Posts Tagged ‘Lats’
If you want wider lats, have I got an exercise for you! This one will blow up your lats like no other type of pull-up I’ve found. The secret to this one lies in where you do the pull-up…
But I’m not very good at keeping secrets so here it is…
You do the pull-ups in the CORNER of the power rack!
I know it’s hard to contain yourself at this point, but try to keep it together! Once I explain how to do pull-ups in the corner of the rack and why this corner pull-up works so good, you’ll be itching to get to the gym and try it.
To really properly explain why it works so good, you first need to know how to do it so you can visualize how it works.
Now, to do this exercise, you’re going to need a power rack. And that’s pretty much it. Technically, you should also be able to do at least 6 to 8 reps of regular pull-ups in order to perform this exercise. But even if you can’t do that, I’m also going to show you a way to spot yourself so you can perform this exercise and get just as much out of it as anybody else.
So even if you can’t do full pull-ups, keep reading!
First, stand facing the corner of the rack. Now reach up with your left hand and grip the top cross-bar with a PALM-FACING-AWAY grip (a.k.a. reverse grip) about 18 inches from the corner. Now reach up with your right hand and grip the side top beam with the same grip at the same relative distance from the corner as your left hand. You want to be sure to keep your grip even on the beams. Definitely experiment with grip width to best match your armspan when performing this exercise.
Now you’re ready to pull!
Bend your knees and get your feet off the ground. You’ll immediately notice the tension in your lats in that bottom position. Perform a regular pull-up movement, bringing your body up as high as possible.
Here’s the big trick…as you pull yourself up, try to consciously PUSH OUTWARDS against the cross-beams of the rack. This outwards pushing combined with the pulling up puts huge tension on the extreme outer fibers of the lats.
So pull yourself up as high as possible then lower yourself slowly and under complete control. The negative on this exercise is very intense and the stretch it puts on your lats is phenomenal!
As you get towards the bottom, let your arms go completely straight to maximize the stretch on the lats. Be sure to keep tension in the shoulders, though. Even though your arms are straight, you want your body to still be supported by muscle tension in the lats and not the tendons and ligaments of your shoulder joints.
Now pull back up again, remembering to push outwards against the cross-beams as you pull up.
Keep going until you can’t do any more reps. It’s a tough exercise and an eye-opener even for people who generally can do a lot of pull-ups!
So how do you do this exercise if you can’t do a lot of (or any!) pull-ups? Self-spotting with your feet.
When you’re in the rack, you can either set the safety rail or the racking pin (the hook that you rack the weight on) to about 2 feet or so off the ground. The exact height will depend on how tall your rack is and how tall you are. Basically, you’re going to be using it as a step. As you do the pull-up, you’re going to set your foot on that pin/rail and use your legs to help you get the reps.
It’s important here to give yourself only as much help as you need to complete the rep you’re doing, NOT so much that you’re just standing up and down and going through the motions. You want to keep strong tension on the lats to get the most out of this exercise.
This technique is good not only for those who need help right off the bat but for doing forced reps when you CAN do full reps on your own. When you can’t perform another full rep on your own, set your foot on the pin/rail and keep going!
You can also perform this exercise using a palms-facing-in grip, but I’ve found it to be less effective in terms of hitting the outer lats than the palms-facing-out version.
Conclusion:
If wider lats are what you’re looking for, this exercise will do the trick. It’s a powerful variation of an old standard and will really fire your lats up fast! Test it out in your next back workout and be sure to let me know how SORE your lats are the next day…
By: Nick Nilsson
About the Author:
But I’m not very good at keeping secrets so here it is…
You do the pull-ups in the CORNER of the power rack!
I know it’s hard to contain yourself at this point, but try to keep it together! Once I explain how to do pull-ups in the corner of the rack and why this corner pull-up works so good, you’ll be itching to get to the gym and try it.
To really properly explain why it works so good, you first need to know how to do it so you can visualize how it works.
Now, to do this exercise, you’re going to need a power rack. And that’s pretty much it. Technically, you should also be able to do at least 6 to 8 reps of regular pull-ups in order to perform this exercise. But even if you can’t do that, I’m also going to show you a way to spot yourself so you can perform this exercise and get just as much out of it as anybody else.
So even if you can’t do full pull-ups, keep reading!
First, stand facing the corner of the rack. Now reach up with your left hand and grip the top cross-bar with a PALM-FACING-AWAY grip (a.k.a. reverse grip) about 18 inches from the corner. Now reach up with your right hand and grip the side top beam with the same grip at the same relative distance from the corner as your left hand. You want to be sure to keep your grip even on the beams. Definitely experiment with grip width to best match your armspan when performing this exercise.
