Is it my imagination, or is the lat development of the
current crop of professional bodybuilders inferior to those of an earlier
generation? I recently saw a group shot of the top five at the latest Night of
Champions and noticed the majority looked weak in the rear lat spread and only
so-so in the back double-biceps pose. Where were the sweeping lats with thick
spinal erectors, as displayed by such men as Franco Columbu and Roy Callendar?
Where were the incredible detail and density throughout the lats, traps and
teres muscles that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kal Szkalak displayed?
When I read interviews with today's top pros, they all seem
to agree that superior back development is an absolute necessity when it comes
to achieving victory. The last three holders of the Mr. Olympia title all share
a reputation for awesome latissimus muscles. Is it possible that all the high-tech
back machines now available aren't delivering the incredible results that good
old-fashioned barbells and dumbbells can? Any modern-day gym is virtually
guaranteed to be full of glistening new machines that work your lats from
various angles and directions. Yet back development is commonly lacking even
among the top-ranked pros. What's going on?
Although genetics no doubt plays a big part in the eventual
development of any bodypart, I think the bigger problem with the current lack
of lats has to do with the exercises applied. I grew up using the exercises
espoused by Arnold, Franco and Robby Robinson in the 1970s. It may be
coincidence, but my back development has helped me win many a close decision,
and, having judged local contests for almost a decade, I find it amazing how
many very tough ones are decided when the athletes turn and face the curtain.
When I put together my lat routine, I used an old Schwarzenegger article as my
guide. Arnold suggested organizing the exercises according to what you need to
develop on your back. For example, if your lats are too narrow, you do at least
two exercises for width. If you need more thickness, you include at least two
thickness-building movements.
Arnold divided the exercises into four categories:
1) Exercises that develop fat width
2) Exercises that work on lat thickness
3) Exercises that build up the lower lats
4) Exercises that develop the lower hack and spinal erectors
As you can probably guess, he also recommended training with
barbells and dumbbells. There are two reasons for that. First of all, back in
Arnold's heyday they didn't have the advanced equipment that's currently
available. Second, barbell and dumbbell movements are indisputably the most
effective for developing wide, thick, awesome fats. Arnold knew it, Franco knew
it, Robby knew it. And now you know it too.
After I analyzed my physique, I decided I needed to
concentrate on fat thickness more than width. I have a naturally wide shoulder
structure but am somewhat ectomorphic, so I had to add more thickness to
balance out my width. After considering the exercise options, I came up with
the following routine:
• Wide-grip chins (for width)
• Bent-over barbell rows (for thickness)
• Seated cable rows (for more thickness)
• Close-grip chins (for the lower lats)
• Deadlifts (for the spinal erectors and lower back)
To perform wide-grip chins properly, grab the chinning bar
with your hands slightly farther apart than shoulder width. The area just
beyond where the bar is bent is the perfect grip for most trainees. Keep
tension on your lats by not locking out your elbows, arch your lower back in
the starting position and tilt your head back so you're looking at the ceiling.
Maintaining that position, pull yourself up to the chinning bar, aiming to
touch your clavicle to the bar. With your lower back arched, your elbows will
be pulled back, which forces your upper fats to contract.
As you return to the starting position, don't lose that arch
in your lower back and don't lock out your elbows at the bottom. Instead, keep
looking at the ceiling, which will maintain the tension on those fats and set
you up perfectly for the next rep. Dorian Yates always said that the key to
building fats is to arch your lower back during the exercise. That leads to a
greater contraction and eventually builds more muscle.
When you become really good at wide-grip chins (and you will
if you stick with them and don't go back to the lat pulldown machine) you can
start to add weight by using a weight belt. When you get to the point where you
can do eight to 10 reps of wide-grip chins with 100 pounds strapped around your
waist, your lats will have no choice I but to get wider, no matter how narrow
your clavicles are or what your genetics are for building back.
Close-grip chins - When it comes to developing lower lats,
the close-grip chin is king. Most bodybuilders prefer to do this exercise on
the lat machine (i.e., close-grip pull-downs) but doing it on the chin-fling
bar with your own bodyweight is really the superior exercise. Close-grip
pulldowns are also good, and you can use them at alternate workouts, but don't
neglect this awesome movement if you want to add inches to those lower lats for
complete back development.
Use a V-bar handle and place it over the regular chinning
bar. Some gyms have an attachment for the Vbar that makes the movement easier
to perform. Begin in the same general position described for wide-grip chins.
