Recruitment of the Lats & Chest

[Carl1174]

Another good way to hit the lats with a db row is to start with the db under the bench directly under your chest then pull the db's out and up in a kind of arch... hits the lats really well

Carl.

[bamazav]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I hate to sound like an uber chest pounder, but I do rows with 215 pounds. The dumbbells are so long there's only one place I can row them to. And it's definitely not by the hips.

Even if I was using light weight I wouldn't be rowing to the hips. That isn't a natural movement for me, and feels awkward on the shoulders.

Your point is valid because of the way your body is made up. When I first started training my class, I focused them on moving to the waist. I began to noticed that for some of them it was a short ROM and failed to fully activate the lats. Now I have them focus on pushing the elbows toward the roof. They now constantly tell me about the DOMS in their lats. For us neanderthals with long gangly arms, the optimal spot is different than it is for those with shorter arms. By focusing on contracting the lats by, as I believe you said earlier, pulling with the elbows, you can get a full ROM.

[andys_trim]

I incorporated the new DB Row from and the pull overs into my back workout yesterday. I have some serious DOMs in my upper back and traps, but not so much in my lats.