If you liked the video, consider grabbing a copy of my book, it'll show you how to ACTUALLY maximize your progress in the gym. It's 200+ pages with no filler, all useful info. Includes: -Detailed Programming Advice on How To Write Your Own Training Plan -HUNDREDS of Exercises (With pictures+descriptions+how to program them) -How to Bitch Slap your Plateaus -Injury Risk Reduction Advice -Cardio to Drop Fat+Increase Work Capacity -Optimal Equipment -Multiple Full Templates and MUCH MORE! Check it out, it's not even hundreds of dollars like SOME in the fitness industry charge... www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat
Have you found that your lats are now more active since they have grown in exercises you didn't feel them in the past? like the pulldown or pull up's or do you still have trouble feeling them in those exercises.
@@TheGodLycan yes usually if you have a weak point that you are 't hitting with compounds, then you bring it up, it'll be more involved with the compounds you used to not be able to target it with. For example, I used to get pretty minimal chest with close grip bench press, to the point where someone asked me why "I didn't have any chest muscles" back in 2018. But now, after more focused chest training using other movements, I feel the chest working quite a bit on close grip work. Same has been true of lats and pullups/pulldowns, though I still have to focus on them quite a bit. Basically, the body will recruit the muscle most suited to the task, and if something is overly weak, it just won't get recruited much, until you correct the weakness in some other way. Eventually, I'll likely write a book on this but I'm finishing the other one first.
@@GVS Thanks Geoff that makes a lot of sense. Would doing these more isolation exercises before compounds increase the activation of the muscle during those or decrease it? For example, would doing a Pullover before a Pull Up increase the lat activation in a Pull up or decrease it.
@@TheGodLycan could be either. If you have tired lats and so use your biceps more it'll be less lats...but if you focus on the lats it'll be more. Also is a balance between fatigue and activation. Bit complicated (hence the book!)
Geoffrey, Im sorry to hear that your lats exploded, you have my condlences, I wish for a quick recovery from this situation both physically and mentally. love your mistress
yes please, i think going over Ques that have worked with clients and Ques that haven't for certain exercises would be great to watch. theres a lot of advice and a lot of Ques that get given out for different exercises. Knowing what works and what doesn't or just a better way of thinking about an exercise is always appreciated. i understand it can be somewhat individual from there starting place like your not going to tell someone with a neutral spine in a squat to relax your back but you would to someone who nautrally wants to hyper extend it.
Diagonal pulls are a game changer, especially after building a base! Ayeeeee got me with that ghetto lat pulldown mention, no doubt you'd love the contractions 😂💪
Cable pullovers/lat prayers and DB pullovers are very underrated. A big benefit of DB pullovers over the cable variants you didn't mention is serratus involvement. I think they're one of the only exercises that really targets the serratus which help with the appearance of big lats from the front, are important for shoulder health, and will help you perform a lat spread. A good cue to use is pushing the weight away at the top of the movement when the lats are no longer really doing anything. That protraction isn't really used by many on chest movements.
That's a good point, the lats move through the greatest range of motion in the pull up into muscle-up combination (though it takes a fair amount of strength and coordination). I like pull overs as an easier motion, and tricep extensions where the lats stabilize the tricep motion. But the downward squeeze of the muscle up is unbeatable.
Your progress is amazing. And at the same time the progress photos are a great reality check... to realize how long it actually takes to build muscle. Most people expect to get huge within a year or two max, whereas in reality it takes much longer (at least for 99.9% of unenhanced people). Great job.
I started doing "NH style" pullups and i added a radical arch to it (Bassically making it a diagonal pull) and MAN DO THEY WORK YOUR LATS. Always did full ROM pullups (I can do 20+ of these) and i got A nice upperback, but never got the lats that i wanted Now with these NH pullups, i can barely do 6-7 and i feel my lats getting wrecked, Those coupled with "Lat Rows" and One arm band illiac pulldown are amazing for lats IMO. In summary: Based Uncle Geoff
@@GVS I underwhelmed myself when almost every year I stop doing 12+ pull ups and go back to maybe 5 per set XD But at least the number go back up pretty fast. Glad to read that others like Protein-Man went trough the same thing.
I'm a big fan of what I call a lat crunch, which is just essentially a kneeling single arm lat pulldown from a cable machine. You can manipulate whatever angle you want based on how far or angled you are from the pulley. I also like it bc it isolates just one lat at a time which worked wonders for me in just focusing on the best rom on each side. Theres a little twist you can do at the end that you simply cant do on a straight bar, for example. A fun thing to also consider is that all back movements or pull movements are essentially a row. Pull downs are just a downward row. Rear delts are a flared row, and even traps, done properly (which is rare), are basically an upward row. When you start to view back movements as a variety of rowing motions it can help take the mystique out of it and improve your isolation.
I started diagonal pulls about a month ago or so. I felt the mind muscle connection immediately and much,much more than I do on lat pulls it pull ups. I appreciate your explanation here and realize why I felt that connection. Having said that I am still a 170 pound twirp 🙂. I just cannot get over the food thing and always eat on the side of caution as if I was still an endurance athlete concerned about my weight 🤷
Alberto Nunez talks about the diagonal pull being a great way to target the mid and lower trapezius. He also made a post which you can find when you search "high row 3dmj". He calls them trapezius 3-4, with the upper traps being considered trapezius 1-2.
