6 Moves for Sick Lats
Pulldowns will only get you so far. Vary your pullup repertoire to build a wide, muscular back.
2 of 7 1. WIDE-GRIP PULL-UP .
The emphasis: Upper lats, teres major
The breakdown: The king of the pulls, this exercise targets the lats from top to bottom but really emphasizes the top third, which makes it ideal as a width-builder. Due to the wide grip, the range of motion is often shorter than most pulls. However, you owe it to yourself to get as many reps as you can pulling as high as you can on each rep, the goal being to get your upper chest as close to the bar as possible before squeezing your shoulder blades together. Because your arm angle stays pretty open during this move, the contribution from the biceps is minimized.
The plan: This was one of Arnold’s favorite exercises for building wide-flared lats. Because he was pulling around 230 pounds to the bar, he would simply pick a number – say, 50 – and complete as many sets to failure as was necessary to reach that number. The fewer the sets it takes to reach that number, the better. In the 50-rep scenario, once you can reach your goal in five sets or less, it’s time to add weight.
SEE ALSO: 6 Moves for Sick Lats
The emphasis: Upper lats, teres major
The breakdown: The king of the pulls, this exercise targets the lats from top to bottom but really emphasizes the top third, which makes it ideal as a width-builder. Due to the wide grip, the range of motion is often shorter than most pulls. However, you owe it to yourself to get as many reps as you can pulling as high as you can on each rep, the goal being to get your upper chest as close to the bar as possible before squeezing your shoulder blades together. Because your arm angle stays pretty open during this move, the contribution from the biceps is minimized.
The plan: This was one of Arnold’s favorite exercises for building wide-flared lats. Because he was pulling around 230 pounds to the bar, he would simply pick a number – say, 50 – and complete as many sets to failure as was necessary to reach that number. The fewer the sets it takes to reach that number, the better. In the 50-rep scenario, once you can reach your goal in five sets or less, it’s time to add weight.
SEE ALSO: 6 Moves for Sick Lats
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