LATS

LATS

The Latissiumus Dorsi are the largest muscles in the upper body.  I know you thought it was your biceps, but nope! :) The lats are big and they are powerful.  

The lats attach to the humerus (upper arm bone) and to the spinous processes of thoracic T7-T12 vertebrae, 9th to 12th ribs, the lumbar and sacral vertebrae (via the thoracolumbar fascia), and the posterior third of the external lip of the iliac crest.  That’s code for ALOT OF YOUR SPINE. 

The lats are responsible for extension, adduction (moving toward the body) and internally rotating the shoulder.  

Many people who struggle to be able to do pull-ups have under-developed lats.  Exercises like dumbbell rows, bent over rows, landmine rows, chin-ups, lat pull-downs, straight arm pull-downs and deadlifts show up in our programming regularly to build lat strength.  

Strong lats keeps smaller muscle groups from trying to overcompensate in pulling exercises which can lead to overuse and other injury.  

A well balanced training program needs to have a very healthy dose of pulling exercises that train the lats.

If you need help with your training, send us a message!