Please help me with my lat spread

**skelooth** · 11-04-2005, 02:19 PM

I thought I finally had it right, but now someone said I'm doing it wrong still.... Why the **** is this pose so hard to do?

http://fitness.patrickavella.com/pro...s/ls110105.jpg

What am I doing wrong now? I'm putting my thumbs under my rib cage, and spreading my back

I've been trying to get this pose right for over a year.

**bigDman** · 11-04-2005, 02:35 PM

i didnt get a good look at the pic... i am in school and half naked guys on my comp screen isnt the greatest but what id do is stick your thumbs out like your making a thumbs up. Then put your thumbs on your side. bring your arms foward a little and spread them shoulder blades
you also might have to put your hands higher/lower on your side to look the best. Just experiment. i also like to vacuum my stomach and puff up my chest with air

**EME** · 11-04-2005, 02:36 PM

Skel,

You really aren't doing it wrong.

The one thing you do want to do is bring everything "up' more. I'll describe below.

Obviously I can't see your foot placement in the pose, but with any pose the first thing you want to do is set your feet.

In the front Lat Spread, your feet shoud be set so that your heels are close to each other ( not touching.. maybe 6-8 inches apart, depending on your size ) and your toes should be angled out slightly in a "V" shape.

You want to crank your thighs to the outside without moving your foot postion. This will bring out the separation in your thighs.

Once your feet are set, start the pose by inhaling and raising your shoulders up toward your ears like you are doing a shrug... at the same time expand your chest so that it is "up" and "out".

While keeping your shoulders and chest up high, set your hands by digging your thumbs into your obliques and pulling your hands around to the front.

As you pull your hands around to the front, pull your elbows forward and spread your lats as wide as you can. Vacuum in your stomach at the same.

If you have exceptional abs, you can flex down on them, but most competitors will look better by doing a vacuum with their abs, rather than flexing down on them. The vacuum helps create a better shoulder / lat/ waist ratio which is one of the key judging elements of this pose.

Keep your shoulders and chest up high throughout the pose.. this is one thing that you could probalby do better. Otherwise, the pose looks good.
As you get more lat development, it will look even better.

Let me know if you need any more help.

- EME

Quote:

Originally Posted by skelooth

I thought I finally had it right, but now someone said I'm doing it wrong still.... Why the **** is this pose so hard to do?

http://fitness.patrickavella.com/pro...s/ls110105.jpg

What am I doing wrong now? I'm putting my thumbs under my rib cage, and spreading my back

I've been trying to get this pose right for over a year.

**EME** · 11-04-2005, 02:37 PM

Very good advice Young Skywalker.. er, um.. I mean Big D!

- EME

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigDman

i didnt get a good look at the pic... i am in school and half naked guys on my comp screen isnt the greatest but what id do is stick your thumbs out like your making a thumbs up. Then put your thumbs on your side. bring your arms foward a little and spread them shoulder blades
you also might have to put your hands higher/lower on your side to look the best. Just experiment. i also like to vacuum my stomach and puff up my chest with air

**skelooth** · 11-04-2005, 02:45 PM

awesome eme, thanks!

**bigDman** · 11-04-2005, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EME

Very good advice Young Skywalker.. er, um.. I mean Big D!

- EME

only learned from the best

:bigthumbu

**skelooth** · 11-13-2005, 05:10 PM

http://fitness.patrickavella.com/pro...s/ls111205.jpg

This time I tried to lift my chest more but it seems like my lats stick out less this way?

this is one hard ass pose to do. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much time i've spent in the mirror practicing haha.

**EME** · 11-13-2005, 05:27 PM

Skel,

You are actually doing the pose correctly here, it's just that you need more lat development for it to really look like it's supposed to look.

Most people don't have substantial lat development ( especially width ) until they specifically start bodybuilding training, or unless they have done a sport like swimming that really targets lat development.

Of course, there are always some that have good lat development naturally.

Keep hitting your lat width exercises and the pose will continue to get better and better.

- EME

Quote:

Originally Posted by skelooth

http://fitness.patrickavella.com/pro...s/ls111205.jpg

This time I tried to lift my chest more but it seems like my lats stick out less this way?

this is one hard ass pose to do. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much time i've spent in the mirror practicing haha.

**skelooth** · 11-13-2005, 06:03 PM

cool thanks

Yeah the lats are a weird muscle....

What is the best back exercise for lat width in your opinion? A lot of people say wide grip pull ups, but those hurt my shoulder.

**EME** · 11-13-2005, 07:13 PM

Almost any back exercise can help with lat width if you use a wide grip.

Two of the best are wide grip pull-ups and wide grip pull dows.

You can also do bent over barbell rows with a wide grip, or any number of machine exercises that have an option for you to take a wide grip.

- EME

Quote:

Originally Posted by skelooth

cool thanks

Yeah the lats are a weird muscle....

What is the best back exercise for lat width in your opinion? A lot of people say wide grip pull ups, but those hurt my shoulder.

**bigDman** · 11-13-2005, 07:42 PM

the main exersizes i do for my back are pullups with all kinds of grips
and heavy deads... i like to think i have a pretty wide back for my size

Trick D · 11-14-2005, 07:21 PM

Pose looks a lot better the second time around. Do some pullups and do some heavy wide grip exercises.. you will get it up fast!

**bigDman** · 11-14-2005, 11:45 PM

and when doing exersizes like bent rows or rows pull the bar towards your stomchmore and/or keep you elbows in... to me it seems like it hits my lats harder that way

11-04-2005, 02:19 PM	#1
skelooth eh heh heh Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Behind you Posts: 7,205 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 158	Please help me with my lat spread I thought I finally had it right, but now someone said I'm doing it wrong still.... Why the **** is this pose so hard to do? http://fitness.patrickavella.com/pro...s/ls110105.jpg What am I doing wrong now? I'm putting my thumbs under my rib cage, and spreading my back I've been trying to get this pose right for over a year. __________________ R I P

11-04-2005, 02:45 PM	#5
skelooth eh heh heh Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Behind you Posts: 7,205 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 158	awesome eme, thanks! __________________ R I P

11-13-2005, 05:10 PM	#7
skelooth eh heh heh Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Behind you Posts: 7,205 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 158	http://fitness.patrickavella.com/pro...s/ls111205.jpg This time I tried to lift my chest more but it seems like my lats stick out less this way? this is one hard ass pose to do. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much time i've spent in the mirror practicing haha. __________________ R I P

11-13-2005, 06:03 PM	#9
skelooth eh heh heh Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Behind you Posts: 7,205 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 158	cool thanks Yeah the lats are a weird muscle.... What is the best back exercise for lat width in your opinion? A lot of people say wide grip pull ups, but those hurt my shoulder. __________________ R I P

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