Rings can be very useful to target the lats without running into elbow issues. Also to rehab elbow issues the missing link for a lot of people is supination/pronation work. Use a dumbbell loaded on one side only or anything with most of the weight on one side like a hammer or axe for example. Check out Steven Low for more detailed info.
Love your book and I love your channel. Thank you for all our knowledge and wisdom. Hope you're having a fantastic week, bro. Look forward to all your future videos.
The high row is more upper back but you can hack that machine for lats if you're not very tall. Put the seat on the lowest setting and use one of the cable attachments (spongy grip thingy you use for cable flyes) on the handle. It perfectly mimics a chest-supported Iliac pull or the diagonal pulldown you mentioned.
@@hussainattai4638 Yes, this one is the lat dominant version. I was talking about the classic high row that doesn't allow you to grip supinated. I use the cable handles to ghetto rig the high row in my gym to be more like the one you posted.
Thank you Geoffrey! I have never been able to feel my lats before or get them sore until this video. The past couple of moths I have started to see decent definition especially from 6:38 and neutral chin ups so keep up the good work👌
ABout pullovers, one thing John Meadows taught was to only bring the dumbell up until it enters your field of vision/reaches your eyes if you want to isolate lats. If you bring it over your chest you tend to feel your pecs take over.
2:29 Saw this cable pullover on your channel a couple months back and decided to give it a try, and ive been doing it constantly since and MAN my lats have blown up. Super underrated.
Exploding lats are GOATED. Your tiny segment on the arc at 12:00 is probably going to be underrated, possibly because you have covered to so many other fantastic options, but it's a great tip! I'm keen to make a video almost entirely on this, particularly for optimizing dumbbell rows.
the variation at 5:30 looks like the best one, your lats are contracting like crazy in that video. I've been doing the N1 single arm ones, but something about the lack of stability or not being able to use a ton of weight makes me feel like there's a better way for me.
@@carlicbread8199 Thank you, man. I've tried pullovers with barbells and curl-bars (and the rest of the stuff recommended in this video), but it hasn't been working that well for me. It's not that it hasn't been working AT ALL, just that it doesn't compare to how well I was able to stimulate my lats at a commercial gym.
@@BonytoBeastly I feel my lats the most with the neutral grip / moderate width pullup. If I got a little more narrow / supinated I feel more biceps and actually a bit of my chest at the contracted position (but still fairly good lat workout). I have a harder time feeling my lats in a wider pronated grip (more teres major). Definitely a sweet spot for targeting the lats IMO. You should be able to smoke your lats with a set of rings once you find the width that works for you (and drive through your elbows).
Love this. I've had the worst time trying to engage my lats. I intuitively discovered recently that doing lats diagonally helped me hit them better. I wish I had found this earlier.
I really enjoy a chest supported row at a higher position hits that diagonal for me with a sweeping motion of the Lats. Great video, excited to try your Chinese pullups
Thanks for the video, when I first started workout out 2 years ago my lats were blowing up and we’re easily my best body part, but for about a year now I haven’t changed my routine all that much and now feel like it’s my lagging part.
Really good video. Once I learned the mind muscle connection with lats, my lats just blew up. Earlier I could do 10-12 pullups but had non existent lats. I couldn't feel them working either, obviously. Then I learned the function of lats and where they insert and it all made sense and I finally started feeling lats. Now I can still do only 13-14 pullups but they're entirely using lats and my lats are my best body part now.
@@AnonMusk369 just the mind muscle connection. To an outsider, my pull-ups would still look the same as before. Now I pull my elbows down using my lats. In order to get the mind muscle connection with lats, think about closing your armpit. The lats close the armpit. Do not think about closing your elbow angle. Let it happen like you have no control over it. Only focus on what's happening at the shoulder.
I didn’t know that that’s what it’s called but I was exploring to feel my lats more and that diagonal pull downs greatly helped my lats grow. But I’ve done it more as a single arm pull, just a better mind muscle connection (for me) Really great video! Definitely recommend diagonal pulls to anyone that’s lacking on the lats.
Great video topic. Once I discovered lateral pull movements and dialed in the motion, my lats really got fired up. I always start my back workouts with them to build that connection and warm them up good for the rest of the workout.
I'll definitely have to experiment with more diagonal pulls. Back training has always been a bit of weak point for me so I'll definitely implement the wisdom in this video.
I tossed in some unilateral pulldowns at a diagonal today just because of this video. I've never felt my lats squeeze so hard before. Gonna have to add more diagonal pulls for sure!
3:01 i noticed this! I just started doing this exercise, and I've been mimicking what I see in the gym and on videos, and my triceps will give out before my lats. Sometimes I don't even know if I'm doing it right. I use a straight bar, staggered stance, straight arms and pull it to my hips. Triceps will burn.
exactly, the first thing that came to my mind with the title and the intro were pendlay rows (not saying that the rest are bad exercises just that I am shocked that pendlay came last on the vid)
Very true. I had problems building lats for years. But after a year with ropes and cabels they grow ass hell💪💪 Always start your back training with activate your lats with ropes/cabels exercies!!!
I think it becomes very obvious to lean back in vertical lat pulldown movements because it allows you to finish a clean contraction all the way until the bar touches your chest rather than having no true endpoint of the ROM when you do it completely vertical where it gets absurdly harder and shifts to your arms below the chin. The back leaning neutral grip pullups (chinups work the same way) both accomplish the same thing really well. Vince Gironda advocated the former in the exact partial ROM way
Awesome video, never tried pullovers and only played with neutral grip pulldowns until you programmed them in my plan. I finally started feeling my lats way more on these movements. I haven’t done weighted chins in about 4 months but I hit my PR(255lbs total) for 3 the other day on a whim with low effort, I contribute this to the neutral grip pulldowns which got my lats way stronger. I appreciate what you do for the fitness community Geoffrey, I’m learning more and more about programming/training each day!
