7 Best Lat Workouts To Strengthen Your Back

The latissimus dorsi, also known as 'lats' or 'wings,' is a large muscle on the sides of your back.

This wide muscle helps pull your arms downward and rotate them outward, which is useful for pulling yourself up from a squat or swinging a baseball bat. When developing your workout regimen, don't forget about this under-appreciated body part.

Best Lat workouts for your back

Lat exercises help you build strength in your lats and improve your overall physique. On that note, here's a look at the seven best lat exercises you can do at the gym:

1) Lat Pull-Downs

This exercise can be done with a machine or with a barbell. It's done as follows:

Stand up straight, and hold the barbell or lat pulldown machine handle with an overhand grip, arms fully extended.
Pull the bar down toward your chest till you feel tension on your lats. Raise back to starting position without locking out your elbows at any point during this movement.
Breathe out as you lower the weight, and inhale as you raise it back up.
You should feel in your upper back muscles (lats) and forearms during this movement. If not, lighten your load, or try doing it without a spotter so that you can do all of the reps yourself.

2) Low Cable Row

Use a low cable row machine. Choose one that allows you to position your torso at a 45-degree angle in relation to the floor. Proceed as follows:

Use a wide grip. The wider your grip, the more muscles in your back will be activated, so grab hold of the bar with both hands about shoulder-width apart, and pull it toward your chest till it touches just below where you'd make contact if someone were reaching out to shake hands with you (at about nipple level).
Don't let momentum do all the work here; squeeze those glutes and hamstrings. Keep everything tight from head to toe: keep your back straight rather than rounded forward. Keep your elbows tucked in close to sides, and don't allow your shoulders or hips to rise in front of the bar as it approaches the chest.
Repeat ten times per set for 3-4 sets.

3) One-Arm Dumbbell Row

The one-arm dumbbell row is a great exercise for the lats, serratus muscles and rhomboids.

The one-arm dumbbell row is performed by holding on to a single dumbbell with one hand. The upper body should be kept as straight as possible throughout this movement to emphasise the latissimus dorsi muscle (lats).

The elbows should stay close to your sides throughout this movement; keep them tucked in at all times. To perform this exercise correctly, lift the weight up towards your chest till it makes contact with it.

Lower it back down again with control, and repeat on each side of your body till you have completed ten reps per side.

4) Reverse-Grip Pull-Downs

Reverse grip pulldowns are a great exercise to do if you want to work your upper back and biceps while also engaging your lats. Because of the reverse grip, you're able to target various muscles in your arms depending on which way you hold the bar.

Proceed as follows;

Hold the bar with an underhand grip that's slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Stand facing away from a high pulley machine, with legs shoulder-width apart and knees bent slightly at about 90 degrees.
Keeping your torso stationary, bend forward at the hips till it's parallel with the floor while keeping your arms straight throughout this movement (don't allow elbows to flare out).

This is where most people fail by bending too far forward, causing them to lose tension in their biceps and shoulders and strain their lower back muscles even more.

Not anybody can do this exercise. You'll need some strength before attempting this exercise, as it can be quite challenging for beginners.

5) Inverted Rows

Inverted rows are a great exercise for your lats and shoulders. You can do them on a pull-up bar, or if you don't have them, you can use two chairs instead (you'll need to lower yourself to the ground by bending your legs).

Traditionally, a medium grip is used here—that's where your hands are about shoulder-width apart on the bar. However, feel free to experiment with other grips as well - wide grip, narrow grip and close grip.

The closer together your hands are as you hold on to the bar/chair combo (or pull-up bar), the more difficult this exercise becomes, as it requires more strength from your biceps and forearms.

6) V-Pulls

V pulls are a great way to target your lats and serratus muscles. As they're a compound movement, they also work your shoulders, biceps, triceps and even glutes.

They're done as follows:

Set up on a lat pulldown machine with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart.
Pull the bar down to your chest in a controlled manner, making sure to keep your back straight and your chest up throughout the movement.

Slowly return to the starting position under control.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.

7) Barbell Rows

Barbell rows are a great exercise for your back. To do them, you'll need to use a barbell with weights at each end. You'll also need a bench in front of you; this isn't something you can do from the floor.

To perform this exercise correctly, keep your back straight, and pull the barbell to your chest while keeping your elbows tucked in. You can use either an overhand or underhand grip, but make sure it's shoulder-width.

Make sure not to use too narrow or wide a grip, as both can lead to injury if done incorrectly.

Takeaway

Lats are one of the most important muscles you can train, and having a set of well-built lats can add much depth to your physique.

It allows your waist to look slimmer and makes you look bigger by widening the back-to-hip ratio. Who doesn't want that? Try the aforementioned exercises and feel free to play around with the number of reps and sets.

You'll be rewarded with a pair of wings worthy of a place among Olympia-level bodybuilders in no time.

Edited by Bhargav