5 Great Lower Lats Exercises for Men to Build a Thicker Back

Lower lats exercises focus on muscle groups that are frequently overlooked.

The "back" is typically viewed as one muscle by most people. Therefore, people haphazardly throw in a back workout without giving a thought for each muscle group.

Large lats have two main benefits: They make you seem bulky in sweaters and support your spine during squats, deadlifts, and bench presses.

However, because we don't use our lats a lot during regular activities, targeting them with lower lats exercises might be challenging for many lifters. As many people restrict the range of motion in their upper-body pulling movements, lower lats in particular are frequently underdeveloped.

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Best Lower Lats Exercises

Due to the higher mechanical advantage with arm extensions that straight arm pulldowns offer, they are considered the finest lower lats exercises by old school bodybuilders.

The top five lower lats exercises for strengthening, esthetics, and general back development are shown below.

1. Standing Lats Pulldown

Pulling down from a standing position substitutes a more core-intensive version of the rigorous, locked-in pulldown that isolates the lats in this lower lats exercise.

Here’s how you should do it:

• With one foot elevated on the edge of the seat in front of the lats pulldown equipment, grab the bar with a broad overhand grip.
• Lean back about 30 degrees and keep your other foot firmly planted on the floor.
• By tightening your back muscles, you may draw a bar to your middle and lower chest while maintaining a stable torso.
• Squeeze to feel the contraction, then slowly turn the motion around to get your arms back out in front of you.

2. Decline Dumbbell Pull-Over

Unlike the flat-bench pull-over, which puts greater emphasis on the chest, this lower lats exercise works intensively on the lats.

Here’s how you should do it:

• Set a single dumbbell on the floor at the base of the bench with a roughly 45-degree descent.
• Reach back for the weight and cross your legs under the rest.
• While keeping your elbows unlocked and largely stationary during the movement, your arms should be almost straight.
• With your lats as the primary muscle group to use, raise the weight to a point just above your chest.

3. Single-Arm Cable Row

In this lower lats exercise, a D-handle is used in place of the close-grip handle bar, allowing you to train each side separately.

Here’s how you should do it:

• With your legs bent and your back slightly arched, sit up straight as though you were performing a seated cable row.
• With one hand holding the handle, move your elbow as far back as you can without turning your body to one side.
• Draw your shoulder blade back and strain your middle-back muscles for a short while before letting the weight pull your arm back to the starting position.

4. Suspension Trainer Lat Pull-Up

Although the pulldown technique is exactly the same, this lower lats exercise is entirely bodyweight based.

Here’s how you should do it:

• With your legs stretched out in front of you and your heels flat on the ground with your toes lifted up, hang from the suspended straps with your arms completely extended above, with your butt barely off the floor.
• Using your lats to pull your body straight up and towards the ceiling while keeping an overhand grasp with your hands precisely above your hips.
• Spread your hands wide and move your head between them as you do this.
• Squeeze your lats tightly once your hands are directly above your shoulders, and then lower yourself back to where you were before.

5. Seated Band Row

The lats are kept constantly contracted and your body is in the perfect position without any constraints (think bar path) that dumbbells and barbells can lock you into when you perform this lower lats exercise. When performing sitting band rows, it's important to keep your shoulders externally rotated, maintain a modest scapular depression, and concentrate on engaging your lats rather than your traps.

Here's how you should do it:

• With your legs outstretched, sit on the ground.
• Holding one end of the resistance band in each hand, wrap it around the center of each foot.
• Maintain a straight back, raise your arms to full extension, and then raise your elbows till they pass your torso.
• Your elbows should be tucked down at your side to further target your lower lats.

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Wrapping Up

Before engaging in any upper or lower body exercise, the bigger lats must receive blood flow and be activated. When you stand or sit with rounded shoulders, your lats are frequently uncomfortable or tight. Both will have an impact on the shoulder joint's flexibility.

The light work sets of 12–15 repetitions of the five exercises described are effective for activation.