To help make your back wider by building up your lats, I (the article’s author) am giving you four lat shock techniques that will definitely not leave your back “cold.” These techniques are hard, maybe even painful, but the result shouldn’t let you down. So … try them in your next back workout … if you dare!!!
I have always liked posing my lats, feeling them during training and getting them “pumped up.” Of course, it feels good to have other muscles full too. For example, “pumping up” your chest and biceps instantly makes any man look bigger, but “blasting” the lats full may not have such a clear-cut, always size-boosting effect. That may also be why a large share of gym-goers have stuck with chest and biceps. Still, a wide, thick back that has been worked for a few years of training is definitely recognizable and makes a very powerful impression.
Anyway, whether or not you plan to try the techniques below, always try to do lat exercises with the lats as much as possible, feel them and learn to pose them. Most beginners don’t actually know what a lat contraction is, or what it feels like when you do rowing exercises mainly with the lats. Posing and feeling your lats, getting hold of that sensation of how to bring them out, also makes lat exercises easier to perform. And if you don’t feel your lats while doing these exercises, your nervous system won’t particularly activate the lats to work, which means the lats won’t grow. So learn to feel your lats, and pose them.
Shock techniques for extending your wingspan…
1. Tri-sets:
If your goal is hypertrophy, I highly recommend tri-sets. Here is the tri-set I used to shock my lats:
o Wide overhand-grip pull-ups (to failure), followed immediately by
o Dumbbell pullover (8-10 repetitions), followed immediately by
o Straight-arm cable pushdown (10-12 repetitions)
o Rest 3-4 minutes
o Repeat this two more times
During the pullover, be sure to let your lats go into a proper stretch; during the straight-arm pushdowns, feel your lats and “squeeze” them hard. If you do this tri-set at home and don’t have a machine, you can replace the straight-arm pushdowns with bent-over barbell rows. Try using an EZ barbell and an underhand grip.
If you have never felt a “pumped” lat, you definitely will after this tri-set. I should add that more advanced trainees in particular get a good feeling and benefit from it: they feel the work of their lats well and have mastered the technique of the relevant exercises. That said, nobody is forbidden from trying a tri-set like this.
2. 10 sets of pull-ups (I recommend a wide overhand grip – translator):
Do 10 sets of any exercise – in any case, it is growth-inducing by nature. Before doing this technique, you need to find out how many overhand-grip pull-ups you can do to failure.
Divide that result by two – that is the rep count you should do in every set. For example, if you did 8 pull-ups, you should/could do 10 x 4: all ten sets, 4 pull-ups in each set. Rest 1 minute after each set.
3. Pull-up giant set with different hand grips:
You have surely noticed that I’ve included a lot of pull-ups for building a wide back – and that’s how it is. Here is a giant set that recruits every last muscle fiber of your lats:
* Pull-ups with a wide overhand grip (to failure) Rest 10 seconds.
* Pull-ups with a medium overhand grip (to failure) Rest 10 seconds.
* Pull-ups with a medium underhand grip (to failure) Rest 10 seconds.
* Pull-ups with a narrow underhand grip (to failure).
* Rest 3-4 minutes and then repeat the cycle two times.
Translator’s note: I think we can try this giant set on a machine too. Getting through 4 sets of pull-ups with 10-second rest pauses – well, that takes a good level, unless we’re talking about just two or three sets!!!
4. Pull-up negatives:
Do pull-up negatives. Here is another good way to do negatives: set the barbell in a power rack at exactly the height where, when you bend your lower legs, your knees touch the floor. With your knees bent, do as many pull-ups as you can. When you can no longer do full pull-ups, pull yourself up but “fold” your legs under your body so that they support you lightly. That way you get a negative and can adjust its difficulty yourself with your legs touching the ground – do three negatives at the end of each set.
Conclusion
And so you have got to know some very brutal yet excellent shock methods that will help you “spread your wings”!!!
Translated by: Janar Rückenberg
Come and train! ArtGym
