I have no fucking Lats!!!

[SwitchMan]

I can't work my lats for the life of me. Pull downs are useless my form is perfect. My upper back compensates for everthing. Any and every excercise that destroys lats is welcome!!! Please help!!!!!

 

[IrishHandGrenade]

I can't work my lats for the life of me. Pull downs are useless my form is perfect. My upper back compensates for everthing. Any and every excercise that destroys lats is welcome!!! Please help!!!!!

Deadlift

 

[Inhibitor13]

deads thickened mine and pull ups got me wider...

 

[chaos13]

bentover barbell rows and t-bar rows make my back feel huge. give them a try

 

[Tatyana]

I had NO lats two years ago, well, my training buddy used to call them chicken fillets.

They were that massive.

I have to bring up my lower lats now.

I will echo what the lads have said so far, and WIDE grip pull ups, forward grip.

I also think that close grip pull downs, HEAVY with good form, pulling to your chest with your back slightly arched works well.

Seated single arm rows on hammerstrength machines, bent over DB rows

 

[Tatyana]

Pull overs and reverse grip bent over barbell rows are also great for lats

 

[captainahole]

Deadlift

lots and lots will give you an awesome back.

 

[FriendlyCanadian]

I only ever really find that my lower back gets worked really hard with deadlifts.. my entire body gets worked.. but only ever really my lower back seems to scream the next day.. in a healthy I didn't fuck myself up sort of way..

and that's with alot of weight.. hmm..

 

[SouthernLord]

Pull/chin ups and db rows. I did Sofageoge's 80 rep chin routine yesterday and today I def have lats lol

 

[captainahole]

It's really quite amazing. I never do chins at all in any shape or form and I know I have one of the thickest backs and one of the widest at most of the places I train.
I give credit to deads and barbell rows.

 

[cactus_jack]

Like what others have said....deads, barbell rows, and try some heavy ass close grip lat pulldowns.

 

[Sim882]

lots and lots will give you an awesome back.

What am I'm meant to do to feel deadlifts in my lats - i.e., a roll/round my shoulders back when doing deadlifts, but I only feel it in my legs, arse, lower back.

I don't feel it in my upper back at all, and I'm going all out and reasonably heavy (over double my bodyweight)

 

[deathdroprob]

I find it better if you use a slightly wider grip, Out side Shoulder width. And use a Double over hand grip, I cant feel it in my lats other wise.
Also at the top of the movement Try to do a shrug and psuh your chest out, shoulders back and lean back the tiniest bit.

Its strage you say you can only feel it in your legs and lower back, just on thursday doing my deads for the 1st time in 2 weeks I actually felt my Leg Muscles twicth a bit in the movemnt. No Sorness though.

 

[tropo]

It's really quite amazing. I never do chins at all in any shape or form and I know I have one of the thickest backs and one of the widest at most of the places I train.
I give credit to deads and barbell rows.

It would seem you're not alone.

I've never seen Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler doing pull-ups or chin-ups in any of their training videos.

They seem to favour heavy rowing movements with some pulldown movement/s added in.

 

[nikkita]

wide grip pullups with your own weight or assisted

try to get do 100 reps assisted like this 5x20 two times per week

when you finish your sets... pose!

 

[SofaGeorge]

In the pro ranks pull ups, deads, barbell rows, t-bar, and one armed dumbbell rows are pretty much the standard lifts. You will see guys occasionally doing pull downs or seated rows... but if they are training with Charles Glass you aren't going to see a lot of flakey crap.

For someone who needs to develop lats... pull ups are king. If you've already got a foundation... deads and rows take it to the next level. Interestingly, most pros opt for smith rows... but you've got to remember that most bodybuilders are NOT strong the way power lifters are. They are trying to build muscle... not strength as their main focus. (Charles is the legend for taking pro physiques to the highest point of their careers... and I think the smith row was one of Charles' insights... but I can't swear to it.)

Ronnie is a work of art when he trains back. He does sets of 12 rep wide grip pull ups behind the neck without a shiver of cheat... pulls deads in the world class power lifter range... and he and Flex can move weight on smith rows that would inspire a rhino.

One of the most interesting elements I've seen over the years is how crucial form is to training back for bodybuilders... probably more so than any other body part. If you see Aaron Baker, Paul Dillet, Flex Wheeler and Sean Ray all on the t-bar at the same time... you will see four massively powerful men working with about the same weight as the average guy... but the level of emphasis they put into their form is not average. Bodybuiders with phenomenal backs 100% put form over how much weight they can lift... and the difference in doing it right and wrong is very very small.