I do pullovers with bent arms. Back in the silver era of bodybuilding the bent arm variation was trained as a power lift. It was a priority exercise in terms of bringing up the bench press. Some guys even had pullovers as heavy as their bench presses. Then equipped lifting came around, and people did other things for their bench. The nautalis came around, and they used it to kick out the triceps and get bigger lats. It fell out of favor in both worlds, but if you a raw lifter that wants a bigger bench, and you give this some priority you can get alot out of the exercise, it puts meat alot of places meat really helps for a bench press.
@@bengiebeler4683 I have some experience with this lift I can share with you. Number 1. It's better to put it later in the workout because you are already warm, and it is actually going to be incredibly disruptive due to the stretch. Number 2. It's better to warm up by using a light weight, and doing a few sets adding more range of motion to each set. This stretch gets real, if you go to fast with your warm ups the soreness can kneecap every other workout in the week. 3. It hits the triceps harder than you think, that fatigue must be planned for, in order to keep it from interfering with presses. There is a degree of carryover to pressing that comes with the interference, but it isn't going to be to the same degree as the presses themselves so if pressing is of higher priority you should do these afterwards. 4. If you are gonna attack these, some of your vertical pulling is probably gonna have to take a back seat. These are very distruptive. 5. It's place in a workout almost demands that you use a dynamic double progression model. However if you miss a set, I would advise adding a set too, because you are already going to be pretty sore if you are hitting it with the right amount of effort, so you might as well get some loose change.
Great stuff. I have tried the Ghetto pulls from A.D. they work the best I have ever seen. I always have had trouble with getting lats activated. These are spectacular
I've been waiting so long for someone to make a video on this one good job man it takes a while to figure out that there is other ways to workout besides the black and white stuff
'Do I think getting good at these movements is better than getting strong on barbell rows and lat pulldowns? Well actually yes' lmao I love this part. We're so used to people answering that question opposite due to peer pressure
Lats were definitely a muscle group that I had to build some decent strength in before I could really start to connect with. Also, during the lockdowns, I found myself in a similar situation where I had a pullup bar that didn't allow me to fully extend at the bottom or pull my head/chest above the bar without smacking the ceiling, so I did a lot of pullups like the ones you described and was surprised how much I liked them! They sorta feel like a pullup/row hybrid. I also fiddled around with putting my gym rings on the bar and doing that style pullup on them. The neutral grip + being able to get my chest "through" the point I was pulling from was a great combo
Doing pullups by pulling to your sternum might work better because the limiting factor of a traditional pullup us your elbow flexors, but because you’re hinging out so far the limiting factor now becomes your lats
I definitely agree that "diagonal" pulling angles are underrated. There's no particular reason why you have to stick to perfect horizontal and vertical, and introducing them as a variation can load your body in different ways to cover more bases and prevent overuse injuries. I'd love to see a similar video on diagonal presses if you don't have one already, especially in place of vertical presses (as incline/decline presses are well known already). Namely, I've been trying standing 1-arm landmine presses in place of barbell OHP and have been loving them so far. The combination of the inclined pressing angle and increased stability allows me to grind out lots of reps without worrying about my back bending, and I get more upper chest as well.
in the fully lengthened position, you get the full lat activation from the lowest point of lat insertion. working lats does require mind to muscle connection until you have a foundation built.
Look at the hammer strength pull down machine dorian yates used. It's a 45 degree diagonal pull. His bb row is also bent over at 45 degrees instead of horizontal.
Really digging low rows and the iconic 45 degree hammer strength pulldown. Pulldowns, diagonal pulldowns, rows, low rows and shrugs for full back development. Making sure to bring the elbows all the way behind the back for rear delt, rhomboid and trap activation.
Those low hammer rows with the neutral / lower grip definitely light up my lats. I have to drop the weight a bit to hit my rear delts / upper back (to really get that good contraction). Excellent exercise.
Thank you for high quality information, you help a lot, I share your information with my friends in Pakistan and this is immensely helpful to not only me but also to many friends of mine.
Just did the rope variation standing today...felt it pretty damn good. Pulldowns have been hurting my shoulders lately due to a labral tear. These felt painless.
I was taking a look at some electromyographic differences between diagonal and vertical pulling and most people will see superior results with just vertical pulling... However I am NOT denying this very well individualized approach. For educational purposes this is an amazing video, showing that there's more to it than what meets the eye.
Really appreciate this Very insightful video dude. I have found in trying different pull up variations that, trying to pull the bar towards my belly/lower side of my ribs, my lats were getting a ton of activation along with my abs. This is, while pullimg myself towards the horizontal plane without it turning into a planche. It goes along the arguments you outline in the video. Thanks for your experience once again man🙏.
My old school bodybuilding gym has two diagonal row machines from back in the day. You said it best. It’s goated. I use the rope attachment to really pull down and around my torso
Yessss. I love diagonal pulls. Horizontal and vertical are a staple in any good routine, yes. But my best SFR comes from cable high rows. I've always been big into calisthenics since I started and very very rarely get sore lats from pull ups, but high rows very often get em nice and tender the next day.
