Strickland Fitness

Back, not Bi’s!

There is one common mistake people make when training their back. That mistake is that they are not usually training their back even when doing exercises for the back. Let’s look at the Lat pull down. This exercise is used to train a large muscle in the back called the Latissimus Dorsi (Lat). The Lat is responsible for shoulder extension, adduction, and rotation. It also plays a role in the extension and lateral flexion of the spine. Now when we sit down at the Lat pull down machine, we know we should be lowering the bar TO THE FRONT OF OUR CHIN (not behind the head) and releasing it back up, thus working our Lats. After all, it is a Lat exercise. What normally happens is we don’t even get the Lats firing and end up using our arms to complete the action. We use our arms everyday so we know how to get those muscles firing. With the arms doing most of the work, we are now doing a variation of a bicep curl. Ever do a back exercise and wonder why your arms are tired and you don’t really feel anything in the back? The arms are working harder than the back. Let’s solve that problem.

We will use the Lat pull down again for our example. You are sitting at the machine, your back is straight and not arched and you have your arms fully extended above your head gripping the bar. As you begin to pull the bar down in front of your chin, concentrate on pulling your shoulder blades down into your back pocket. You should feel your shoulders drop down as well. This action of dropping your shoulder blades will activate your Lats. Keep them dropping as you bring the bar down to your chin bending at the elbows. Now as you begin to slowly release the bar back to the original position of arms above the head, don’t let the shoulder blades leave your back pocket. Try and keep them down until you have reached the starting position. At this point you can release your shoulder blades and prepare for the next rep. It should take 2 seconds to pull the bar down (positive motion) and 4 seconds to bring the bar back to its original spot (negative motion).

You will feel your arms working because they are helper muscles in this exercise. The real burn should be in the back. Concentrate on this concept and you will be well on your way to the perfect “V” shape.

Tags: back exercises, exercises, fitness, hermosa beach personal trainer, los angeles personal trainer, manhattan beach personal trainer, personal trainer, Weight Loss   Posted in Back, Upper Body Exercises