Help Please

[Sheena]

Im trying to thicken and widen my lats, and sometimes have diffculty feeling pain in them anyway.

I have tried a suggested exercise by my coach of pullovers.

Personally I hate them and find them difficult, he says if he was om a desert island he would always do them for his lats.

My question to the panel is...

Do you think it is an unnecessary exercise for women, and is it true that it can cuase stretch marks (because if so..then fuck that!) Lol

You views please people.

Is it effective ...and do I run the risk of strecth marks under my arms etc..

Sheena

 

[vinylgroover]

I think it's one of the most useless exercises ever developed. If you just think about how un-natural the movement is and how uncomfortable it is then i really don't think it's worth the effort.

Can you do pull-ups/chin-ups. It's one of the best lat/upper back exercises there is. Even if you do them assisted, they are a great exercise. Also barbell rows with a mid-grip, again another great lat builder. One arm dumbell rows are also a good exercise for lat width and thickness.

If an exercise is uncomfortable for you then don't do it.

 

[Thaibox]

I wouldn't use as strong of a word as useless, pullovers do have their place(elsewhere), but basically vinylgroover is right.

There's lots of threads about widening lats on the board, look around and you'll find some good info.

Also, look into getting a new coach

 

[vinylgroover]

Agreed, it was a little strong, but i'm not a real fan of them

 

[bignate73]

If an exercise is uncomfortable for you then don't do it.

maybe not the best advice for someone looking to make progress in the gym.

 

[bignate73]

as for pullovers being unnatural, i guess noone has seen a swimming pool in a while. much less a competitive swimmer's back. it has its place, its not a staple movement but it is very much a bodybuilding movement. dbell pullovers and straight arm pulldowns? one of the lats main movements is shoulder extension....

dont get "back" movements mixed up with lat movements. rows and pulldowns do hit the lats but its a movement specific exercise, not muscle specific. ie, many muscles involved.

 

[vinylgroover]

Bignate,

I should have been a little clearer but when i say un-natural, there are some things i believe the body just shouldn't do, and lifting a weight to your chest from a starting position well behind your head is one of those things.

How many times in life do you find yourself in a situation where you need to lift something in that fashion. It just doesn't happen.

Think about deadlifts, squats, militaries, bicep curls etc etc. These are 'natural' movements that our bodies perform on a daily basis.

I add any movement performed behind the next to that list as well.

 

[bignate73]

ahhh, functional movements. yes absolutely i agree. many times on this board though, functionality takes the backseat to cosmetics. im not a big fan of the non functional either, just throwing my bit of .02 into the fray as well

 

[Lord_Suston]

about stretch marks, if the skin around your lats is very tight and very suceptible to irratation good chance that you can get stretch marks easily, but these are only when you gain massive amount of weight rapidly in most cases. I use pullovers when sick or when I need a light day to stretch I find pull-ups more effective....

 

[XXX-Ray]

4 sets of bent over barbell rows
3 sets of t-bar rows
3 sets of one armed dumbell rows
1 set of pulldowns (10 reps in the neck and 10 to the front)

pullovers and stretch marks that is not a risk it is a fact got them myself from pullovers and i think it is more a serratus and chest exercise than a back exercise if you do them correctly

Good luck building your lats