Flex Wheeler has a dumbbell row routine that he used to do where he goes up and down the rack with weight... starting heavy... then dropping down to lighter dumbbells as his strength gives out... he probably went through five or six different weights in a single set one right after another. He keeps his form flawless every rep. Back around '93 or '94 I was working the routine. I was using more weight than he did. He showed me a micro small difference in how I was moving and how he was... literally the difference in form was almost imperceptable... and when I adopted it I dropped 50 lbs off the weight I could use in an eye blink... but I 100% could see the difference in how it hit my lats.

The bottom line is that training back is a very unique animal. Most people do it wrong, and even in the pro ranks there have been some awful backs because guys kept doing the wrong exercises and the wrong form till too late in their careers and they couldn't really play catch up.

For bodybuilding... KIS Keep It Simple... pull ups ... deads... and rows... in that order are the lifts that will get you there.

 

[Scotsman]

Deadlift then, row, row, row.......

I probably haven't done a pull-up in four years during a workout. I do light pulldowns as my finishing exercise.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[Wulfgar]

Deadlifts gave me a mean, thick back
did nothin for width
Pullups till you drop seems to do the trick there

 

[silverskyline]

There is a semi common Machien at most gyms that works like a lat pull down mach. but with out the cable. It uses bench plates on each rack instead of the bulit on pin plates. I never use lat pull down pully ever when this is around. It allows you to take an over head grip and pull with both or one arm at a time. Use one arm at a time and you can really isolate your lat much better.

also wide grip pull ups or assisted

 

[GUARDIAN]

heavy pullovers are a nice way 2 finish them off after your rows and pulldowns/pullups

 

[SofaGeorge]

heavy pullovers are a nice way 2 finish them off after your rows and pulldowns/pullups

Dan Duchaine once said that he considered pullovers the single most overlooked exercise. There is a semi obscure pullover machine... I can't remember who made it... but Dan used to say it was actually the #1 back exercise and nobody knew about it. He called it the squat for backs.

 

[Wulfgar]

Dan Duchaine once said that he considered pullovers the single most overlooked exercise. There is a semi obscure pullover machine... I can't remember who made it... but Dan used to say it was actually the #1 back exercise and nobody knew about it. He called it the squat for backs.

I used to use the nautilis pullover machine..thing was old as dirt but it hit the lats in a way almost nothin else did

 

[uglyass]

Best Back exercise overall - Deadlifts

Best Lat exercise are -

Wide grip overhand chins, add weight when you can do eight reps with strict form ie, no bouncing/jerking at the bottom

Side Dumbell rows with good form keeping the elbow close to the body and travelling skywards with the shoulders squared to the floor. Stretch the rep out towards the floor at the bottom for a full range of movement.

Bent over row - concentrate on squeezing the back muscles. I find starting at a lighter weight allows me to focus on getting a good pump and contraction going and then I start cranking the weight up.

I love working back. Some people think to get a big back all you need to do is lift heavy, that's not the case. You need to learn how to squeeze your back properly when doing the lifts too - I usually get my clients started with medium weight high reps to get them focusing on the contraction and then I gradually work the weights up ensuring they keep good form in reps. Heavy weights will take you so far but for a good back with deep seperation you need good form. A healthy dose of anabolic androgenic steroids helps too lol

Just my opinions

UglyASS

 

[BBR100]

Dan Duchaine once said that he considered pullovers the single most overlooked exercise. There is a semi obscure pullover machine... I can't remember who made it... but Dan used to say it was actually the #1 back exercise and nobody knew about it. He called it the squat for backs.

"I think the pullover deserves as much attention as the squat and bench press. If you dedicate yourself to this exercise it will pay back bigtime. Your shoulder joints need time to strengthen once you begin a program of pullovers, so take it easy. It's easy to hurt the rotator cuff with sloppy form or improper warm-ups or just plain over use."
Lee Apperson

 

[SouthernLord]

Dan Duchaine once said that he considered pullovers the single most overlooked exercise. There is a semi obscure pullover machine... I can't remember who made it... but Dan used to say it was actually the #1 back exercise and nobody knew about it. He called it the squat for backs.

One of my gyms has an original Nautilus pullover machine. The one with the chains. That thing will put a hurting on the old lats. I don't use it that much. Usually at the end of my workout to burn out.

 

[b fold the truth]

I worked with a guy who considered himself a tall "hardgainer" last year and he gained an insane amount of lean muscle in 8 weeks. His back routine ended up having to be filled with high intensity super sets between lat exercises and ending with deads. The supersets were the ONLY thing that gave him some good lat work.