Arch your lower back and look up. Keep your arms slightly flexed so your elbows
aren't locked. Now, slowly pull your body up to the V-bar until your chest
touches the handle, then hold a second to get an ultimate peak contraction in
your lower lats.
Lower slowly for a good stretch, but be careful not to lock
your elbows. As you come up, your elbows and arms should be in close, not
flared outward, as they are when you do wide-grip chins. You want your elbows
to be in front of your torso until the finished position, where they'll be
pointed in the direction of your waist. If you're doing it right, you'll feel a
contraction in your lower lats.
At first that may seem like an insignificant exercise, but
the lower lats are a very important component in a quality back. Lower-lat
development (or the lack thereof) is very noticeable in the rear double-biceps
pose and rear lat spread. Callendar, Haney and Coleman all have fantastic
lower-lat development, and they all look great doing a rear double-biceps.
Close-grip pulldowns - Close-grip pulldowns hit the same
area as the close-grip chins. To perform this exercise correctly, attach the
V-bar handle to the lat pulldown apparatus and assume the same position as
described for close-grip chins. Arch your lower back and look up toward the
ceiling. Keeping your elbows in close to your torso, pull the handle down to
your chest until you can feel your lower lats contract.
Slowly let the handle return to the starting position, being
careful not to lock your elbows when your arms are straight. That will maintain
the tension on your lats. Make sure your lower back stays arched throughout the
exercise, which also maintains the tension.
Bent-over barbell rows - This one is the bread and butter of
big, thick lats. It is to lats what squats are to thighs or barbell bench
presses are to chest. If you're not performing it regularly, you have no
business wondering why you don't have thick lats. Done correctly, bent-over
barbell rows stimulate growth; not only in your lats but also your biceps,
forearms, lower back, hamstrings, rear delts, inner traps, teres major and
infraspinatus. Talk about a basic exercise! When Ronnie Coleman was asked
recently what exercises he'd perform if he only had time to do three, he
answered, "Squats, barbell bench presses and barbell rows." Enough
said.
With all due respect to Dorian, I still prefer the
old-fashioned method of performing barbell rows. Dorian's version of tilting
your upper body at a 70 degree angle to the floor and using an underhand grip
is probably the most poorly executed exercise currently being used around the
country. Most bodybuilders I've seen attempting it usually tilt their upper
body so high, they're nearly standing straight up. Then they have no choice but
to pull the barbell into their hips instead of the ribcage. The result is an
incorrectly executed movement and a lack of lat thickness.
To perform bent-over rows the old-fashioned way, take an
overhand, slightly wider-than-shoulder-width grip on the barbell, and position
your hands in the same place on the bar you'd use if you were going to do bench
presses. In fact, I always like to think of barbell rows as bench presses
turned upside down.
Now that you have the correct grip, stand on a block of
wood. (A bench can work, but they're usually too unstable.) That will allow the
barbell to come down a few inches farther so your lats can get a good stretch
before it makes contact with the floor. Keeping your knees bent and your lower
back slightly arched, slowly pull the barbell into your solar plexus, which is
the area right between your lower pecs and your upper abs. As the bar comes up,
keep your elbows flared out to the sides.
Slowly lower the bar for a good stretch, but don't let it
touch the floor. Keeping your back arched and your knees bent throughout the
movement, forcefully pull the bar back into our solar plexus with your elbows
flared out to the sides. This is a basic power movement, so don't be afraid to
pile on the plates. Using heavy weights with good form will bring you massive,
thick lats to balance out all the width you'll be developing from the wide-grip
chins.
The main mistakes people make on this exercise include
taking too narrow a grip on the barbell, letting the elbows come too close to
the body instead of flaring them out, bringing the upper body above parallel to
the floor at the finish of the exercise, not arching the lower back and keeping
the knees straight. The bent-over barbell row is a true basic exercise that
involves many bodyparts, so you should perform it with great care in order to
avoid lower-back injuries or putting the stress on your biceps instead of your
lats.
One - arm dumbbell rows - As an alternative to barbell rows
I sometimes substitute this exercise, which is another great one for thickness
that works essentially the same part of the lats, the belly of the muscle. It
also enables you to use heavy poundages, which makes it doubly good for
building thickness.
The standard procedure for executing this exercise is to put
one knee on a bench with your other leg on the floor; however, that can end up
using many muscles in your waist, as the upper body tends to torque while
you're pulling the dumbbell up. The best performance style is to keep both feet
firmly planted on the ground while you row the dumbbell into your waist.
