The 5 Best Lat Workouts For Strength And Muscle Growth
These are the best lat exercises to build your back, whether you have
access to machines, free weights, or want to grow your lats simply using
your bodyweight.
Where are the lats muscles and what do they do?
The latissimus dorsi muscles, also known as the lats muscles, are the
large V-shaped muscles that connect your vertebral column to your
arms.
They are some of the biggest muscles in your back, spanning from the top
of your hip bone all the way up to your arms and covering the width of
your middle and lower back. Together, they look like the wings of a
butterfly.
THEIR PRIMARY FUNCTION IS TO STABILIZE THE SPINE WHILE PROVIDING STRENGTH
TO THE SHOULDERS AND ARMS.
The lats muscles are used mostly in pulling motions, and they help us
perform things like pull-ups, swimming, and even breathing. They also help
extend, move, and rotate the shoulder joint, help keep the spine straight,
and assist in sideways bending.
The 5 Best Lat Workouts
Pull-up:
How to:
● Grasp a bar with an overhand grip so your palms are facing away
from you and your hands are double shoulder-width apart.
● Contract your upper back muscles to help pull your torso towards
the bar.
● When your chin is above it, lower under control.
Dumbbell Row
The dumbbell row primarily hits muscles on your back, but also
improves core stability, while engaging muscles on your shoulder,
biceps, and triceps.
Deadlift
The deadlift is one of the best compound exercises you can do to
add serious amounts of strength and muscle mass to the back (as well
as the hips and hamstrings). The deadlift has the ability to stress
the back using moderate to heavy loads and can often be trained in
higher volumes and loads, ultimately offering a one-of-a-kind
training stimulus.
Benefits of the Deadlift
It activates your back, but also your hamstrings, glutes, and the
muscles in your hips.
You can load up the deadlift with a lot of weight (once you’re
strong enough) to elicit major strength gains.
You can also build more muscle since the deadlift can be done for
lots of volume.
Lat Pulldown
Lat pulldowns are similar to pull-ups, but instead of pulling your
body upwards, you perform this exercise seated and pull an external
weight down in a similar motion.
Push-ups
Push-ups can be done anywhere and are effective, as they activate
many muscles at the same time. The push-up is not only a triceps,
chest, and shoulder exercise, but works your back as well.
Concentrate on quality more than quantity when doing this
bodyweight exercise. Make sure you also pay attention to your hip
and legs positioning.