The latissimus dorsi, aka
"the lats.” This is an incredible muscle and, in my opinion, a
very important one. The lats are so large and powerful, yet often
neglected because they aren’t as “showy” as
other muscles like the pecs, biceps, and triceps. The main
anatomical function of the lats is extension, adduction, and
internal/medial rotation. The lats originate from the spinous
processes of the T7-L5 vertebrae, iliac crest, thoracolumbar fascia, lower 3 or
4 ribs, and inferior angle of the scapula. From there,
the insertion/attachment is in the bicipital groove of the humerus.
Simply put, the lat attaches to your lower vertebra, the crest of
your hips (on the back side), the last few ribs, and then inserts into your arm
bone up by the shoulder. This is quite an expansive muscle that spans a large
area of your body. Since the lats attach in the low back region
and travel the whole expanse of the trunk, they also act as a core stabilizer.
There’s a reason one of the requirements of setting up for big lifts like the
squat, bench, and deadlift is to contract your lats; this provides
more stability to the trunk when performing these lifts. More trunk stability,
equates to better force transfer. Two of the cues that I use to help engage
the lats during these lifts are to “bend the bar,” when performing
the bench and deadlift, and to think about “pulling your elbows into your back
pockets” when squatting. Performing these actions gives more stability to the
trunk, which will aid you in bigger and stronger lifts.
The lats also
act as a “humeral propeller.” Because they are a medial/internal rotator of the
shoulder, they function in ballistic movements, like throwing, and in
activities such as swimming, which require you to propel yourself through the
water. Just another reason besides trunk stability to have strong lats.
However,
the lats can cause some problems as well. One potential problem is
internally rotated-or rounded-shoulders. This issue is usually due to
tight lats from sitting all day in a hunched-over
posture. There are other muscles that contribute to this posture, but
the lats are a large component as well. I’ve talked
about this issue in a previous post, Don’t Be a Seated Chair Victim. If the lats are tight, they will contribute
to this poor posture and can cause shoulder dysfunction.
Some good ways to keep those late from getting tight include:
-Rolling the
with a lacrosse ball or foam roller
-Free
Hanging (like you were going to do a pullup but just hang there) or full range
of motion pullups (with a hang at the bottom)
-Prayer
stretch, with the elbows placed on a bench
So now that
we’ve covered how the lats work and how they can cause some problems,
how can you make them stronger?
Using
different variations of horizontal and vertical pulls is a good place to start.
I touched on vertical pulling in How to Increase Your Pullups.
Horizontal pulls are even more important, however, when it comes to posture.
Horizontal pulling will keep those shoulders from rounding forward and
counteract the seated posture that oh-so-many of us are stuck in all
day. Just a short list of some of my favorite back/lat exercises
include:
DB Rows
Pull Ups
T-Bar Rows
Inverted
Rows with varying grips
Lat Pulldowns
And yes,
there are many more lat/back exercises to choose from, with all their
variations. These are just a few general exercises to give you an idea for the
types of exercises to be doing. From there you can change tempos, add
accommodating resistance, perform them unilaterally (one arm at a time) or
bilaterally (both arms at the same time), and
tweak many more variables in order to add some variety to the lifts.
The lats are
a very important muscle when it comes to performance and training. Keep them
healthy and strong, and you’ll definitely see some benefit carry over to other
aspects of your training.
For consultation/personal training/coaching inquiries email:
ryangoodell@weightsandstuff.com
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