Lat Machine Pull-down To Nose

Take a medium-wide grip on the bar, just beyond shoulder width. Too wide a grip limits the degree of movement. You’ve always been taught to pull the bar all the way to your chest. It’s time to unlearn this. By doing that, you limit your poundage to the amount you can bring down that far, working only the weaker aspect of that muscle. By pulling to your nose, you can pull much more weight, working the strong outer area of the lats, packing on tremendous size and width.

Cross Pulley Lat Pull-downs

With this exercise, we complete the movement we started in the first exercise. Stand between the cross-pulley holding the upper handles. Pull your elbows to the sides of your body. Hold for 1/2 second, return slowly. The combination of this and the pull-downs to the nose provides you with a much larger range of movement than a standard pull-down to the chest. The elbows come much closer to the sides, bringing out that stubborn lower lat width.

45 Degree Row

If your gym doesn’t have a seated pulley slightly above your head, you can do this on a seated lat machine leaning back. Use a close grip handle. The first two exercises worked the first function of the back muscles, bringing the arms down to your sides. This one works the second function, bringing the arms down in front of you. The pullover machine utilizes a similar movement. Keep your back straight. Pull the handles to your solar plexus. Not only does this exercise work the inner area of the upper back, but widens it as well by working the infraspinatus under the armpits.

Low Pulley Row

You can also do this on a lever row, raising the seat. While the 45 degree row worked this angle along with the upper front pull, you have more strength from this position and can add thickness to the inner lower lats by isolating the area.

Hyper-extensions

This and the lower back machine where you sit back against a padded arm, are the best exercises for working the erector muscles without undue strain on the spinal structure. While dead lifts, stiff-legged dead lifts; and good-mornings are great strength builders, they should never be done by those with existing or previous lower back injuries. Hyper-extensions also tighten and tone the glutes muscles. Be careful no to hyper-extend too much.