Home remedies for lats?

[BearTrap]

I'm about to move soon and have had my gym membership expire. Is there anyway I can develop my lats again besides finding a pull-up bar?
It's as though I'm going to start lying down on a plywood with wheels and pull myself towards and away from my bedpost.
Necessity calls for desperate measures.

 

[IronMikeTyson69]

2 dumbell , side lat raises

 

[deadlyshaolin]

If you have access to a pool, swim sprint freestyle or butterfly. Your lats and shoulders will develop nicely.

Do bent-over rows by lifting the end of your bed.

 

[KOU In3]

2 dumbell , side lat raises

That works the shoulders not 'lats'.

Side 'lat' raise... 'lat' = lateral (meaning to the side)
Working your lats... 'lat' = latissimus dorsi (back muscle)

 

[IronMikeTyson69]

Not if u focus on putting pressure on the lats .

 

[dogmai]

Pushups work the lats a bit as well, and you can never do enough pushups

 

[KOU In3]

Not if u focus on putting pressure on the lats .

Again... NO. Dumbell lateral raises use the deltoid to pull the arm upward. Your lats are used to pull things towards your body. The motion against the weight just isn't there to work your lats by raising a dumbell. Now, bent over and rowing that same dumbell would give you some lat work.

But a side lateral raise will not work your lats. You need to learn how muscles function.

 

[toetagga]

If you have a punchbag, take it down, twist up a towel and do chins from whatever you were hanging the bag from. I bought a spare wall bracket for this purpose - somewhat easier to install than a bar.

 

[Resident A-hole]

You best bet is bent rows, if you can't do pull-ups. If you have a barbell or even anything heavy if you dont. Lifting the end of your bad like someone suggested will work too, al;though not ideal. Put some weight on the end to make it harder. The wider you grip, the more you focus on your lats (outer back muscles) & less on rhomboids (inner back muscles). Keep your back straight throughout the movement, a rounded back is the #1 way people do rows wrong- also easy to get injured that way.

No- pushups do not work your lat muscles, that is ridiculous.

 

[IronMikeTyson69]

Dips

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Again... NO. Dumbell lateral raises use the deltoid to pull the arm upward. Your lats are used to pull things towards your body. The motion against the weight just isn't there to work your lats by raising a dumbell. Now, bent over and rowing that same dumbell would give you some lat work.

But a side lateral raise will not work your lats. You need to learn how muscles function.

KOU, I'm here as backup in case he tries to disagree with you again. Rear lateral = deltoids. Rear lateral with focus on lats = row.

Yesterday, I did bench press, but instead of lying on my back, I sat upright, and instead of pushing the weight perpendicular to my body, I pushed it overhead. Funny that I couldn't really feel it in my pec's... I thought bench press was supposed to be a chest excercise.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Dips

OK, IronMike, are you serious or just f%#king around. Dips are not a back excercise, either. Have you tried them? I do them for chest or triceps, depending on how I focus the movement. Shoulders are involved, too, but definitely not back.

 

[IronMikeTyson69]

Work chest lats and triceps dips do and yes im serious

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Work chest lats and triceps dips do and yes im serious

No they don't, I promise. Don't answer questions if you don't know. Check the link... chest, triceps, anterior (front) deltoids. If you can do a dip using your lats, then you're some sort of odd mutation where lats aren't really what the rest of us know lats to be.

http://www.myfit.ca/exercisedatabase/viewanexercise.asp?table=exercises&ID=3

 

[K-Dogg]

Work chest lats and triceps dips do and yes im serious

idiot

 

[mmagic]

2 dumbell , side lat raises

No.

If you have access to a pool, swim sprint freestyle or butterfly. Your lats and shoulders will develop nicely.

Better than nothing, but not by a whole lot. Swimming is vastly different from weight lifting.

Pushups work the lats a bit as well, and you can never do enough pushups

If you are doing pushups where your lats are worked considerably, you are doing them wrong.

If you have a punchbag, take it down, twist up a towel and do chins from whatever you were hanging the bag from.

Yes.

KOU, I'm here as backup in case he tries to disagree with you again. Rear lateral = deltoids. Rear lateral with focus on lats = row.

What the hell are you talking about? What is a "rear lateral"? A lateral is not a muscle, it is a move. If you bend over and perform a dumbell lateral raise, it's just a bent lateral, and it will not target your latissimus muscles. Get a clue.

Anyway, yes, the dips will hit your lats somewhat. If you doubt this, try doing several back moves and then doing some dips. You will feel it. I would not, however, recommend performing dips as a method of working your lats. They are not the primary mover in the exercise by any means.

