When it comes to build the back, there are several muscles to target in order to build a perfect back. Latissimus Dorsi is one of the crucial muscles of the back that you must train to make your back wider and bigger. While it’s not a rocket science to get a good set of lats because there are tons of good exercise for it, the lower lats particularly is kind of tricky to target and train. If your lower lats have not grown that much even though you follow a good back workout routine then it’s time for you to focus on them. Before jumping into the best lower lats exercises, you need to know a few factors that are very much related to it.
Genetics Plays a Crucial Role!
Various researches over the years have shown that there are a few muscle groups that are largely dependent on genetics such as triceps, forearms, calves and even the lower lats. That means, these muscles are very much dependant on genetics unlike other muscles. Basically, building muscles is based on genetics still we can build muscles more or less in every area of our body but some muscles are not only stubborn but also depends very much on the genetics. Lower lats is one of them. Some people really have high lat insertions which leads to non-existent lower lats. And if you know that you don’t have lower lats genetics then sadly, there’s not way you can build them.
The above photo is a great example to demonstrate that matter. Dennis Wolf never had genetics for lower lats which is why you can see, his lats insertion is way higher than Phil Heath and Kai Greene. On the contrary, Phil has the perfect lat insertion place in the middle portion while Kai has the lowest lat insertions making his lats biggest than these 2 athletes. This is how genetics play an important role in building muscles and you need to know how good your lat insertions are.
Also Read: Best Back Workout Routine For A Perfect Back!
What You Can Do About It!
While genetics play a crucial role on how your lats especially lower lats will develop, you have to try various effective lower lats exercises in order to find out how good/bad your genetics are. To focus on the lower lats, the first and foremost thing you have to do is to use underhand grip of the some of the staple back exercises you already do like barbell row and lat pulldown. Using underhand grip will allow you to focus more on the lower portion of your lats especially the area of your lats insertions.
The second thing you need to do is to slowly and steadily use the movement of the exercise with proper form while creating mind-muscle connection between your lower lats and your mind to focus on your lower lats fully. Slowing lifting or pulling or pushing the weight will give your muscles more time under tension and you can focus more on feeling that pressure while exercising. The second tip is essential for any exercise for any muscle groups.
Best Lower Lats Exercises: You Should Consider
Underhand Barbell Row
We all know how effective barbell row is when it comes to target your all the back muscles equally to make them bigger, stronger and muscular. Traditionally, we use overhand grip for the barbell row to put more pressure on our inner back muscles to make it thicker but do you know?
If you use underhand grip for barbell row, we can focus more on lats especially the lower lats thanks to the position and angle of this outstanding exercise. Obviously, you can also target the inner muscles of your back with underhand grip too but the primary focus will be your lats. So, if you want to get better lower lats then underhand barbell row is one of the best lower lats exercise you should not miss.
Underhand Lat Pulldown
Same thing goes for lat pulldown exercise as we already discussed about why you should use underhand grip for these two exercises. The name lat pulldown is enough to say what it does best. While with overhand grip, you can focus on your overall lats, teres major and minor muscles most, with underhand grip, you can target more on your lower lats.
All you need to do is to pull moderate amount of weight slowly and steadily while focusing on your lower lats squeezing and extending. This is surely one of the best lower lats exercise that is, in my opinion, is a must if you want to gain significant amount of muscle mass in your lower lats.
Don’t Miss: How to do Lat Pulldown Exercise with Proper Form?
Deadlift
Deadlift is one of the best strength building compound exercises for your overall body. As a compound exercise, it targets multiple important muscle groups in your body and lats is one of the primary muscle groups that it can target excellently. From upper to lower, every portion of your lats can be targeted altogether with this amazing exercise.
Moreover, it is a compound movement so you can go really heavyweight with it which allows your muscles to get the benefit of progressive overload. That’s why, I don’t see any reason to miss this great exercise if you want better lower lats or even a better overall back.
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One Arm High Cable Row
The reason why one arm high cable row is one of the best lower lats exercises is; standing and proper feet positions allow you to perform this exercise with better stability and provide you better contraction & expansion with your lats than other unilateral rowing exercises such as seated single-arm cable row and dumbbell row.
That is why in my opinion, one arm high cable row is the best unilateral rowing exercises when it comes to focus on your lats. This exercise provides extraordinary tension on your overall lats thanks to the position as we discussed earlier and also thanks to the longer range of motion that allows you to stretch your lats more for that extra emphasis. So, it doesn’t matter if you want more lower lats, more higher lats or overall lats, you just can’t miss this highly effective exercise.
Machine Low Row
Machine Low Row has become a really popular machine exercise for lower back in the recent years because of its effectiveness for the lower back muscles as it really isolates lower back from other muscles and keeps targeting only your lower back muscles including lower lats obviously. People who don’t feel comfortable or safe with deadlift but want to focus on lower lats and other lower back muscles, machine low row is ideal for them.
It is a very effective isolation movement for lower lats and other muscles in the lower portion of your back. While deadlift is totally a safe exercise when performed correctly, machine low row is easy-to-perform as well as beginner-friendly so it might be better for beginners and people who want safety and easy-to-do exercises. So, no wonder why deadlift comes with a list of countless benefits that machine low row doesn’t. Machine low row is only for lower back and lats and it is one of the best lower lats exercises out there. If you don’t care about strength building and all then you can swap deadlift with machine low row.
Don’t Miss: 10 Best Exercises for Back (Hit Every Muscle!)
In The Bottom Line
Therefore, I think we have discussed everything related to how you can grow your lower lats with the help of these top lower lats exercises and what can hinder your muscle growth like genetics. The only thing that is left to say is to never make genetic s your excuse that means try your 100% and be more stubborn than your stubborn muscle groups. If you never try, you never know. So, try your best and even if you have the worst genetics of that muscle, at least you can proudly say that you have tried your best, right? Anyway, hope you have found this article about best lower lats exercises helpful enough. If it’s really so then don’t hesitate to express your valuable thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for visiting and appreciating our work.