WHy wait until 50? Add weight as soon as you can-and do them correctly IMO. Lots of guys when bulking cant even do 15.

 

[Busterball]

1) 4 sets of chins up to failure (Last one add weight)
2) Wide Grip pull downs (Hold the end of the bar)
3) T-Bar pull ups with a wide grip
4) Overhead pull overs
5) Seated row
6) Hyperextentions

Do this for 4 weeks and your lats will grow like a weed!!!

 

[PerfectRep]

Wide chins (or pulldowns) concentrating on the stretch and deadlifts will help.

 

[td24]

I had the same problem until I incorperated deadlifts into my regemin. Now its my best bodypart

 

[Golfer18--old]

There are a number of exercises. My back workout conists of 8 different exercises. Maybe your not pushing them hard enough.

 

[marky]

Lee Haney highly recommended this-stretching the lats hard for 20-30 seconds after every set. I"ve tried this and it definitely improved my width.

 

[ultragainz]

you guys ever try one arm pull downs?...

 

[Mike80]

any wide grip exericise will help with back width.

 

[amon]

I've been using a combination of wide- and narrow-grip weighted pullups, four sets after deadlifts, with weight to keep reps in 10-16 range, and also superset bench press with heavy rows on a different day. I've been happy with my progress in the lats. Oddly enough, I think the narrow grip is slightly more productive but that could be wishful thinking.

 

[Charlie B]

Believe it or not, wide-grip pull-ups/downs are not the key to lat development. All you need to do is combine an isolation exercise with a compound exercise. The reason is, during a compound exercise, the arms are going to be the weakest link, meaning, they will tire before you can fully stimulate the lats. Here is what I recommend, combine close reverse-grip (palms facing you) pull-downs with nautilus or dumb-bell pull-overs. Warm-up on the pulldowns first, maybe two sets. On the second set use a weight that you could do 10-12 times, but don't go to failure yet. Then do a warm-up set on your pull-overs, followed by a set to complete failure (ensure that you always use strict form), immediately go back to pull-downs, and do a set to complete failure, again using strict form. (I assure you that you will be lucky to get 6 this time) Building muscle is as much, if not more, about training smart, not just hard. If you are interested in a complete routine just email me. Good luck

 

[JackHammer666]

FallenAngel
Don't make it more difficult than it is. When you start listening to everyone throw their regimn at you, granted they all sound great, you only confuse yourself. Like everyone suggests just add in some wide grip pullups and give a little time. Good Luck!

JackHammer666
e-mail:[email protected]

 

[Charlie B]

Wide grip does not equal wide lats. The lats insert into the upper arm, therefore if you widen your grip you will not work the muscle through its full range of motion. Additionally, given that arms are the weak link in the pull-down, a wide grip makes it an even weaker link which results in the exercise being terminated before the lats are fully exausted. People like training to seem mystical and complicated because it helps them sell their books or supplements. The key to finding answers is to ask questions. Just because everyone says it does not make it so.

 

[lilguy7000]

Gee, I was under the impression that wide grip pulldowns worked the midback. I used a v-grip bar and pulldown to chest while leaning back a little to widen up a bit. Of course, I hit pulldowns or pullups first.

lilguy

 

[corndawg]

I don't know how much they widen the lats but I like bent over rows on the smith. They were the key to adding mass in my lats..Try um all...see waht hits yours the best.

 

[Phenotype X]

If you need the mass and thickness, keep rowing, but if you need width, wide grip pulldown and pullups are you're best bet. See if you're really lacking in width, but if you're looking in the mirror from the front, and you see a lack in your lats, maybe it might be thickness especially in the lower lats, where many people lack. For that, you need to do rows, rows and more rows.

 

[lilguy7000]

I question the actual effectiveness of pullups on width. When I was in high school I did about 100 or so chins a day and had no width at all. Now after concentrating on them narrow v-grip pulls I have a good deal of width. Why's that?

lilguy

 

[genarr3]

I question the actual effectiveness of pullups on width. When I was in high school I did about 100 or so chins a day and had no width at all. Now after concentrating on them narrow v-grip pulls I have a good deal of width. Why's that?

lilguy

Because as Charlie B has said, and I agree, wide grip does not equal wide lats. The wider you make the grip the less range of motion you get.

 

[Phenotype X]

A narrow grip, I believe works more on gaining thickness because
this movement is very similar to the motion of the seated row, while wide grip( or just a wider grip) helps with the V shape since it works really high up on the lats.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Try Chins(Narrow and Medium), One Arm Rows, and Machine Pullovers. You back will GROW like nothing else!!!!!!!!!

 

[NFG123]

Yep

<<Wide grip does not equal wide lats. The lats insert into the upper arm, therefore if you widen your grip you will not work the muscle through its full range of motion>>

This is complete true.

Close grip movements are good for thickening your back, however. I've had good luck with closegrip pulldowns and barbell rows for this, on a different note.

 

[bigal]

I agree with moms knees The partial pulls really gets your tenderloin and supersetting pullovers and pull-ups will make you wider, just remember you don't need to superset every workout.
Pulldowns or pullups wide,medium, or narrow all help width. Rowing motions help your thickness. Remeber when you do them, feel your muscle and pull with your elbows not your arms. Do all of them and then make up your own mind by whichever you feel the most.

 

[Thaibox]

I've gotten the best results for my whole back including width, from doing heavy deads.

 

[Hugh Gellatts]

at least for me all the wide grip does is shorten the range of motion, flare my shoulder out funny and shift emphasis from the lats to the serratus and rear delts. I do them for variety, but if I want to really overload the muscle I go with a shoulder width supinated grip or neutral grip weighted chins.

middle/upper back thickness, including rhomboids and lower traps are what rows are for.