A little trick for the lats

[Lifeforce]

When you lift rows and pull-downs, your arms are supposed to be hooks. You shouldn't use the arms in the lifts. You've probably heard this before and if you have trouble with arms getting tired before you get tired in the lats then this post is for you.

I've been looking around the gym and I've never seen anyone perform this. When you grip the pull-down bar or the barbell/dumbell when doing rows do not slip the thumb around and grasp it completly. Instead just hold the bar with your four other fingers. By doing this your fingers will work as hooks alot easier than if you would slip your thumb around. I guarantee you will feel your lats working alot more.

 

[WC2]

Good advice. I've been a meathead for 5 years and I never even considered that.

 

[wayword]

Also keep your hands TOGETHER instead of spread wide APART.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

Keep your hands together? I prefer a shoulder width split between my hands. Maybe if you're doing close grips, that could be, but even then, together may be a little akward.

 

[speed dawg]

Also keep your hands TOGETHER instead of spread wide APART.

Absolutely the opposite. Go wide to get wide. The closer your hands are together the more your arms will be involved. My lats respond to wider grips.

Also, another tip I've heard Jay Cutler say is to concentrate hard on the muscle you're working. Concentrate on lifting the weight with your back.

 

[chaosphere]

Also, another tip I've heard Jay Cutler say is to concentrate hard on the muscle you're working.

I find that this is good advice regardless of the muscle set you're trying to work. I always do this and I feel like it helps my form tremendously.

 

[Warboss Alex]

I disagree - using a thumbless hook grip you're limiting the potential load and thus potential growth. Once your weights get up there you won't be able to help but use the back to pull/row with because there's no way your arms alone could heft 300lbs for 8 on the bb row. Strap up fellas and train grip seperate.

 

[Lifeforce]

I disagree - using a thumbless hook grip you're limiting the potential load and thus potential growth. Once your weights get up there you won't be able to help but use the back to pull/row with because there's no way your arms alone could heft 300lbs for 8 on the bb row. Strap up fellas and train grip seperate.

When you lift rows and pull-downs, your arms are supposed to be hooks. You shouldn't use the arms in the lifts. You've probably heard this before and if you have trouble with arms getting tired before you get tired in the lats then this post is for you.

Besides you can always use straps with hook grip. Using more load is worthless if you can't workout the correct muscles. And you are probably stronger than you think in your grip anyway. Try it out with straps and see what you think. I showed a friend of mine this and he was amazed of how much more he felt the lats working.

Thanks for the feedback. I'd go with arms appart. As someone already said you work your arms more if you keep a close grip.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Besides you can always use straps with hook grip. Using more load is worthless if you can't workout the correct muscles. And you are probably stronger than you think in your grip anyway. Try it out with straps and see what you think. I showed a friend of mine this and he was amazed of how much more he felt the lats working.

Thanks for the feedback. I'd go with arms appart. As someone already said you work your arms more if you keep a close grip.

I think we're talking about something different Lifeforce, if you're saying someone whose arms get tired before their lats, you're advising using this strapless hook grip? Sorry, it's late and I've had a long week.

In any case my row was stuck firmly in the 50-60kg range when I just used my hands. When I strapped up I hit a 120kg row for reps a matter of months later - and yes I felt it in my back thank you.

 

[speed dawg]

I think we're talking about something different Lifeforce, if you're saying someone whose arms get tired before their lats, you're advising using this strapless hook grip? Sorry, it's late and I've had a long week.

In any case my row was stuck firmly in the 50-60kg range when I just used my hands. When I strapped up I hit a 120kg row for reps a matter of months later - and yes I felt it in my back thank you.

I agree to an extent. I consider forearms/grip to be as core as abs/lowerback/hips. I want all my stabilizer muscles to be able to handle weight, thus preventing injury. Of course, I'm not a "bodybuilder" either, I'm looking for strength and hard, full muscles. I've injured shoulders and such badly by going overboard with weight that my actual muscle I was targeting could handle, but my stabilizers and joints could not.

I say never progress with straps until all your joints/grip have matched the strength of the lats. The reason I say this is that my injuries have set me back tremendously.

Edited to add: I also believe in an equal push/pull strength, so in a way, your bench press is limited my how much you can row, aka your grip. I do this strictly to prevent shoulder injuries, which suck big time.

 

[wunnaBsmooth]

Huh?

Please don't flame me, I'm still new to working out any part of my body....
But
How do you do a bent row with your arms already bent? That's not producing a lot of movement...... Something I'm missing? Maybe my lats could have been coming along better if I knew how this is done.... Looks like I'll have to try on the next work out.......

 

[Skilla_Staz]

It's called a Bent Over Row.

Generally, people tend to stand. The positioning of your body is very similar to that of the starting position of romanian deadlifts.

 

[wunnaBsmooth]

It's called a Bent Over Row.

Generally, people tend to stand. The positioning of your body is very similar to that of the starting position of romanian deadlifts.

Thanks for the clarification on the name....
That looks similar to what I'm already doing, but I don't have those straps on the wrists AND I don't have a bench that allows me to lay on my belly like that.

Is it possible to do these effectively while bending over?

Thanks for the Link to vid Skilla_Staz! A picture really is w
rth a thousand words.....

 

[Lifeforce]

Thanks for the clarification on the name....
That looks similar to what I'm already doing, but I don't have those straps on the wrists AND I don't have a bench that allows me to lay on my belly like that.

Is it possible to do these effectively while bending over?

Thanks for the Link to vid Skilla_Staz! A picture really is w
rth a thousand words.....

They are most often done while standing and bending over. =)

 

[Skilla_Staz]

Is it possible to do these effectively while bending over?

Yes, that would explain why I said someting along these lines...

Generally, people tend to stand. The positioning of your body is very similar to that of the starting position of romanian deadlifts.

That would also explain why they are called "Bent Over" rows.

 

[wunnaBsmooth]

thanks

I knew that they were called bent over rows. And I've been doing them as you described, I just haven't ever talked with anyone about them before. I wanted to be sure I was doing them correctly.....
And since there are so many people here who know more about lifting than I do, you seemed like logical person to ask about these things.

Should I get those straps like in the vid? What are they?

I hope you don't think I'm a complete dork about this. I have only been working out since January and have made some real changes in my body since then. So it's definately working.

Maybe I'll post my routine and see what you all think about it. Maybe I can make more gains than I currently am seeing......

Thanks again.

 

[Lifeforce]

Never Change what works WBS. Straps is a matter of taste, get them if you feel you need them.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

I personally don't like straps. They should only be used when pulling around extremely heavy weight, such as during deadlifts and such. I highly doubt that you need to worry about straps, if you just started working out.

 

[mrRuckus]

I personally don't like straps. They should only be used when pulling around extremely heavy weight, such as during deadlifts and such. I highly doubt that you need to worry about straps, if you just started working out.

I use straps because I'm not going to miss out on reps for my back because my grip gave out. I'm not doing deadlifts for forearms.

And what's the difference if your grip strength is always just a little bit behind your deadlift/row strength if you're always using the straps anyway? Your grip will keep improving regardless as the weight goes up. It's not like the straps carry all the weight for you.