Lats Get Cookin'
New recipes to barbecue those wings!
by Jerry Telle

Readers new to Jerry Telle may want to check out his Tellekinetics — A Better Way article, from Testosterone Issue 47, for an overview of this remarkable training method.

The other day a group of us were looking at some photos of Arnold from the 1970's. We agreed that this is the physique most modern lifters are shooting for. Honestly, not many guys really want to look like any of today's top pros. After all, except for a few nymphomaniac fitness models (and a bunch of rich guys with "alternative lifestyles"), most women find pro bodybuilders grotesque. And let's be honest, the reason most guys train hard is the acquisition of curvaceous mating material. Fact: most chicks don't dig the pro look. They like guys with visible abs and a good v-shaped torso.

But the Oak is different. I remember seeing a documentary where George Butler talks about the time Arnold sent a pretty young thing into a swoon by merely flexing his triceps at her. (TC did the same thing recently. He flexed his posterior deltoid at a group of nuns, who then attempted to release years of pent-up passion upon him right there at Burger King, thus forcing him to drop his Jar Jar Binks collector's cup and run for his very life.)

Anyway, as we were discussing Arnold's capital V-shaped torso an obvious neophyte wondered up and pointed to the Oak's lats, which were protruding from under his armpits like two sub-dermal basketballs.

"What are those?" he asked.

"His lats, Captain Anatomy," I said.

"His what?" the newbie asked.

"Lats! You know, those big back muscles."

"So how come you can see them from the front?"

I started to explain, but decided to just show the greenhorn instead. We hauled him over to the chinning bar and made him do one of Arnold's old training routines: 50 reps of very wide grip pull-ups. It didn't matter if he took two sets or 20; he did 50 reps regardless. After the poor kid had completed his 50 reps (in 37 sets), I told him, "When you wake up in the morning, you'll know exactly where the lats are." We must do what we can to educate today's youth.

When Arnold did his pull-ups he would start each rep from a dead hang. The best lat exercises work the muscle through the entire range of motion — the most important part of the exercise may be the start of the movement when the muscle is at its longest working length. Basically, Arnold had the right idea, and who's going to argue with his 57 inch chest/back measurements?

But with all due respect to the Terminator and the basic chinning exercises, there are fresher and maybe even better ways to train the lats.

Quick overview

You may get sick of me saying this, but:

The best resistance matches the force/tension capacities of the target muscle.

Training success is the direct result of how much tension is placed on the muscle during exercise (generally, the more the better) and muscle tension is directly related to how much weight is used. Tension and muscular fatigue are the two most important training events and the muscle needs to develop as much tension as possible even while it is fatiguing. "So just use more weight!" you might say. Nice try, but it's a little more complex than that.

Problems with contemporary back exercises

Any pulling movements (such as cable low rows, pulldowns, and bent over rows) have one basic characteristic: you are three times as strong at the start of each movement as you are at the end! That means you're fully three times weaker at the end of the range of motion than you are at the beginning of the range of motion. If you do this exercise as most trainers recommend, slowly and without changing body positions, you have two major problems:

1) The amount of weight you use is limited by what you can you in the 3x weaker position (the end of the range of motion). That is, you are using 1/3 of the weight that could be used at the starting position and are developing 1/3 as much tension as possible if the resistance were applied in the optimum way!

2) What's more, if you are doing 10 reps a set (which for most of us is about 75% of max) then the first rep is an additional 25% lighter than your capabilities! Not much cause for celebration.

Solutions to all pulling exercises

You could stop doing pulling exercises and replace back day with Susan Summer's Advanced Thighmaster routine. (Nah, you don't want to get "too big"!) Instead, you might try one of the following:

Momentum enhancers: Some consider this cheating, but I don't. With this technique, you first get some momentum going, and then the arm pull is initiated. In this way, you are taking advantage of the already traveling weight. Almost all trainees do this instinctively, along with CAT, at one time or another.

CAT/Hatfield: Use compensatory acceleration (CAT) as Fred "Dr. Squat" Hatfield dubbed it. CAT is basically accelerating the weight as fast as possible during the easier parts of the movement. If you are doing any kind of pull, accelerate the weight as fast as possible right from the start. Rapid acceleration causes two wanted events. First, it takes more force (which in this case equals more muscle tension) to move the weight rapidly. Second, the resulting momentum of the weight will help carry it through the weakest end segment.

Tellekinetics, geometry/biomechanical changes: With this method, body positions are changed during the exercise, thus altering the mechanical advantage and therefore the amount of resistance of the exercise to fit the athlete's strength. This method will be the topic of a future article.

