The best lats exercises for building your strongest back ever

Many people are motivated to work out and build strong, well-defined muscles. However, we often focus on the muscle groups we can readily see in the mirror, such as the quads, biceps, shoulders, pecs, and abs. We tend to forget to give as much workout time and attention to the equally important muscles on the backside of the body. Over time, this can lead to muscle imbalances that decrease your functional strength and increase your risk of injury.

One of the main muscles not to be overlooked is the latissimus dorsi muscles in your back, more commonly known as the lats or the ‘wings.’ Adding certain exercises to your routine can help you build beefier, wider lats. Beyond improving your overall strength and fitness and helping to prevent muscular imbalances, developing a broader back is key for those looking to achieve the V-shaped male aesthetic, so it’s worth throwing these lat-building moves in your workout schedule. 

I love how moves like lat pulldowns feel like they’re stretching and working my major back muscles, especially those lats. Read on for FAQs, tips, and a full rundown of the best exercises to strengthen your lats, including bodyweight exercises, dumbbell and barbell options, and weight machines. 

The best lats exercises

The most common lat-building exercise is probably pull-ups. However, if you have yet to master the pull-up or simply want to construct a more well-rounded lat workout, plenty of other exercises either target the lats specifically or strengthen your entire back, including your lats.

Deadlifts, for instance, are typically thought of as an exercise for your hamstrings and glutes, but they’re also an excellent way to work your lats because you have to engage these broad muscles to pull the weight up while stabilizing your spine. Here are some of the best moves to try.

Wide grip pull-ups

Even those who aren’t gym buffs or fitness enthusiasts are aware of the classic pull-up. Rather than pulling the bar down like you do with a lateral pulldown, you pull your body weight up to the bar, working all the major muscles in your back. A wider grip places more emphasis on your lats. Pull-ups are a killer move for upgrading your grip strength.

How to do pull-ups:

1. Grip the pull-up bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart.
2. Pull your entire body up to the bar until your chin is level with or just over the bar.
3. Lower yourself back down with control until you reach the starting position.
4. Repeat until you complete the set. 

The lat pulldown machine

As the name suggests, this move engages your lat muscles using the lat pulldown machine. You can do this exercise either seated or standing up, and it’s best to use a wide grip if you really want to emphasize your lats.

How to do a wide-grip lat pulldown using a cable machine:

1. From a seated position, grip the bar with an overhand grip a little wider than shoulder- distance apart.
2. Keep your chest up and pull the bar down towards your chest.
3. You should feel your shoulder blades squeezing together as the bar reaches your chest.
4. Slowly release the bar back up.
5. Repeat until you complete the set.

Resistance band lat pulldowns

If you don’t have access to a gym with the lat pulldown machine, you can perform this variation using resistance bands. Anchor the band overhead to a door or pull-up bar and perform this move in the same way. Instead of pulling the bar down on the machine, you’ll pull the resistance bands down to your chest, lighting up those lats.

Barbell deadlifts

The deadlift is a classic powerlifting move that works those lats. Try to maintain a neutral spine and avoid lifting too heavy too soon. Once you’ve mastered your technique, you can start incorporating progressive overload and gradually increase the weight over time as you develop more muscular power.

How to do a barbell deadlift:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing forward. Your toes should be under the bar, and your heels should be flat on the ground.
2. Bend your knees, engage your core, and keep your spine neutral.
3. Grip the bar just outside of your knees with an overhand grip.
4. With control, push up with your legs and knees and lift the bar up to the standing position at the top of the movement. The bar will be close to your shins as you’re lifting, and it should rest around your thighs when you reach full height.
5. Pull your shoulder back while lifting, but try to avoid rounding your back. Try to make sure your arms remain extended under tension while your legs are pushing up.
6. Carefully lower the bar down to the ground in a reverse motion.
7. Repeat until you complete the set.

Dumbbell rows

All you need is a humble dumbbell for this rowing move, and you’ll feel your lats working to row or pull the weight up to your chest. Working each side independently with the one-arm variation helps prevent muscular imbalances and develop more balanced strength in your major back muscles.

How to do the one-arm dumbbell row:

1. Start in a lunge position with your left foot forward and your right foot back.
2. Hold the dumbbell in your right hand.
3. Lift or pull the weight up to your chest, making sure your elbow is bent at a 90-degree angle.
4. Try to engage your core throughout this movement.
5. Lower the weight back down.
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Landmine rows

The landmine row is one of the most effective exercises for torching those lats. You’ll also engage other back muscles like your rhomboids and traps, deltoids in your shoulders, biceps in your upper arms, and more. Most importantly, your lats assist you with the pulling motion involved with the landmine row. You’ll need the landmine row equipment set up to perform this move.

