Lat Exercises

To aim at the wide V shaped upper back, the following lat exercises greatly help. Latissium dorsi are the largest muscles in your back, lats are usually the primary muscle when people are aiming at the back muscles. The lat muscles help to perform different motions when your shoulder and arms are in different positions. Here are a few exercises that are considered the top exercises to condition and build the lats.

Pull Downs
This is the best among lat muscle exercises. To perform lat pulldown exercise, position yourself on the lat pulldown machine. To do this position the knee part snug on your knees, so that your feet are flat on the ground. Then hold the bend in the bar, the wider the grip the less weight amount you need to use. Then squeeze your shoulders back together, and draw in your core and take a deep breath. Then pull the bar downwards, at the top of your chest right under your chin, make sure you don't do any movement at your lower back. Hold this position for a second, then exhale and return to the starting position, and repeat. Perform 20 reps and 2 sets.

Seated Pulley Rows
After lat pulldown, these are the best lat exercises. To perform this workout, position yourself on the machine, and grab the handle. Keep your feet braced, and your knees slightly bent. Then lean forward a bit and straighten your arms to stretch the lats completely, hold the stretched position for a second, then pull the handle toward your stomach and sit up straight, arch your back and squeeze your back muscle, hold the position for a second, and repeat. Perform 2 sets of 20 reps each.

Good Mornings
These are good back exercises that also work on your buttocks and hamstrings. Good mornings are called so, because in this exercise a person seems to be in a bowing down position, when saying good morning. To perform this workout, use a rack like squat or power rack to hold the barbell. Position your feet at shoulder width apart under the bar, hold the bar just wider than the shoulder width, and duck your head underneath the bar and position it in a way on your trap muscle behind your neck. Then lift the bar from the rack and take a few steps back, now position your feet shoulder width apart with your toes slightly pointing outwards, look forward and keep your head up. With a slight bend in the knees, lower your upper body gradually till it is lower than a 45 degree angle with the floor, now gradually lift your upper body back to the starting position, and repeat. Start with light weight, and perform 2 sets of 20 reps each.

Lat Dumbbell Exercises
To perform this best back exercise using dumbbells, lie flat on the bench. Position yourself in such a way that you lie on your back, with the head at the edge of the bench. Then hold one dumbbell in both of your hands, with arms extended above your chest. The dumbbell should be held at the top securely. Try to maintain your arms and wrists from flexing, and do not lock your elbow. For more stability, position your feet on the floor. Then lower the dumbbell, below the bench by bending your elbows. Then slowly return to the starting position and repeat. Perform 20 repetitions of these exercises with dumbbells, then again repeat 20 reps for the second set.

Stretching Exercises
Performing lat back strengthening and stretching exercises can greatly help to increase your strength, bulk and flexibility. After you are done with your lat strength training exercises, stretching exercises to cool down and improve flexibility are important. Use this stretching exercise to stretch the lat. Stand with your feet at shoulder width apart. Then, keep your arms straight,and keep swinging them up in front of you and back. For every rep keep increasing the range-of-motion, till your arms are above your head. Do this for 2 minutes.

Before performing any strength training exercises, make sure you do a warm up, and then cool down with some stretching exercises, to prevent any injuries. If you are a beginner to these workouts, then start with light weights.