If you
have a hard time feeling your back working
or if you're interesting really getting
wider lats, you're going to LOVE this
exercise. It'll trash your lats like crazy!
It's a very
simple concept - basically, you're going
to be doing a pulldown movement...but
instead of sitting in a pulldown machine
and doing them with a vertical body position,
you're going to be lying on a decline
bench and pulling the low cable forward
and up.
Hard to
explain with just words but the pictures
will show it well.
This one
combines the benefits of the pulldown
movement with the stretch of the pullover
movement for the lats. It's a great overall
lat developer.
First, set
the decline bench in front of the low
pulley. I like the V bar for this one
but you could also use a straight bar
handle, too.
Make sure
the bench is a few feet from the cable
so you have to reach fully overhead to
grab the handle (this allows you to get
the stretch on every rep).
Lie back
on the bench, reach overhead and grab
the handle.
Now, using
a standard pulldown type of movement,
pull the handle towards your abdomen.
Pull the
handle forward as far as you can (generally
until it reaches about mid-chest level).
Squeeze hard then lower it slowly back
to the start position.
Let the
weight pull a good stretch onto your lats
at the bottom. You'll find as you're doing
the movement, this cable position and
your body angle keep the tension on the
lats from start to finish. You don't need
a heavy weight to rip up the lats good
on this exercise.
Go for at
least 8 to 12 reps per set on this exercise
- it's a "feel" based exercise
rather than a power-based exercise.
