The REAL Reason Your Lats Won't Grow!

By ATHLEAN-X

SAFE & EFFECTIVE TRAINING THAT YIELDS UNDENIABLE RESULTS

The REAL Reason Your Lats Won't Grow!

Source: YouTube
Nov 13, 2022
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About This Class

If you ever wondered what the real reason your lats won’t grow is, this is a must watch video. Here I am going to show you what you likely have been and have not been doing when it comes to your back training that is leading to you not getting the back gains that you’re looking for. With just some simple modifications to your workouts, you will be on your way to building bigger lats.

The first thing you have probably been doing when it comes to your back workouts is that you’ve only been lifting heavy weights. This usually comes in the forms of rows, lat pulldowns, and weighted pullups. There’s nothing wrong with performing these exercises with heavier weights, but you are likely relying on something that comes with the heavy weight, especially in back training, and that is momentum.

Momentum is easy to take advantage of with back training in comparison to pushing exercises such as the bench press or a seated overhead press. In those two cases, if you can’t push the weight up, it’s not going anywhere. With a row or lat pulldown, you can use some body english and momentum to move that weight when you normally might not be able to.

While this can be helpful for building top end strength in the lifts that require it and may have given you some size to go along with that strength, the size of your lats might not have reached their full potential yet. This likely also has to do with the fact that you are also cutting short the range of motion in order to be able to manipulate that weight in space.

So, knowing that we are limiting our lat development based on the use of momentum and a shortened range of motion, we can introduce ways to fix these shortcomings.

First, let’s look at decreasing the weight we are using with our back workouts. While you might think that lowering the weight is counterintuitive, it’s actually going to be more beneficial than you realize. By lowering the weight, you will be able to have better command of it in space to create a greater stretch and contraction - realizing the benefits of full range of motion. With full range of motion of the lats, you can better unlock muscle growth by tapping not into just a greater contraction, but also achieving a greater stretch.

Now, when it comes to using lighter weights with your back workouts, it becomes even more essential that you start training your lats to failure in the higher rep ranges. I’ve mentioned before that as the rep range increases to include more than 12 reps, the more important it is that you train to failure on that exercise. Doing so will actually lead to better gains and more hypertrophy in the muscles you are trying to target.

We can also modify our training to not only include lighter weights, but utilize exercises that take your lats through full range of motion. The first exercise I like to mention is the rocking lat pulldown. This unilateral version of a standard pulldown allows for a greater contraction of the lats by being able to abduct the target arm.

The kneeling one armed pulldown is another great unilateral option for targeting the lats that will require even lighter weight to be used since you don’t have the assistance of the other arm to initiate the movement like you do in the rocking pulldown.

Next, we have the one arm high cable row (of my favorite back exercises of all time). Not only does this exercise allow you to target one side at a time, but the nature of the exercise takes you through full range of motion and a hard contraction with the elbow tight against the body as well allowing you put the muscle on full stretch at the top of each rep.

Another exercise option for your next back workout is the straight arm pushdown. Another exercise that allows you to target the lats effectively through a good contraction and allowing for the lats to be put on stretch at the top end in the range of motion while sitting the hips back. A slight tweak you can make to this exercise to further enhance the stretch on the lats is to simply perform this exercise in a kneeling position.

Lastly, an alternative to the standard pulldown to grow your lats is the underhanded version. Simply changing the orientation of your hands on the bar is enough to create to accentuate the stretch that you get on the lats at the top of the rep - again, going after that range of motion!

If you are looking for a complete workout program that help you to build bigger lats if you struggle to build them now, then be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below and use the program selector to find the training plan that matches your exact goals now.

If you’re looking for more videos on how to build a bigger back, be sure to click on the link below to subscribe to this channel here on YouTube and remember to turn on your notifications so that you never miss a new video when it’s published.

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Meet Your Teacher

ATHLEAN-X

SAFE & EFFECTIVE TRAINING THAT YIELDS UNDENIABLE RESULTS

THE ATHLEAN-X CREATOR JEFF CAVALIERE

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the Head Physical Therapist and Assistant Strength Coach for the New York Mets during the National League East Championship 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons and coached some of the game’s most accomplished players including future hall of fame pitchers Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, and perennial all-stars Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Billy Wagner to name just a few. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Jeff received his Masters Degree in Physical Therapy and Bachelor of Science in Physioneurobiology / Premedicine from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT (one of the top 5 universities in the country in physical therapy and sports medicine). Off the field, Cavaliere is a much sought after author and lecturer, speaking on the topics of baseball injury prevention and sport specific conditioning and has appeared numerous times in print media writing (including many of the top Fitness Magazines) on the topics of sports training, injury rehabilitation and prevention. Consistent with his desire to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of creating the “complete and functional athlete”, Cavaliere also possesses an extensive knowledge of nutrition that he has simplified for the masses and both practices and preaches with outstanding results.

PUTTING THE SCIENCE BACK IN STRENGTH

In the weight room Jeff is known for his unique and cutting edge approaches to functional strength and conditioning and has been called the actual “brains behind the brawn” for putting real muscle science back into training. Cavaliere’s physical therapy background is his greatest asset and what separates him from most all other trainers, as it provides him with the ability to apply his knowledge of bio mechanics, muscle anatomy and function in order to create some of the most effective (and often never before seen) exercise combos and programs around…while prioritizing safety and injury prevention always. His creativity and credentials are second to none in the game. When the goal is reaching peak performance and maximizing all that the body has to offer, Jeff is at the very top of the game.

OUTSIDE THE WEIGHT ROOM WALLS

Outside the gym, Cavaliere is an accomplished author having penned both the Major League Insider Training Manual (a strength and conditioning must for all professional baseball players and aspiring pros alike) and the Teen Sports Nutrition Blueprint (an insightful look at the worrying state of youth nutrition and childhood obesity…and more importantly…solutions to change this!)

Amongst his peers, Jeff is recognized as a respected authority who never lets ego stand in the way of education and continued learning which helps him to stay on the cutting edge of his field of expertise.

ATHLEAN IN EVERYONE

Cavaliere realizes that not everyone that steps into a gym has athletic aspirations, but finds that there isn’t a guy around that wouldn’t want to have a ripped, athletic body. Taking the exact methods and techniques used to forge some of the greatest, most explosive and strongest physiques in pro sports and now applying it to you…Jeff has now made it possible for everyone to look like athletes with his complete ATHLEAN-X Training System. If you want to unleash your inner athlete, build sculpted muscle head to toe, and finally get that shredded core…then it’s time to join the rest of TEAM ATHLEAN and get started today.

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