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Strength coach and Athlean-X founder Jeff Cavaliere C.S.C.S. helps people train smarter by sharing how the most effective, “essential” exercises they should be performing in order to build strength and muscle, from butt to biceps. In a new YouTube video, he demonstrates how to grow your lats using two moves in concert with each other.
Cavaliere begins with the kneeling single-arm pulldown, a variation which creates maximum stretch in the muscle and allows you to go through a full range of motion. “By kneeling, I’m able to get my arm not just overhead, but also taking the attachment point specifically of the arm and the hip as far away from each other as I possibly can,” he explains. “When trying to build the upper, outer portion of the lats, the vertical pulling exercises are going to be your best bet.”
Cavaliere recommends using a pronated grip on this exercise in order to reduce the amount that the bicep is contributing to the movement. You should also keep your elbow fixed in place, otherwise this becomes more of a curling motion.
When it comes to the inner portion of the lats, which are responsible for pulling the arm back towards the body, Cavaliere prescribes a rowing motion: specifically, the barbell row. “I don’t know many exercises that do a better job of building the lats than a row,” he says. “The one limitation is that you don’t have the full range of motion that you did on the pulldown, but these are meant to compliment each other perfectly. What you are getting is that all-important secondary function of the lats.”
If you have pain in your back that makes doing a barbell row uncomfortable or impractical, there are alternative versions that you can try, such as a chest-supported row. “It gives you a chance to reap the benefits of the exercise without having to sacrifice one of the only two exercises that you need to do,” says Cavaliere.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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