How to do the landmine row:

1. Stand straddling the bar with your feet about shoulders-distance apart. The bar should be in between your legs.
2. Bend down low to the same starting position you would use for the bent-over row. Hinge at your hips until your torso is almost parallel to the floor. Hold on to the bar with both hands using an overhand grip.
3. Engage your core.
4. Bend your elbows and lift the bar up toward your chest with control.
5. Lower the bar back down to the starting position so your arms are fully extended. 
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Dumbbell pullovers

The dumbbell pullover is worth adding to your workout when you want to isolate your lats. You’ll also light up your pecs in your chest, deltoids in your shoulders, triceps at the back of your upper arms, and other muscles.

How to do a dumbbell pullover:

1. Hold one dumbbell with both hands and lay with your back flat on the bench.
2. Your feet should be flat on the floor, and the bench should support your head and upper back.
3. Hold the dumbbell with both hands and straighten your arms up so the weight is above your chest in the starting position.
4. Slowly take the weight back overhead as far as you can, bending your elbows and moving the weight until your upper arms are next to your ears.
5. Return the weight back to the starting position.
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Kettlebell swings

I love swinging the kettlebell around because it’s more fun than many other exercises, and you still burn calories. Plus, the kettlebell is kind of cute because it looks like a teapot. Sometimes, you just want to swing something around in a primal way.

In all seriousness, kettlebell swings are a high-intensity exercise that requires high-force activation of certain muscles, improves grip strength, and more. The kettlebell swing targets your posterior chain, including your lats, glutes, and hamstrings. Your lats help stabilize your shoulder joints as you swing the teapot weight around.

Here’s how to do a kettlebell swing:

• Stand with your feet about shoulders-distance apart while holding a kettlebell with both hands and your arms straight down. Your palms should be facing toward you.
• Bend your knees and engage your core.
• Carefully swing the kettlebell back and down between your legs to start to build momentum.
• Push your hips forward so your body is in more of a standing position, and use this momentum to start swinging the kettlebell up to your chest level or higher.
• Repeat until you complete the set.

Dead hangs

Dead hangs stretch and lengthen your latissimus dorsi as you hang from the bar and hold your body weight. You’ll also feel the burn in your core as you try to prevent swinging and stabilize your body in the hanging position. This move is an excellent choice for those who spend a lot of time slouched over a computer desk.

How to do a dead hang:

1. Grip the bar and hang down from the bar, relaxing your shoulders and lats.
2. Squeeze your lats and pull your shoulders down.
3. Hold the position for 10-60 seconds, depending on your fitness level.
4. Depending on where you’re performing the exercise and the height of the rings or bar, you might need to lift your legs to make sure you’re hanging up off the ground and holding your entire body weight.
5. Repeat until you complete the set.

Face pulls

Face pulls hit your rear deltoids in your shoulders, your lats, traps, and rhomboids for a superior shoulder and upper back workout. It’s also worth including in your schedule to help improve your posture and shoulder stability. You’ll need resistance bands for this movement.

How do face pulls:

1. Fasten the rope handle on the cable pulley machine slightly higher than your head.
2. Take a step or two back and grip the ropes with an overhand grip.
3. Keep your elbows up high and pull the rope towards your face. (Rotate your arms so your arms come up as you get close to your head.)
4. The goal is to pull the rope handle until your hands are on either side of your head at the end of the movement.
5. Carefully return the rope to the starting position.
6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Additional lat-building exercises to try

The lats are some of the most challenging muscles in your body to target, but as fitness buffs like Jeff Nippard point out, strong lats help you achieve the wider part of the V-taper look and moves like pull-ups and pulldowns are worth doing. Switching up your schedule with different exercises generates the best results over time. 

Here are some additional moves and activities to consider:

• Seated cable rows
• Resistance band lat pulldowns
• One-arm cable pushdown
• Straight-arm pulldowns
• Renegade rows
• Hex bar deadlifts
• TRX suspended rows
• Barbell rows
• Pendlay rows
• Bent-over rows
• Single-arm kettlebell rows
• Negative pull-ups
• Weighted arm swings
• Chin-ups
• Meadows row
• Freestyle swimming
• Backstroke
• Butterfly
• Rowing machine
• Kayaking
• Stand-up paddle boarding
• Elliptical trainer with resisted arms
• Cross-country skiing

Sample lat workouts

You can choose eight to ten exercises from the lists above that target your lats and other major back muscles; make your own workout by completing two or three sets of each exercise, with eight to 12 reps per set. If you’re an intermediate or advanced athlete looking to increase overall lat strength, use a weight that’s heavy enough that you can only complete eight to 12 reps before reaching exhaustion. 

