Back

A bodyweight pulling exercise that develops lat and upper body strength using a hanging bar.

• Stand under a pull-up bar and grip it with your chosen grip (overhand for pull-up, underhand for chin-up).
• Hang at full arm extension with shoulders engaged.
• Brace your core and pull your chest up toward the bar by driving elbows down.
• Clear the bar with your chin or chest as you squeeze your lats.
• Lower yourself under control to the starting hang position.

A free-weight bent-over row for the lats, rhomboids, and traps.

• Stand with feet about shoulder-width and hinge until the torso is near parallel.
• Let the bar hang with an overhand grip.
• Pull the bar to the abdomen and squeeze the shoulder blades.
• Lower it under control.

A cable exercise performed with a wide grip that primarily targets the latissimus dorsi to build back width and upper body strength.

• Adjust the thigh pad and sit at the cable pulldown machine.
• Grip the wide bar overhead with a pronated (overhand) grip, hands wider than shoulders.
• Lean back slightly, brace your core, and retract your shoulder blades.
• Pull the bar down to your upper chest, driving elbows down and out.
• Pause briefly, then slowly release the bar back to the starting position.

A cable lat exercise where you pull a straight bar from shoulder height down to your thighs with mostly straight arms.

• Attach a straight bar to a high cable pulley and face the machine.
• Grab the bar with an overhand grip, step back slightly, and hinge forward a little at the hips.
• Start with your arms straight in front of you at shoulder height and your torso braced.
• Pull the bar down in a wide arc toward your thighs without bending your elbows.
• Squeeze your lats at the bottom with the bar close to your hips.
• Raise the bar back up slowly to shoulder height while keeping your arms long and your torso still.