Please either get a pullup bar, perform pullups hanging with a towel or chain, acquire some dumbells and do bent dumbell rows, acquire a barbell and do bent barbell rows, or something similar. Do not lift your bed... you probably can't get a natural grip on it and you will just end up stressing out your lower back.

It is amazing how much bad advice some of you guys can pack into one thread.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

What the hell are you talking about? What is a "rear lateral"? A lateral is not a muscle, it is a move. If you bend over and perform a dumbell lateral raise, it's just a bent lateral, and it will not target your latissimus muscles. Get a clue.

I know it's not a muscle, you jackass. It's a movement, same as a bent lateral, as you refer to it. If you doubt that it's often referred to as a "rear lateral", just google it. By saying "rear lateral = deltoids" I was trying to point out that that's the muscle they work. By saying "rear lateral with emphasis on lats = row", I was pointing out that it's not a rear (bent) lateral at all, but rather, a row, if you feel it in your back. I understand, however, if you're lacking in the reading comprehension department.

Anyway, yes, the dips will hit your lats somewhat.

You're absolutely wrong on this. If you insist on the fact that they do, I invite you to describe the actual dynamic movement that takes place when your lats are assisting in pushing you up off the bars. Oh wait... I just thought of something. You didn't think you were supposed to hang from the dip bars, did you? You should really get a clue.

Anyways, next time you feel like responding in ass-like fashion, first, go back and read the post you're responding to a few times until you're sure you understand it.

 

[mmagic]

By saying "rear lateral with emphasis on lats = row", I was pointing out that it's not a rear (bent) lateral at all, but rather, a row, if you feel it in your back.

The lateral raise is not a back move. It is a shoulder move.

You're absolutely wrong on this. If you insist on the fact that they do, I invite you to describe the actual dynamic movement that takes place when your lats are assisting in pushing you up off the bars. Oh wait... I just thought of something. You didn't think you were supposed to hang from the dip bars, did you?

I will be happy to describe the motion, in fact. In clarification, when I speak of the "lats" I refer to not only the latissimus dorsi muscle but also the teres major and minor muscles per convention. The dip, when properly performed, creates a lever tension between the latissimus muscles and the triceps muscles. In effect, when you hoist yourself up, you are pinching with those two areas. Since the triceps are earlier in the chain and less powerful than the lats, you will engage your triceps most strenuously in the exercise.

Note that the width of your hands will greatly affect how much you use your lats. On one extreme, if you turned your elbows out so that they were parallel to each other, you wouldn't use your lats as much; On the other extreme, if you bring your shoulder blades close together and perform the movement with your wrists close to your body, you'll use your lats quite a bit. The dips bars that I use generally leave my elbows at roughly the same distance as my shoulders, forming a 90 degree angle with my torso from above, so my lats are still noticably engaged. Also, I usually do dips after a series of intense back exercises, so this makes it more noticable to me. Sometimes you will see dips stations with handles that can be rotated inwards or outwards -- you will find the difference in latissimus engagement tangible.

The notion that the lats are not engaged in this movement is often part of the classic misconception that they are strictly "pulling" muscles.

I'd like to reiterate that I am not advocating the use of dips as a primary back exercise.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

The lateral raise is not a back move. It is a shoulder move.

...as I've stated twice now. How is it that you think I'm saying it's a back move? I was correcting IronMike in that if he's doing a lateral raise and he's feeling it in his lats, then he isn't really doing a lateral raise -- he's doing a row. Make sense now?

As far as the rest of it, at least you were a bit less hostile this time. I still contend that when dips are done correctly, the lats are so minimally involved in the movement that their effort is negligible. Anyhow, I respect the fact that you took the time to describe how lats CAN be involved. However, as a tricep/lower chest excercise, you can remove lat effort altogether. I understand you're not recommending dips for lats, so it really doesn't matter. Moot point and I'm done now.

 

[mmagic]

...as I've stated twice now. How is it that you think I'm saying it's a back move? I was correcting IronMike in that if he's doing a lateral raise and he's feeling it in his lats, then he isn't really doing a lateral raise -- he's doing a row. Make sense now?

Oh, I am actually agreeing with you there. My bad.

Also, as you alluded I forgot to mention that dips are also affected by which direction you tilt your body with respect to the ground. Obviously if you tilt yourself backwards you will use your back more, and if you tilt forward you will use your chest more. It is a pretty dubious chest exercise, though.