If you’re a beginner, it’s best to start off with a lighter weight and adapt your reps and sets accordingly when you master your technique. When you’re familiar with the exercise, you can move on to heavier weights.

If you’re looking to build bigger lats, try this sample workout and aim for a near-maximal load:

1. Do four sets of five reps of the lat pulldown machine.
2. Do four sets of five reps of weighted pull-ups.
3. Do four sets of five reps of heavy barbell rows.
4. Do four sets of five reps of hex bar deadlifts with the heaviest load you can manage.

Pushing and pulling moves

You can alternate back and lat exercises that use pulling motions with pushing exercises that engage your chest, like push-ups and bench presses. Pushing exercises usually require your lats to control the opposing motion by performing eccentric (lengthening) contractions.

What are the lats?

The “lats” or latissimus dorsi muscles are a pair of large, triangular, or V-shaped muscles on either side of your spine. They span from the inside of your upper arm by your shoulder down to the back of your pelvis at the waist, creating a dramatic taper spanning your entire back. 

Your lats are the largest muscles in the back and are recruited for many important movements involving the trunk, core, and upper body, such as pulling and rowing. Your lats are involved in any pulling motion, whether pulling an object down from overhead or pulling an object toward you. These major back muscles are heavily involved in exercises like pull-ups and rowing, as well as running and walking.

The primary function of your lats is to work together to stabilize your spine while supporting and providing strength to your arms and shoulders. They assist in keeping your spine straight while also helping extend, rotate, and move your shoulders. Your lats help adduct your arms, which is the motion where you bring your arms up and out to the side like the letter “T” and then pull your arms back down to your sides. 

Benefits of lat exercises and lat workouts

Focusing too much on muscles in the front of your body, like your pecs, abs, and deltoids, can lead to a muscle imbalance between these stronger players and their weaker counterparts. Over time, this reduces the efficiency of your movements and limits your overall strength, not to mention increasing your risk of injury. 

Regularly performing lat exercises provides the following benefits:

• Strengthens and sculpts your back.
• Reduces the risk of injury.
• Stabilizes your spine.
• Improves your posture.
• Enhances breathing.
• Increases running speed, throwing, swimming, and rowing.
• Improves overall core support and function.

Why lat pulldowns are a top lat exercise

Lat pulldowns serve as a valuable equipment-based alternative to pull-ups, especially for those who don’t have the capacity to execute numerous pull-ups with ease. Even individuals with extensive weightlifting backgrounds can encounter difficulties when performing pull-ups due to various reasons, such as past injuries, higher body weight, or the need for additional strength development in their shoulder and arm muscles. 

Here are five reasons lat pulldowns are one of the best lats exercises:

1. Excellent for beginners.
2. Works almost your entire upper body.
3. Versatile lat exercise (you can choose from a number of different grips, with the wide grip being the most effective for your lats).
4. Minimal risk of injury.
5. Increased core activation.

How often should you exercise your back?

A great goal would be to target your lats one to two times per week. While you could train them three times per week, this isn’t necessary to see results. Always be sure to have at least one day in between your back sessions to allow your muscles the proper amount of time to repair.

Also, consider regularly stretching your back before and after your workout sessions to maximize recovery. Consuming at least 25 grams of protein within a couple of hours after your workouts and getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night can help with back gains.

FAQS

How can you get wider lats?

If you stay dedicated to your resistance training and incorporate these exercises that specifically target your lats, you should see the results of your efforts over time. Aim to work these large wing-shaped muscles at least twice a week and make sure to include pulling, rowing, and compound moves, exercises where you raise your arms away from your body, and exercises where you pull your arms toward your body. It’s also important to get sufficient rest and consume a nutritious diet.

What exercises can you do with a lat bar?

You can do a lot with the lat pulldown bar, including wide-grip pulldowns, underhand lat pulldowns, and the original lat pulldown exercise. Most gyms and rehabilitation centers have these lat pulldown bars available for you to work those lats.

Do push-ups help build lats?

While push-ups engage your lats as you try to stabilize your shoulders and maintain proper form, the exercises covered here are the best choice for specifically targeting those lats. Go for moves like pull-ups, rows, face pulls, and lat pulldowns.

What exercises activate lats the most?

A varied workout routine that incorporates these exercises will help you light up your lats. Interestingly, researchers reported the highest latissimus dorsi to biceps ratio of activation during the seated row and the wide grip lat pulldown, which is why these two exercises made our list.