For pullups, don't grip to wide and use a L-sit or tucked L-sit variant with mostly vertical torso (your body will be further behind the bar, which means that you mainly hit the lats when pulling straight down).
I recommend looking at what the calisthenics guys do. Doing tucked front lever and front lever raises really exploded my lats. Also the mind muscle connection with the front lever is greater than anything I have ever tried for the lats.
Been doing these out of necessity of having a shitty home cable system I don't fit on 😂 it's cool to see I've accidentally been optimising lat growth tho 💪
Gym where I go has that Hammer Strenght Dorian Yates style pulldown machine and it has diagonal movement pattern. First it felt weird, but now I have used it for few weeks and it gets a nice pump to my lats ! So if your gym has it, use it ! Also I have done cable lat pull downs which also get nice lat activation. Last but not least I have used yates rows with supinated and pretty close grip that also hits lats pretty well for me. These three movements have definately made an impact in my lat and back strenght. I think I am also more trap/arm dominant. Noticed that my pendlay row and deadlift weight increased a bit. Sorry about the ramble :D
It is the lower lats that are especially hard to target. "Iliac Lat Pulldown" is especially beneficial here. And yes, Geoffrey, full ROM is actually quite short on these. .
I’ve never really seen anyone doing these, but I seemed to find that doing straight-arm rope Pulldowns single-arm has some value! Personally I’ve found single-arm Pulldowns, whether straight-arm or regular vertical Pulldowns, to seem to make it easier for me to engage my lats
Can't wait to come back from (sitting poolside on a rooftop in NOLA) my work trip/mini vacay and try these variations! I definitely don't feel my lats from traditional lat pull downs. I thought after the weak muscles caught up a little the lats would kick in engagement-wise, but, I think it's time to try something different. I was born with pretty decent lats, and I'm a tiny female so I'm not trying to grow them, but I want them to be as strong as possible for deadlift and general quality of life.
Thanks Jeremy great video going to try some of these variations.Hot a copy of your book so much great info👍🏽man you really transformed your body since 2017/2018💪🏽Goals!
If you liked the video, consider grabbing a copy of my book, it'll show you how to ACTUALLY maximize your progress in the gym.
It's 200+ pages with no filler, all useful info.
Includes:
-Detailed Programming Advice on How To Write Your Own Training Plan
-HUNDREDS of Exercises (With pictures+descriptions+how to program them)
-How to Bitch Slap your Plateaus
-Injury Risk Reduction Advice
-Cardio to Drop Fat+Increase Work Capacity
-Optimal Equipment
-Multiple Full Templates and MUCH MORE!
Check it out, it's not even hundreds of dollars like SOME in the fitness industry charge...
www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat
Have you found that your lats are now more active since they have grown in exercises you didn't feel them in the past? like the pulldown or pull up's or do you still have trouble feeling them in those exercises.
@@TheGodLycan yes usually if you have a weak point that you are 't hitting with compounds, then you bring it up, it'll be more involved with the compounds you used to not be able to target it with. For example, I used to get pretty minimal chest with close grip bench press, to the point where someone asked me why "I didn't have any chest muscles" back in 2018. But now, after more focused chest training using other movements, I feel the chest working quite a bit on close grip work. Same has been true of lats and pullups/pulldowns, though I still have to focus on them quite a bit.
Basically, the body will recruit the muscle most suited to the task, and if something is overly weak, it just won't get recruited much, until you correct the weakness in some other way. Eventually, I'll likely write a book on this but I'm finishing the other one first.
@@GVS
Thanks Geoff that makes a lot of sense.
Would doing these more isolation exercises before compounds increase the activation of the muscle during those or decrease it?
For example, would doing a Pullover before a Pull Up increase the lat activation in a Pull up or decrease it.
@@TheGodLycan could be either. If you have tired lats and so use your biceps more it'll be less lats...but if you focus on the lats it'll be more. Also is a balance between fatigue and activation. Bit complicated (hence the book!)
Great video as always are kneeling lat pullovers just as effective as standing lat pullovers
Geoffrey, Im sorry to hear that your lats exploded, you have my condlences, I wish for a quick recovery from this situation both physically and mentally. love your mistress
I'd love to see a video like this about every single muscle group, your biggest breakthroughs in training them.
yes please, i think going over Ques that have worked with clients and Ques that haven't for certain exercises would be great to watch.
theres a lot of advice and a lot of Ques that get given out for different exercises. Knowing what works and what doesn't or just a better way of thinking about an exercise is always appreciated. i understand it can be somewhat individual from there starting place like your not going to tell someone with a neutral spine in a squat to relax your back but you would to someone who nautrally wants to hyper extend it.
th-cam.com/video/34AbkYmDob0/w-d-xo.html
A good start, I'll definitely cover more muscle groups as well.
@@GVS Ultimate guide to big glutes, traps, would love to see more in that format!
@@GVS add this "diagonal" video to that playlist :)
@@TheGodLycancues. Queue means something else, like putting things in a certain order or list
Diagonal pulls are a game changer, especially after building a base! Ayeeeee got me with that ghetto lat pulldown mention, no doubt you'd love the contractions 😂💪
Thinking maybe jacknife (? - those one side at a time pullups you do) once I'm at like 15 regular pullups.
Cable pullovers/lat prayers and DB pullovers are very underrated.
