If you answer yes to either then you should definitely read on:

1) When you work lats and upper back do your biceps and brachialis pump more than your target (lats) muscle group?

2) Do you have good or superior lat development but have not been able to add thickness and width in this area for a long time?

It has been both my observation and experience that there are way too many bodybuilders, competitive and backyard variety included that sport good looking arm and delt development, but lack equal lat and or pec mass. The problem should be obvious to any thinking individual. Most lat and pec work revolves around chins, rows, pulldowns, bench work, and dips, etc. This relegates the lats or pecs to secondary stimulation, the ARMS being the primary movers and subsequently they reap most of the benefit of these valuable but imperfect exercises, at least imperfect for what they are intended.

This is not to say that some awesome lattissimus has not been spawned from heavy rows and good old wide grip chins, but these same impressive backs usually belong to the genetically “very gifted” who probably would have gotten a wide back from chopping down trees or digging graves.

In fact I knew of one lucky bastard that didn’t even work his back and it was great, I mean it actually responded from doing benches and curls. Unfortunately most of us are not so lucky and upper back work can be both tiresome and frustrating and many a lad has given up on doing any serious training for this area, which is always a great mistake since the lats are potentially the largest muscles in the upper body and will always cause an indirect growth stimulus to the entire upper body muscle assembly.

In fact, the v taper and chest to waist differential acquired from fully developed lats is synonymous with “bodybuilder”. Even those of you reading this who has fine lat development occasionally need something new to “shock these powerful muscles to new levels of size.

I have experimented for many years on myself and on countless pupils utilizing “pre-exhaustion” methods for working lats, in as much as this method is ideally suited for lat training. I hesitate to bore the more understanding readers here with further explanation as to why this is so.

Most advanced and even intermediate trainees understand the basic shortcomings of most conventional lat exercises and why some form of pre-exhaust type methods are invaluable for this muscle group. There are many ways to utilize pre-exhaustion for lat work, both general and specific, (if you want a complete rundown on this you will have to contact me via Mick), time and space does not allow for it here.

I am going to share with you readers one of three or four of the most productive, time efficient and “somewhat” comfortable pre-exhaust lat “hammer” routines ever devised. I say “comfortable” in that this should not make a reasonably conditioned athlete vomit on first try.

Before attempting this particular “sledgehammer” pre-exhaust tri-set (yes, tri as in three consecutive movements) it is strongly recommended to include some moderate intensity upper back work beforehand in your general back workout. A couple “work” sets of a general type back movement such as medium-wide grip pulldowns or chins or even pulley row done to about 90-95% failure or even some moderately heavy standard dead lifts if you are also doing some lower body work that day will work nicely.

Just do a minimum of warm-up and 1-3 work sets at most, so you will be relatively fresh for the lat “hammering” (remember we are attacking these powerful muscles with a nine pound hammer, so to speak), save the “chisel” for later when you have more mass to work with.

As with all truly effective pre-exhaust routines, only ONE set is necessary, or even desirable, more is not better here boys and girls (unless you train it like a girl, excuse me please, all you serious female athletes).

Some of you will still progress with two cycles since you may not have the focus or guts to get it right with one attempt but for those who do this fairly simple routine correctly more than one tri-set will retard your progress and cut your gaining cycle in half. That said I must regress as to the reference – “fairly simple” in as much as the first two movements do take some explaining.

The key exercise and first movement done is the stiff-arm decline dumbbell pullover, many of you reading this are familiar with the similar exercise done across an exercise bench, with a single heavy dumbbell as well. While this is a good exercise, it does not hold a candle to it being done on a DECLINE bench, the effect being 50-100% stronger on the lats, not to mention the powerful effect on the upper pecs. The amount of decline used should be no more than the standard decline bench found in most modern fitness emporiums or heavy-duty sweatshops.

If training at home all you need to do is prop up one end of an exercise bench by 8-10 inches with a cbs block, wood or even phone books. Even though a fairly heavy dumbbell can be utilized rather quickly during the course of this program a spotter is really not necessary, if you do find this too uncomfortable then I suggest you stop reading any further and continue with your half assed pulley rows (don’t forget the gloves Mary), just kidding – NOT!

