Valias

On a normal back day i'd be doing something along the lines of

2 x 8 reps appr
chins, not so much WG but not GC and palms facing away.
2 x 8 appr lat pull downs
I keep these a similiar grip to what i do with my body weight ones, but i really focus on arching / pulling my shoulders back and geting that bar down as far as i can (normally around collar bone level)

From here it's pretty much rowing movements

3x6-10 Standing low rows w/ barbell
3x8-12 machine rows pulling around my sternum or so.
3x10 barbell shrugs
3x posterior felt flys

Do you guys think that i'm hitting my lats enough? I always seem to work my upper back well (and it shows ) but i'm not sure if my lats really get worked enough, could be a psychological thing. The main point of this post is to

1. the way i do lat pull downs, (i.e. pulling shoulder blades back, leaning back abit and pulling it down towards my chest and pulling the elbows as far as i can!) are these hitting my lats or upper back rhomboid / teres area? Should i employ the behind the neck version of lats? could it be just that i'm use to using my upper back so my lats stay out of the movement?

2. and secondly posterior delt flys, these are normally in every shoulder workout, but i'm a fan of doing them on my back day. Logic is i'm lightly doing my posterior delts with all the rowing movements, and i really feel it in my rhomboids when i add this movement in, more so than any rowing movements give me.

Mind you i can slam through this workout in around 30 minutes (not including warm ups / downs) so i could probably add in another lat movement, any recommendations on how to really get my mind in / a movement to work those big lovely V-Making lats!

Thanking you all in advance
Val

PWGriffin

Your definitely doing "enough" for your lats. I don't do behind the neck pulldowns or behind the neck military press. It's always felt akward and I've heard bad things about that particular articulation. Try pulling in front of yourself with a wider grip and pull straight down, as if doing a pull up. Maybe you will like the feel of that better. Try different things and see what you like best.

yeah, that shit!!!

MySpace

CowPimp

It's hard to say if you're doing enough. It should be relative to how much you are performing pressing movements. If there was ever an area to increase volume, I think the back is one of them. Most people can handle quite a bit of volume with their backs, the usage of musculature on your back varies quite a bit depending on the line of pull and grip used, and they need all that volume to balance out their pressing movements and help compensate for sitting hunched over all damned day.

I'm with PWG. I don't like behind the neck stuff. I don't really see the point when there are plenty of alternatives out there that don't put quite as much stress on the shoulder girdle.

I teach "wide grip" (I only have people go wide enough that they can adduct their shoulders) pulldowns the way you are describing that you perform them. That usually insures that people are adducting their shoulders, which is one of the primary functions of the lats that is often underutilized relative to shoulder extension.

The only time it's bad to feel the burn is when you're peeing...

CowPimp Picks Up Heavy Shit

MySpace

YouTube Videos