lats

4 Ways to Add Variety to Upper Back Exercises

If there’s one thing we can learn from high-level bodybuilders, it’s that hitting a muscle from slightly different angles can help spark new muscle growth. Exercise novelty doesn’t equal guaranteed hypertrophy, but if subtle variety keeps you motivated and helps you discover exercises that get you a really strong contraction and quality soreness in the …

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Technique Tuesday: Chest Supported Rows for Upper Back Strength

This week’s Technique Tuesday continues to focus on assistance exercises to increase your powerlifts, and no other exercise builds upper body strength quite like chest support rows. Upper back strength is paramount for all three powerlifts. You hold the bar on your back when you squat. You support your bodyweight on your upper back when …

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4 Ways to Sneak More Upper Back Volume into Your Workouts

A strong upper back is arguably THE most important physical attribute for any strength endeavor. You can have monstrously strong legs, but without a strong back, you’ll never squat or deadlift impressive weight. And no matter how big your arms are chest are, you’ll still look like a weenie in a t-shirt if your lats and …

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Technique Tuesday: Band-Distracted Deadlifts for Stronger Lats and Hamstrings

Does the bar drift away from you during deadlifts? It’s a problem that I see tons of lifters (myself included) struggle with. You’ll never fully utilize the push from your legs or keep your back straight if the bar doesn’t stay close to your legs. You can think about sitting back, squeezing your lats and …

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Technique Tuesday – Shoulder Position During the Deadlift

This week’s Technique Tuesday explains the proper shoulder position during the deadlift. There’s a lot of confusion about what to do with the upper back and shoulders to lift maximum weight, and I’m here today to clear up that confusion. Spoiler alert: the “shoulders down and back” cue isn’t nearly as useful for deadlifting as you …

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lats

The Last Word on Lats

The fitness world is exceptionally prone to the overreaction/under-reaction phenomenon. That is, fitness-minded people often fall victim to an all-or-nothing view of certain foods, exercises or training methodologies. Remember how scary dietary fat was in the 80’s? How about evil carbs in the 2000’s? Spinal flexion sure was terrible 10 years ago, but now extension …

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Bodybuilding.com – 2 Pull-Over Variations Your Back Day Needs

The Pull-over is an old-school bodybuilding exercise that was favored by greats like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronnie Coleman for its back-and-chest-building benefits. It’s pretty versatile, and just a few tweaks to your arm and elbow position can completely transform how this exercise hits your muscles. But there are a few problems with traditional Pull-overs, specifically …

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