The second movement in this sequence is the 70% close grip barbell row. This is the movement made popular by the great Dorian Yates. If you are not familiar with him or this exercise then I suggest you purchase his excellent books for further education. DO NOT attempt this exercise with an underhand grip, for two reasons, one, it is very hard on the biceps tendons, and two, you want your bi’s to be fresh for the final exercise of the tri-st.

Back to the close grip row, this movement is done similar to a regular row except instead of bending over to where the back is parallel to the floor, bend only to h1/3 to 1/2 that angle (30 degrees) keeping a tight arch in the back, use a grip with thumbs about6-8 inches apart and pull the bar into the lower abdomen. It is important to keep a tight back throughout the movement, the range of pull being short but powerful.

If done correctly the lower-mid lats should be felt in a strongly isolated awareness. Speaking of short range movements, I must digress here to the primary and most important of the three exercises, that being the decline d.b. Pullover. The dumbbell should not be brought all the way up over the face since this will take the lats out of the movement and remove the tension from the intended muscle.

The movement should be short and some what restricted, only 2/3 of the way down (back) and 2/3 of the way up so as to isolate and exhaust the lats to their fullest extent. This will also allow you to utilize somewhat heavier poundage and will tax the cardiovascular system a bit less than doing an unnecessarily elongated movement.

One should attempt to keep the arms as straight as possible but with elbows unlocked (of course!) maintaining a consistent form from workout to workout. This is a powerful movement and since the lats are a large and responsive muscle one should see an appreciable increase in strength from workout to workout for about 6-8 workouts.

The final exercise employed in the tri-set is the simple close grip pulldowns or chin (palms facing body), once again, the movement can be shortened by not fully extending the arm at the top of the movement, thereby utilizing max poundage, isolating the lats better and saving the rotator cuff needless wear and tear.

Many of you attempting this lat tri-set may find it to be too taxing on the old cardio-vascular system at first (if done properly) and either get discouraged or cut corners on the intensity, which is a monumental mistake as you will be busting your balls for very little return, even if you turn down the volume just 10-15%. Forced reps are neither desirable nor necessary; just max concentration and intensity since you MUST strive to smash your lats to smithereens on this course.

These are large, powerful muscles and can take a very high degree of tension, even though the lats can respond to more volume than some other muscle groups, too much work here will overtax your general recovery system and lead to an over trained condition. If you’re general conditioning is not up to par then I suggest the following approaches, you can start out by doing the first two movements only, i.e., pullover-row (and do two sequences if you honestly cant put out 100%, but only for the first 2-3 workouts).

Remember only 2-3 seconds between movements. Then after the third or fourth workout add the final movement, the close (hand no more than 6 inches apart) pulldown or chin. If you don’t have a pulley available and cant do regular chins then a partial mid range movement will suffice, if you do this workout only once per week you can do negative only chins, lowering yourself on a 4-8 second at the beginning of the set, do not attempt negatives more than once every 6 or 7 days since they are harder to recover from.

Another option would be to take a 20-30 second break after the pullovers, and then do the rows and close grips in super set fashion with the 1-3 second turnaround. The amount of reps done on each set are quite important here as well, from a standpoint of lung capacity as well as stimulation of the target area.

The pullover movement is best worked in a range of 12-18 reps as this will allow for a strict concentrated movement and a thorough congestion of the lat mass without too much strain on the joints, (you will still be able to handle a surprisingly heavy poundage). The rows will best be worked in the 10-14-rep range, too heavy and you will not be able to “feel” the exercise properly. Since this is a short and somewhat “quick” movement it will not be too arduous for high reps.

The pulldown can and should be done for low reps, 4-8, since by this point any reps will stimulate further growth and the arms will be somewhat “shot” anyway and a lot of reps here will turn the exercise into a biceps movement, since you will precede the pulldown-chins with an overhand movement (rows) your brachialis will be worked hard but the biceps will be relatively fresh for the close grips, they will however exhaust quickly because of the brachi work, so low reps are a must here and you will have trouble keeping your head into the movement by this point anyway.