A big benefit of DB pullovers over the cable variants you didn't mention is serratus involvement. I think they're one of the only exercises that really targets the serratus which help with the appearance of big lats from the front, are important for shoulder health, and will help you perform a lat spread. A good cue to use is pushing the weight away at the top of the movement when the lats are no longer really doing anything. That protraction isn't really used by many on chest movements.
This may explain the insane lat feeling I get from muscle ups, where I pull AWAY, then over. It is a diagonal motion
Yep! You're forced to take the biceps somewhat out of it.
@@GVS isn't it comes out from compound category
That's a good point, the lats move through the greatest range of motion in the pull up into muscle-up combination (though it takes a fair amount of strength and coordination).
I like pull overs as an easier motion, and tricep extensions where the lats stabilize the tricep motion.
But the downward squeeze of the muscle up is unbeatable.
Your progress is amazing. And at the same time the progress photos are a great reality check... to realize how long it actually takes to build muscle. Most people expect to get huge within a year or two max, whereas in reality it takes much longer (at least for 99.9% of unenhanced people). Great job.
I started doing "NH style" pullups and i added a radical arch to it (Bassically making it a diagonal pull) and MAN DO THEY WORK YOUR LATS. Always did full ROM pullups (I can do 20+ of these) and i got A nice upperback, but never got the lats that i wanted
Now with these NH pullups, i can barely do 6-7 and i feel my lats getting wrecked, Those coupled with "Lat Rows" and One arm band illiac pulldown are amazing for lats IMO.
In summary: Based Uncle Geoff
Yep I get people asking me how many pullups I do in a set and they're very underwhelmed by the numbers...but quality over quantity!
@@GVS The sad thing is that after a year of lat focused work, your inner back will never feel the warmth of a hug ever again...
@@GVS I underwhelmed myself when almost every year I stop doing 12+ pull ups and go back to maybe 5 per set XD
But at least the number go back up pretty fast.
Glad to read that others like Protein-Man went trough the same thing.
@@ProteinMArchives only reason their good is cuz they hit the lower lat and theres better ways to hit the lower
whats NH pull ups?
I'm a big fan of what I call a lat crunch, which is just essentially a kneeling single arm lat pulldown from a cable machine. You can manipulate whatever angle you want based on how far or angled you are from the pulley.
I also like it bc it isolates just one lat at a time which worked wonders for me in just focusing on the best rom on each side. Theres a little twist you can do at the end that you simply cant do on a straight bar, for example.
A fun thing to also consider is that all back movements or pull movements are essentially a row. Pull downs are just a downward row. Rear delts are a flared row, and even traps, done properly (which is rare), are basically an upward row. When you start to view back movements as a variety of rowing motions it can help take the mystique out of it and improve your isolation.
Hate to ruin any fun, but how is a hip hinge pull a row? Wasn't sure why that was a fun way to think about things anyways
I started diagonal pulls about a month ago or so. I felt the mind muscle connection immediately and much,much more than I do on lat pulls it pull ups.
I appreciate your explanation here and realize why I felt that connection.
Having said that I am still a 170 pound twirp 🙂. I just cannot get over the food thing and always eat on the side of caution as if I was still an endurance athlete concerned about my weight 🤷
Alberto Nunez talks about the diagonal pull being a great way to target the mid and lower trapezius. He also made a post which you can find when you search "high row 3dmj". He calls them trapezius 3-4, with the upper traps being considered trapezius 1-2.
Rings can be very useful to target the lats without running into elbow issues. Also to rehab elbow issues the missing link for a lot of people is supination/pronation work. Use a dumbbell loaded on one side only or anything with most of the weight on one side like a hammer or axe for example. Check out Steven Low for more detailed info.
Love your book and I love your channel. Thank you for all our knowledge and wisdom. Hope you're having a fantastic week, bro. Look forward to all your future videos.
A certain machine not available everywhere, called the “front lat pull down” or the “high row”, excellent lat exercise!
The high row is more upper back but you can hack that machine for lats if you're not very tall. Put the seat on the lowest setting and use one of the cable attachments (spongy grip thingy you use for cable flyes) on the handle. It perfectly mimics a chest-supported Iliac pull or the diagonal pulldown you mentioned.
@@nullvektor9922
This is the machine that I have access to:
th-cam.com/video/TRC5LCYi6W0/w-d-xo.html
Idk if it just me, but it obliterates my lats
@@hussainattai4638 Yes, this one is the lat dominant version. I was talking about the classic high row that doesn't allow you to grip supinated. I use the cable handles to ghetto rig the high row in my gym to be more like the one you posted.
I actually found a video for people who want to try it.
th-cam.com/video/CZ2BjQVNc3Q/w-d-xo.html
I have this machine at my gym its great
Thank you Geoffrey!
I have never been able to feel my lats before or get them sore until this video. The past couple of moths I have started to see decent definition especially from 6:38 and neutral chin ups so keep up the good work👌
ABout pullovers, one thing John Meadows taught was to only bring the dumbell up until it enters your field of vision/reaches your eyes if you want to isolate lats. If you bring it over your chest you tend to feel your pecs take over.
2:29 Saw this cable pullover on your channel a couple months back and decided to give it a try, and ive been doing it constantly since and MAN my lats have blown up. Super underrated.