Giant sets: Combine exercises in giant sets that provide resistance much closer to the athlete's strength. When these "other" less traditional exercises are used in conjunction with traditional pulls you have a great combination! That's what I'm going to propose here in this article.

Cable low rows

This is considered one of the best lat exercises. Use these adjustments to enhance the effect.

1) Start the exercise in the position shown at left. Lean forward only as far as you can with your back in a neutral, slightly arched position. Allow your arms to stretch forward as far as they will go, as long as there is an attempt to keep the shoulder blades down, not back, and you can feel the tension in the lats.

2) The first part of the movement involves a hip, not back, extension. The back is either kept flat or slightly arched and extended rearwards, unbending at the hips as shown at right. In other words, you're emphasizing the stretch in Step 1, and then you're simply bending backwards at the hips (without bending the arms) to get the weight moving. Displace the back only enough to get the weight started. Never get to the point where you are doing seated cleans! Set your ego aside, and lessen the weight to the point that allows you to do the movement correctly.

3) Accelerate the weight as fast as possible after the hip extension using only the arms; consciously maintain as much pressure on the handles as possible the entire movement. Attempt to "scoop" the elbows and hands down when traveling in either direction (shown at left). This is easy to do if you just concentrate on moving the elbows back instead of thinking about the arms.

4) Return the weight by reversing the pattern under control to the next starting position.

Cable pullovers

The seldom used and largely misunderstood decline-rope handle-cable pullover may be the best all around lat exercise. This is because the movement is physiologically correct and the resistance more closely matches the athlete's strength. In other words, where the athlete is strongest (and in this exercise where the most tension can be developed), the most resistance is provided. Subsequently, the least resistance is provided where the athlete is weakest. Use the exercise guidelines below to enhance the effect.

1) Start the exercise in the position shown at right. Using the triceps rope, allow your arms to stretch backwards only as far as the lats are still engaged. Make sure your hands are over the pulley as shown.

2) Initiate movement by flexing the lats and performing a "soft elbow" straight arm pullover, shown at left. Practice this movement before your working sets to realize when the cable creases your forehead. This would be a good time to stop the movement, unless of course you are a Trekkie and you enjoy that "Klingon Forehead" look.

3) Return the weight by reversing the pattern slowly to the next starting position.

Hammer curl bar pullovers

An even less familiar exercise, the decline hammer curl pullover may be the best all around lat exercise, at least for an athlete at this stage of fatigue. Again the exercise more closely matches the athlete's movement and strength/tension capacities.

1) Start the exercise in the position shown at left. Using a hammer curl bar (also called a triceps bar) allow your slightly bent arms to stretch backwards only as far as the lats are still engaged.

2) Initiate movement by flexing the lats and performing a straight arm pullover, again with a "soft elbow" as shown at right.

3) Return the weight by reversing the pattern slowly to the next starting position.

4) Don't stop the set, even when a full rep becomes impossible. Instead, continue performing as full as motion as you can until no arm movement is possible. Then, with the weight down in the start position, do lat shrugs until no shoulder movement is possible!

If you make can make it all the way to Step 4, pat yourself on the back. Now you don't have to mow the lawn for several days, since pulling the cord will be next to impossible!

Reps and rests

These particular exercises are compatible with the sets, reps, and rest schedule below.

Set 1 — Cable low rows
Reps: 9-12 to failure
Tempo: 2-1-X
Rest: 10 seconds

Set 2 — Decline cable pullovers
Reps: 8-10 to failure
Tempo: 3-1-2
Rest: 10 seconds

Set 3 — Decline hammer curl bar pullovers
Reps: 4-6 to failure
Tempo: 3-1-5
Rest: 3-5 minutes before repeating the next cycle

Number of cycles: 2-3, depending on mental intensity
Days rest: 5-8

This routine represents Step 1 — Proper Exercise Technique and Step 2 — Basic Tellekinetics Giant Sets. There are a total of seven steps, and each successive step represents an increase in intensity. If you put any intensity into your training, even Step 2 will get those lats cookin'!

Conclusion

Give these new variations a shot and, like the newbie at the beginning of this article, you'll have a new appreciation for the location of your lats!

Jerry Telle is releasing a new book and related materials entitled "Beyond 2001: An Advanced Scientific Approach to Training." It will contain revolutionary new ways to increase strength, build muscle, and promises to get you as sore as a fitness bunny after the Olympia!

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