For those of you who can see the big picture here, it is obvious that your biceps are getting a hell of a blast as well, not to mention the triceps. Of course the preferred course would be decline d.b. Pullover-close grip 70%, b.b. Row-close grip pulldown, all done with no more than a 3 second pause between sets.

This routine can be worked in any kind of workout schedule, 2 day a week, 3 day, 4 day split, 5 or 6 day once per week bodypart, anything really. As with any high intensity specialization you will want to limit the duration of the course several weeks at most depending on how often you train back, some leg work should be done at least once per week and limit the amount and intensity of your other bodypart work so as to maximize growth in the specialized area. This being just common sense. If you intend to enhance your protein synthesis and recovery with the aid of some “gear”, I might suggest either a quick acting mass enhancer like d-bol, propienate etc. or perhaps kick this routine in midway through cycle of something milder. Of course this is up to you.

In any event a lot of good eating and some solid supplements including creatine, glutamine, whey, or other high profile protein supps, meal replacements etc. should be included. Lat specialization should best be done on a bulk or mass cycle since a body weight increase is desirable here. That’s it.

I hope I’ve been clear enough on how it works. If not, I can be available to answer questions on any of my workout regimens in a highly detailed and specific manner at a future time. For now, just challenge yourself and give it an honest go. Don’t be constrained by “conventional wisdom”, and if you have any balls you wont worry about what your gym buds think is strange, better yet set yourself up to train at home since you will find that it will almost be impossible to do some of these routines in a commercial gym.

I once ran a gym in the 70′s that was mostly a “nautilus” machine setup and observed hundreds of trainees use the “cam” isolated, direct lat machines and was less than impressed by the results. In fact, most intermediate and advanced trainees lost lat size no matter how they used the apparatus, one set to failure, multiple sets, pre-exhaust, etc. In theory they seemed great, in practice a total flop.

I can’t say I knew of anyone using any gear while training on them since this was a fitness oriented establishment, so it is possible gains could have been had at that. While I’m on the subject of nautilus I also did not observe much in the way of results from the direct compound shoulder machine and I definitely did not observe any appreciable size gains in the quad or ham areas unless the person incorporated squats and dead lifts into the routine with the machines. In fact the only machines I observed results in, both myself and other subjects were the hip & back machine and the special dipping and chinning machine nautilus manufactured back then.

As I previously mentioned I observed Casey Viator train for the MR., (a contest) and while he used some of the prototype nautilus machines in his workouts, fully half his workout was with other conventional exercises incorporated in a low volume pre-exhaust system. He did the full compliment of lat machines, but also did stiff legged dead lifts. he used only free weights for shoulders and chest (there were no machines for those parts).

He did use the original bicep-tricep machine for arms, but also heavy barbell (205 for 8-10 very strict reps) curls superseded with the nautilus pulldown machine. He also used the row machine which was actually more of a direst rear deltoid raise. This is how the “pec deck” came into practice since many bodybuilders used the machine in the opposite direction for pecs and got some “modest” results.

As you know the elbow should come down and across the chest at an angle for maximum pectoral activation, most pec decks are crap. Casey’s leg routine was done on a universal leg extension -leg press machine, followed by a set of full squats to failure. I do not recommend this routine for anyone, as it is just too aerobic in nature and will take all the “fun” out of training.

Two large trainers; Kim Woods was one, would literally drag Casey to the squat rack and yell at him during the entire set. How they got him to do this routine twice a week is a strong testament to will power, both Casey’s and Art Jones. Along with the machines Casey did squats, benches, inclines, dips, b.b. curls and dead lifts, and behind the neck presses. Sound familiar, the main difference back then was the fact he used only two work sets and did pre-exhaust on most, along with some forced reps. He trained the entire body on a 3-day format, Mon, Wed, Fri, although he did legs only on Mon-Fri.

Train Hard and be strong.
Mick Hart.