Exploding lats are GOATED. Your tiny segment on the arc at 12:00 is probably going to be underrated, possibly because you have covered to so many other fantastic options, but it's a great tip! I'm keen to make a video almost entirely on this, particularly for optimizing dumbbell rows.
the variation at 5:30 looks like the best one, your lats are contracting like crazy in that video. I've been doing the N1 single arm ones, but something about the lack of stability or not being able to use a ton of weight makes me feel like there's a better way for me.
I've been having trouble hitting my lats ever since switching to a barbell home gym. I'll try those Chinese Apartment Chin-Ups. Those look great :)
If you have a barbell you can still do pullovers, just replace the dumbbell for a barbell
@@carlicbread8199 Thank you, man. I've tried pullovers with barbells and curl-bars (and the rest of the stuff recommended in this video), but it hasn't been working that well for me.
It's not that it hasn't been working AT ALL, just that it doesn't compare to how well I was able to stimulate my lats at a commercial gym.
You could also try regular neutral grip pullups (even weighted)
@@wildadventurer9752 Thanks, man. Those are my current go-to (using gymnastic rings), but I'm hoping this other variant biases my lats a bit more.
@@BonytoBeastly I feel my lats the most with the neutral grip / moderate width pullup. If I got a little more narrow / supinated I feel more biceps and actually a bit of my chest at the contracted position (but still fairly good lat workout). I have a harder time feeling my lats in a wider pronated grip (more teres major). Definitely a sweet spot for targeting the lats IMO. You should be able to smoke your lats with a set of rings once you find the width that works for you (and drive through your elbows).
Love this. I've had the worst time trying to engage my lats. I intuitively discovered recently that doing lats diagonally helped me hit them better. I wish I had found this earlier.
Just started doing this exercise a couple of weeks ago. In vertical pulling I just felt too much of the Teres major, but diagonal pullings are 👌🥵
I’m an avid lifter (and powerlifting/strongman 10+yrs) and even then I learned something new, thank you for the information.
I really enjoy a chest supported row at a higher position hits that diagonal for me with a sweeping motion of the Lats.
Great video, excited to try your Chinese pullups
Thanks for the video, when I first started workout out 2 years ago my lats were blowing up and we’re easily my best body part, but for about a year now I haven’t changed my routine all that much and now feel like it’s my lagging part.
I love plate loaded front lat pulldown machines, feels incredible on lats.
Really good video.
Once I learned the mind muscle connection with lats, my lats just blew up.
Earlier I could do 10-12 pullups but had non existent lats. I couldn't feel them working either, obviously.
Then I learned the function of lats and where they insert and it all made sense and I finally started feeling lats. Now I can still do only 13-14 pullups but they're entirely using lats and my lats are my best body part now.
Would love to hear the cues you now use, I find pulling with the elbows and retracting scapula helps alot
What changes did you make in doing pullups to use lats? Please let us know, thanks!
@@AnonMusk369 just the mind muscle connection. To an outsider, my pull-ups would still look the same as before. Now I pull my elbows down using my lats.
In order to get the mind muscle connection with lats, think about closing your armpit. The lats close the armpit. Do not think about closing your elbow angle. Let it happen like you have no control over it. Only focus on what's happening at the shoulder.
I didn’t know that that’s what it’s called but I was exploring to feel my lats more and that diagonal pull downs greatly helped my lats grow. But I’ve done it more as a single arm pull, just a better mind muscle connection (for me)
Really great video! Definitely recommend diagonal pulls to anyone that’s lacking on the lats.
I have been saying this, doing Archer pull ups work the lats more than anything
What else
Love these for longhead tricep + lats, turning it into a pseudo compound movement especially when I drive my elbows forward.
Great video topic. Once I discovered lateral pull movements and dialed in the motion, my lats really got fired up. I always start my back workouts with them to build that connection and warm them up good for the rest of the workout.
Your channel is so genuine man I appreciate u and the content 🔥
I'll definitely have to experiment with more diagonal pulls. Back training has always been a bit of weak point for me so I'll definitely implement the wisdom in this video.
This is exactly what I need, definitely gonna incorporate some of these exercises! Cheers.
I tossed in some unilateral pulldowns at a diagonal today just because of this video. I've never felt my lats squeeze so hard before. Gonna have to add more diagonal pulls for sure!
3:01 i noticed this! I just started doing this exercise, and I've been mimicking what I see in the gym and on videos, and my triceps will give out before my lats. Sometimes I don't even know if I'm doing it right. I use a straight bar, staggered stance, straight arms and pull it to my hips. Triceps will burn.
I admire you hard work in sets, this is reflected in the entertaining clips of your facial expressions 🤣🤣
I get a great (lower) lat pump from pendlay rows, not exactly diagonal but wow. Gamechanger for me.
exactly, the first thing that came to my mind with the title and the intro were pendlay rows (not saying that the rest are bad exercises just that I am shocked that pendlay came last on the vid)
Very true. I had problems building lats for years. But after a year with ropes and cabels they grow ass hell💪💪 Always start your back training with activate your lats with ropes/cabels exercies!!!
The machine high row... Is an excellent machine that fits the bill also. I have to agree the diagonal angle is amazing for lats
I used to love doing standing lat pull downs, but had to stop because of lower back pain. Never thought of trying to do it sitting down. Cool idea!
Your face when you’re doing standing cable pullovers looks like you’re being possessed lol. Great video, love your content
I think it becomes very obvious to lean back in vertical lat pulldown movements because it allows you to finish a clean contraction all the way until the bar touches your chest rather than having no true endpoint of the ROM when you do it completely vertical where it gets absurdly harder and shifts to your arms below the chin.
