These are the best lat exercises to build your back, whether you have access to machines, free weights, or want to grow your lats simply using your bodyweight.
The latissimus dorsi muscles, also known as the lats muscles, are the large V-shaped muscles that connect your vertebral column to your arms.
They are some of the biggest muscles in your back, spanning from the top of your hip bone all the way up to your arms and covering the width of your middle and lower back. Together, they look like the wings of a butterfly.
Their primary function is to stabilize the spine while providing strength to the shoulders and arms.
The lats muscles are used mostly in pulling motions, and they help us perform things like pull-ups, swimming, and even breathing. They also help extend, move, and rotate the shoulder joint, help keep the spine straight, and assist in sideways bending.
The dumbbell row primarily hits muscles on your back, but also improves core stability, while engaging muscles on your shoulder, biceps, and triceps.
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The dumbbell pullover is another great lat exercise. It is a classic bodybuilding exercise that works your chest and back at the same time; when done right, the dumbbell pullover hits everything from the bottom of your pecs to your abs, lats and triceps.
To perform a dumbbell pullover you’ll need a bench and a dumbbell. It’s recommended you grab a lighter dumbbell to begin with to learn the movement and test your range of motion (think upper-body version of an air squat).
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The landmine row is a barbell pulling exercise that builds significant upper body strength and muscle. As a heavy row, the exercise is incredibly effective for strengthening the lats muscles and shoulders, but also works the core and chest muscles.
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The bent over row is a popular exercise which improves strength in the upper and lower back, with a special emphasis on the lats and shoulders, and secondary recruitment of the glutes and hamstrings.
It is important to keep a proper stance throughout this lat exercise to avoid placing too much pressure on the lower back.
The Pendlay Row is a barbell back exercise originally named after American weightlifting coach . It is a rowing variation popular with strength athletes for its ability to develop the lats, upper and lower back muscles.
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Lat pulldowns are similar to pull-ups, but instead of pulling your body upwards, you perform this exercise seated and pull an external weight down in a similar motion.
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The cable row was specifically created to increase upper body strength and build your back muscles. While muscles like the erector spinea, the rhomboids, and the lower trapezius are targeted, the latissimus dorsi gets an incredible workout with the cable row too.
Primarily the T Bar Row is a back exercise and is an excellent fitness tool to help you build a powerful, strong, and muscular back and significant pulling strength. The primary muscles that are worked with this exercise are the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, and the posterior deltoid.
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Widening your grip during the pull-up will place a greater workload on the lats muscles; the wider the grip, the less help the lats get from other muscles.
However, be careful not to exaggerate this, as a high volume of wide grip pull-ups can place unwanted stress on the shoulders.
Negative pull-ups are performed in the same way as a regular pull-up, except you take 3-5 seconds to lower yourself. The motion should be done slowly and under control. You then jump back to the top position.
Push-ups can be done anywhere and are effective, as they activate many muscles at the same time. The push-up is not only a triceps, chest, and shoulder exercise, but works your back as well.
Concentrate on quality more than quantity when doing this bodyweight exercise. Make sure you also pay attention to your hip and legs positioning.
Not necessarily an exercise, but rowing is a great way to improve your conditioning while also working a vast number of muscles in your body, including your lats.
The best lat exercise will depend on your goals and what you enjoy doing, as you’re most likely to stick to what you like. If you want to isolate the lats muscles, then perform the lat pulldown, cable row, or the dumbbell row.
If you want to grow a bigger back overall, use wide grip pull-ups or bent over rows.
If you want to pack as much muscle as possible, then the T Bar row and Pendlay row are your friends.
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