Several years ago I saw Mighty Mike Quinn doing it that way and grabbing a
bench with one arm for support. Keeping your lower back flat, pull the dumbbell
up with your elbow tucked into your side. Don't let the elbow flare out to the
side and don't complicate the movement by swinging the dumbbell. Just
forcefully pull the heavy weight up and contract the middle portion of your
lats.
Seated cable rows - Although this exercise uses cables
instead of barbells or dumbbells, it's still a real basic exercise for building
size and thickness, since it involves the lats, lower back, biceps, forearms
and even the hamstrings to a lesser extent. It's a perfect exercise to follow a
heavy barbell movement like bent-over rows.
With your knees bent and your lower back ached, grab the
Vhandle. Pull it into your stomach as you bring your upper body perpendicular
to the floor. It's important to keep your lower back arched with your chest
stuck out in the finished position, as you pull the handle into your ribcage.
Keep your elbows close to your body throughout the movement. Your elbows should
brush against your ribs as you row.
To return to the starting position, keep your back arched
and slowly lower the weight, stretching your lats. It's acceptable to let your
upper body lean forward as long as your lower back remains arched and flexed.
That's the weak link in the chain, so it's very important to keep the area
tight. Just as with wide-grip chins, you don't want to lock your elbows in the
starting position. Keep a slight bend in them to maintain the tension on your
latissimus muscles.
T-bar rows - These are an excellent alternative to seated
cable rows, a true power movement that stimulates many of the same muscle
groups that bent-over barbell rows hit. I remember seeing photos of the
massively developed Columbu performing T-bar rows with as many as seven
45-pound plates loaded on one end of the barbell and Franco had incredible
cobralike lats that were thick, powerful and wide.
One of the problems with performing this superior mass
builder in today's fitness centers is finding a good T-bar. Most have been
replaced by a substitute apparatus that has a bench. You lie facedown on the
bench, then pull the bar up to the bench, which eliminates any action from your
hamstrings or lower back. It was designed to protect the lower back from
injury, of course, but it just isn't the same exercise. It's a poor substitute
for the real thing.
If you're lucky enough to train at a gym that has a real
T-bar row apparatus, it's important to execute the exercise with perfect form.
Keeping your lower back arched and your knees flexed, or bent, grab the bars
with a close grip. That will target your outer lats, giving your upper back a
wide, thich look. Keeping your lower back arched, pull the loaded bar into your
chest with your elbows brushing against your ribcage, similar to the form for
seated cable rows. Since you're using such a narrow grip, your elbows won't be
allowed to extend as far back as they go on bent-over barbell rows. The shorter
range of motion enables you to use heavy poundages, which will give your lats
more thickness.
When lowering the weight, it's very important to control the
descent. Just letting the bar drop will leave your lower-back muscles
susceptible to injury. Bringing the bar down with tension will also help you
achieve a greater contraction when completing the next rep. It takes a stronger
lower back to perform this exercise properly, but if you can master it, you'll
develop thick, shirt-expanding lats.
Deadlifts - A superior power movement for building strength
in the lower back as well as developing impressive spinal erectors, this
exercise is dismissed by most bodybuilders as a powerlifting movement. That's a
mistake. Dead-lifts not only develop an important area of the physique, but
they also build strength and power in the lower back, which is so essential in
exercises such as squats, bent-over barbell rows, military presses and Tbar
rows.
To perform deadlifts, keep your lower back slightly arched
(are you starting to see a pattern here?) as you bend your knees and grasp the
barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip. I use hand straps when the weight
gets so heavy that my grip will give out before my muscles do. Keeping your
hips down, your knees bent and your arms locked, look straight ahead. Line up
your shoulders right over the bar in the starting position.
Slowly stand up while pulling the bar with your back.
Continue pulling the bar until you're standing and your back is arched.
Maintain the arch in your lower back with your shoulders pulled back. Let the
bar descend until the plates lightly touch the floor, then pull the bar back up
to the finished position. Never let the arch in your lower back relax or you risk
injury to that area.
Not only do deadlifts build strength and power in your lower
back, but they also develop the spinal erector muscles. Those muscles cannot be
stimulated unless you perform power movements such as deadlifts with heavy
poundages. If you need further evidence of the impressiveness and strength that
those muscles convey, look at the incredible back development of such power
bodybuilders as Mike Franeois and Franco. I remember seeing photos of Franco
deadlifting more than 675 pounds on stage at the '77 IFBB Mr. America, a
contest for which he was also the promoter. He pulled it up easily three times.
Franco was so strong, he made it look like nothing. No screaming, no fanfare,
no psyching up. He just bent over and picked up the weight.
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