The back leaning neutral grip pullups (chinups work the same way) both accomplish the same thing really well. Vince Gironda advocated the former in the exact partial ROM way
Awesome video, never tried pullovers and only played with neutral grip pulldowns until you programmed them in my plan. I finally started feeling my lats way more on these movements. I haven’t done weighted chins in about 4 months but I hit my PR(255lbs total) for 3 the other day on a whim with low effort, I contribute this to the neutral grip pulldowns which got my lats way stronger. I appreciate what you do for the fitness community Geoffrey, I’m learning more and more about programming/training each day!
I wish I had watched this video 15 years ago. I learned how to train the lats like 2 years ago and this video sums it all up.
Yea they're definitely a muscle group that's possible to avoid actually training for many years.
@@GVS The Steve Reeves low cable row is a prime example of diagonal pulling. He was certainly ahead of the curve with many of the exercises he used.
I do pullovers with bent arms. Back in the silver era of bodybuilding the bent arm variation was trained as a power lift. It was a priority exercise in terms of bringing up the bench press. Some guys even had pullovers as heavy as their bench presses. Then equipped lifting came around, and people did other things for their bench. The nautalis came around, and they used it to kick out the triceps and get bigger lats.
It fell out of favor in both worlds, but if you a raw lifter that wants a bigger bench, and you give this some priority you can get alot out of the exercise, it puts meat alot of places meat really helps for a bench press.
Any vids on this? Like a 90degree bend or so?
@@bengiebeler4683 th-cam.com/video/HdThwC0YlKQ/w-d-xo.html
@@bengiebeler4683 I have some experience with this lift I can share with you. Number 1. It's better to put it later in the workout because you are already warm, and it is actually going to be incredibly disruptive due to the stretch. Number 2. It's better to warm up by using a light weight, and doing a few sets adding more range of motion to each set. This stretch gets real, if you go to fast with your warm ups the soreness can kneecap every other workout in the week.
3. It hits the triceps harder than you think, that fatigue must be planned for, in order to keep it from interfering with presses. There is a degree of carryover to pressing that comes with the interference, but it isn't going to be to the same degree as the presses themselves so if pressing is of higher priority you should do these afterwards.
4. If you are gonna attack these, some of your vertical pulling is probably gonna have to take a back seat. These are very distruptive.
5. It's place in a workout almost demands that you use a dynamic double progression model. However if you miss a set, I would advise adding a set too, because you are already going to be pretty sore if you are hitting it with the right amount of effort, so you might as well get some loose change.
Great stuff. I have tried the Ghetto pulls from A.D. they work the best I have ever seen. I always have had trouble with getting lats activated. These are spectacular
Hell yeah! Dumbbell pullovers are my favourite exercise, it’s nice seeing it here.
I've been waiting so long for someone to make a video on this one good job man it takes a while to figure out that there is other ways to workout besides the black and white stuff
LITERALLY laughed my ass off with the Harry Potter Diagon Alley meme! Great choices with your memes, great work and thanks for your vids!
Thanks a lot. Lats have always been one of those muscle groups I've had trouble engaging.
'Do I think getting good at these movements is better than getting strong on barbell rows and lat pulldowns? Well actually yes' lmao I love this part. We're so used to people answering that question opposite due to peer pressure
AaaaahhhhhHaHaHaHa that is quite a facial reaction 3:00 bro……. Made my day…. 🤣
Lats were definitely a muscle group that I had to build some decent strength in before I could really start to connect with. Also, during the lockdowns, I found myself in a similar situation where I had a pullup bar that didn't allow me to fully extend at the bottom or pull my head/chest above the bar without smacking the ceiling, so I did a lot of pullups like the ones you described and was surprised how much I liked them! They sorta feel like a pullup/row hybrid. I also fiddled around with putting my gym rings on the bar and doing that style pullup on them. The neutral grip + being able to get my chest "through" the point I was pulling from was a great combo
Doing pullups by pulling to your sternum might work better because the limiting factor of a traditional pullup us your elbow flexors, but because you’re hinging out so far the limiting factor now becomes your lats
I definitely agree that "diagonal" pulling angles are underrated. There's no particular reason why you have to stick to perfect horizontal and vertical, and introducing them as a variation can load your body in different ways to cover more bases and prevent overuse injuries.
I'd love to see a similar video on diagonal presses if you don't have one already, especially in place of vertical presses (as incline/decline presses are well known already). Namely, I've been trying standing 1-arm landmine presses in place of barbell OHP and have been loving them so far. The combination of the inclined pressing angle and increased stability allows me to grind out lots of reps without worrying about my back bending, and I get more upper chest as well.
I’m very pleased that you climb, I just climbed hard yesterday and had to do rows with torn finger skin today
YOURE Goated brother I really appreciate your guidance and videos🙏🏽 we as a community are very lucky to have someone like you making videos :)
Buy the book! Not only is it great, it fixed my poor genetics too! Miracle, I tell you!
in the fully lengthened position, you get the full lat activation from the lowest point of lat insertion. working lats does require mind to muscle connection until you have a foundation built.
Look at the hammer strength pull down machine dorian yates used. It's a 45 degree diagonal pull. His bb row is also bent over at 45 degrees instead of horizontal.
Really digging low rows and the iconic 45 degree hammer strength pulldown.
Pulldowns, diagonal pulldowns, rows, low rows and shrugs for full back development.
