Nutrishop Indiasupplement
06-29-2011, 02:18 AM
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)
Wide-grip chins - If you want to add the third dimension to your lat spread and force the guy or gal standing next to you in the lineup to move over, this is the exercise for you. It's far superior to lat pull-downs for building width; however, most bodybuilders choose to do lat pulldowns for width and never go near the chinning bar. That's a mistake if you truly want barn-door lats.
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.
.
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)
Wide-grip chins - If you want to add the third dimension to your lat spread and force the guy or gal standing next to you in the lineup to move over, this is the exercise for you. It's far superior to lat pull-downs for building width; however, most bodybuilders choose to do lat pulldowns for width and never go near the chinning bar. That's a mistake if you truly want barn-door lats.
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.
.