Now you’re ready to pull!
Bend your knees and get your feet off the ground. You’ll immediately notice the tension in your lats in that bottom position. Perform a regular pull-up movement, bringing your body up as high as possible.
Here’s the big trick…as you pull yourself up, try to consciously PUSH OUTWARDS against the cross-beams of the rack. This outwards pushing combined with the pulling up puts huge tension on the extreme outer fibers of the lats.
So pull yourself up as high as possible then lower yourself slowly and under complete control. The negative on this exercise is very intense and the stretch it puts on your lats is phenomenal!
As you get towards the bottom, let your arms go completely straight to maximize the stretch on the lats. Be sure to keep tension in the shoulders, though. Even though your arms are straight, you want your body to still be supported by muscle tension in the lats and not the tendons and ligaments of your shoulder joints.
Now pull back up again, remembering to push outwards against the cross-beams as you pull up.
Keep going until you can’t do any more reps. It’s a tough exercise and an eye-opener even for people who generally can do a lot of pull-ups!
So how do you do this exercise if you can’t do a lot of (or any!) pull-ups? Self-spotting with your feet.
When you’re in the rack, you can either set the safety rail or the racking pin (the hook that you rack the weight on) to about 2 feet or so off the ground. The exact height will depend on how tall your rack is and how tall you are. Basically, you’re going to be using it as a step. As you do the pull-up, you’re going to set your foot on that pin/rail and use your legs to help you get the reps.
It’s important here to give yourself only as much help as you need to complete the rep you’re doing, NOT so much that you’re just standing up and down and going through the motions. You want to keep strong tension on the lats to get the most out of this exercise.
This technique is good not only for those who need help right off the bat but for doing forced reps when you CAN do full reps on your own. When you can’t perform another full rep on your own, set your foot on the pin/rail and keep going!
You can also perform this exercise using a palms-facing-in grip, but I’ve found it to be less effective in terms of hitting the outer lats than the palms-facing-out version.
Conclusion:
If wider lats are what you’re looking for, this exercise will do the trick. It’s a powerful variation of an old standard and will really fire your lats up fast! Test it out in your next back workout and be sure to let me know how SORE your lats are the next day…
By: Nick Nilsson
About the Author:
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of BetterU, Inc. and has been inventing new training techniques and exercises for 17+ years. Nick has written many training books including “Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass” & “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss” – http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. For pictures and video of this exercise, click here.
Are you wondering whether a pull up bar would be a good piece of exercise equipment? This page will explain how to do a pull up and the benefits of this exercise. A pull up is an exercise that works a large number of your neck, shoulder and back muscles all at the same time. The exercise is performed by grasping a bar and pulling yourself upwards. This exercise is also called a chin up because you try to get your chin up over the bar. You start by having your hands grasping the bar and your body hanging straight.
Then you pull yourself upwards until your chest is almost touching the bar and your chin is higher than the bar. You have to focus on keeping your body straight when doing this type of exercise. The main thing is to keep your feet off the floor, but you can bend your knees or cross your legs.
There are many variations of this exercise. You can use the wide grip position with your arms extended about twice the width of your shoulders. This variation helps you to emphasize your lats.
You can use the close grip variation where your hands are only 6 8 inches apart on the bar to work on the lower lats. Whatever exercise you choose to do in chin ups, the resistance is provided by your body. You should combine pull ups with other strength training exercises such as push ups or a bench press.
A pull up bar is a very inexpensive piece of exercise equipment. You can place it anywhere you want in your home or exercise room and use it as part of your regular exercise routine. Strength training for the muscles of your back and neck help you in your daily life as there are many occasions when you have to life something and dont have the strength required. Toning your back and neck muscles also helps to keep your body straight as you get older.
By: vishal
About the Author:
Then you pull yourself upwards until your chest is almost touching the bar and your chin is higher than the bar. You have to focus on keeping your body straight when doing this type of exercise. The main thing is to keep your feet off the floor, but you can bend your knees or cross your legs.
There are many variations of this exercise. You can use the wide grip position with your arms extended about twice the width of your shoulders. This variation helps you to emphasize your lats.
You can use the close grip variation where your hands are only 6 8 inches apart on the bar to work on the lower lats. Whatever exercise you choose to do in chin ups, the resistance is provided by your body. You should combine pull ups with other strength training exercises such as push ups or a bench press.
A pull up bar is a very inexpensive piece of exercise equipment. You can place it anywhere you want in your home or exercise room and use it as part of your regular exercise routine. Strength training for the muscles of your back and neck help you in your daily life as there are many occasions when you have to life something and dont have the strength required. Toning your back and neck muscles also helps to keep your body straight as you get older.
By: vishal
About the Author:
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