Making sure to bring the elbows all the way behind the back for rear delt, rhomboid and trap activation.
Those low hammer rows with the neutral / lower grip definitely light up my lats. I have to drop the weight a bit to hit my rear delts / upper back (to really get that good contraction). Excellent exercise.
The ''lat pulldown'' in its standard setup confused a lot of people. Great progress Geoffrey!
I'm arm dominant. Really needed this, thanks!
The face you make when close to failure is priceless😂
Thank you for high quality information, you help a lot, I share your information with my friends in Pakistan and this is immensely helpful to not only me but also to many friends of mine.
Just did the rope variation standing today...felt it pretty damn good. Pulldowns have been hurting my shoulders lately due to a labral tear. These felt painless.
Good evening from the Philippines, Coach GVS!! 💪🏼🇵🇭
This is why the high row machine is king for lat development.
Great video my man...lmao ‘I have high lats’ ‘nah,just small lats bro’ 😂
I was taking a look at some electromyographic differences between diagonal and vertical pulling and most people will see superior results with just vertical pulling... However I am NOT denying this very well individualized approach. For educational purposes this is an amazing video, showing that there's more to it than what meets the eye.
Really appreciate this Very insightful video dude. I have found in trying different pull up variations that, trying to pull the bar towards my belly/lower side of my ribs, my lats were getting a ton of activation along with my abs. This is, while pullimg myself towards the horizontal plane without it turning into a planche. It goes along the arguments you outline in the video. Thanks for your experience once again man🙏.
I believe you because I used to do my pullups on a tree branch which forced me to do them diagonal and my lats would always get a good pump.
My old school bodybuilding gym has two diagonal row machines from back in the day. You said it best. It’s goated. I use the rope attachment to really pull down and around my torso
Those cable pullovers were the most insane sets I've ever seen 👀
been working out for a year know never new i could learn so much thanks for the free advice !
I'm trying those standing cable pulldowns. You're still beating me on the lats and serratus, this may just help me catch up!
Diagonal Pulls...LAT me think about that!
Yessss. I love diagonal pulls. Horizontal and vertical are a staple in any good routine, yes. But my best SFR comes from cable high rows. I've always been big into calisthenics since I started and very very rarely get sore lats from pull ups, but high rows very often get em nice and tender the next day.
Also. "downfall of pull ups"? Cue Greta Thunberg's How Dare You speech. 🤣
Your physique especially now gives massive Henry Cavil in Man of Steel vibes, very impressive
He's a lot bigger than him, Henry Cavill was 190 lbs at 6'1" in Man of Steel
For pullups, don't grip to wide and use a L-sit or tucked L-sit variant with mostly vertical torso (your body will be further behind the bar, which means that you mainly hit the lats when pulling straight down).
Finally feel my Lata like crazy with the seated cable pullover
I recommend looking at what the calisthenics guys do. Doing tucked front lever and front lever raises really exploded my lats. Also the mind muscle connection with the front lever is greater than anything I have ever tried for the lats.
Been doing these out of necessity of having a shitty home cable system I don't fit on 😂 it's cool to see I've accidentally been optimising lat growth tho 💪
Man your content is epic, just try to increase your camera quality
a small recommendation from an early subscriber
Gym where I go has that Hammer Strenght Dorian Yates style pulldown machine and it has diagonal movement pattern. First it felt weird, but now I have used it for few weeks and it gets a nice pump to my lats ! So if your gym has it, use it ! Also I have done cable lat pull downs which also get nice lat activation. Last but not least I have used yates rows with supinated and pretty close grip that also hits lats pretty well for me. These three movements have definately made an impact in my lat and back strenght. I think I am also more trap/arm dominant. Noticed that my pendlay row and deadlift weight increased a bit. Sorry about the ramble :D
2:52 that face is the face of a man digging deep, respect.
Diagonal pulls are great for me. Try it at a slight angle . Looking away. Really lights up my lats.
Very interesting, would love this kind of videos for other movements too.
Favourite fitness guy on the internet. Thank you so much ❤️
It is the lower lats that are especially hard to target. "Iliac Lat Pulldown" is especially beneficial here. And yes, Geoffrey, full ROM is actually quite short on these.
.
I'm so glad I discovered your channel. Keep it up brother!
2:25 man i can not look away from the man pulling the planet!
Bruh, you definitely leave your ego at the door. The faces you make working out are priceless 😂
2:51
Keep up the goodness home dawg
I’ve never really seen anyone doing these, but I seemed to find that doing straight-arm rope Pulldowns single-arm has some value! Personally I’ve found single-arm Pulldowns, whether straight-arm or regular vertical Pulldowns, to seem to make it easier for me to engage my lats
Love that we can hear his wife messing with the rice cooker in the background. IKYK
Love the video Geoffrey and love the Harry Potter clips intertwined with the video 😂
Can't wait to come back from (sitting poolside on a rooftop in NOLA) my work trip/mini vacay and try these variations! I definitely don't feel my lats from traditional lat pull downs. I thought after the weak muscles caught up a little the lats would kick in engagement-wise, but, I think it's time to try something different. I was born with pretty decent lats, and I'm a tiny female so I'm not trying to grow them, but I want them to be as strong as possible for deadlift and general quality of life.
Thanks Jeremy great video going to try some of these variations.Hot a copy of your book so much great info👍🏽man you really transformed your body since 2017/2018💪🏽Goals!
I need a workout face compilation vid lmao. 3:02 had me in stitches lmao