Vince Gironda | Bodybuilding Muscle Fitness Trainer | Wild Physique

The lats are the second largest muscle in the body (the thighs being number one), and they show under the armpits even when the body is viewed from the front.

It is the lats which give you that wide-back appearance. Well-developed lats mean a super taper.

These have been dubbed by many as the single best lat exercise ever invented! Hold on to your lats!

Implementation: This involves leaning back throughout the entire movement. In this variation, the lower portion of the chest should touch the bar.

(A) Begin by grasping the pull-up bar with an underhand grip, approximately shoulder width apart. Now hang with your arms fully extended. (B) As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far away from the bar as possible and arch your spine throughout the movement. At the upper end of the movement, your hips and legs will be at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your collarbone passes the bar and your lower chest or sternum area touches it. By the time you've completed the concentric portion of the movement, your head will be parallel to the floor. This is the king of back exercises! It not only works the lats, but the entire lower back!

1. The beginning of the movement is more like a classical chin.

2. The midrange resembles a pullover motion.

3. The end position duplicates the finishing motion of a rowing movement.

This is an advanced exercise to say the least!

Vince, I have to tell you that you are the greatest trainer ever. After spending three weeks at “Vince’s” I learned more than I would have in a lifetime training in my hometown.

Thank you for helping me get on the right track. I am still improving almost every workout, but I need a little advice about back building.

I notice that I neither have width or thickness in my lats. Any help would be appreciated.

Glad you enjoyed your stay John.

I liked working with you because you listened so diligently.

With regard to your back I suggest you train the area twice a week but use three different back routines (rotating them in order).

Workout No. One. Wide grip chins (to front), T-Bar Rows, Long Floor Pulley Rows

Workout No. Two. Racing-dive lat pulls, Close grip chin, Dumbell Rowing

Workout No. Three. Medium grip chin, Close grip pulldowns to chest, Hyper extensions.

Start with three sets of each exercise (eight reps) and work up to five sets of each.

As you get into the program decrease the rest time between sets as much as possible but not so much as to allow deep breathing to interfere with exercise performance.

Mr. Gironda, I read your column in MuscleMag International all the time and I have just bought your book at B. Dalton’s booksellers.

I have learned more from that book than anything else.

I do have a problem. It is my back.

I have a wide V-shape, my lats are thick and really spread out well, but my back is smooth. There are no lumps when I spread my back and even when I do a double biceps pose showing the back there are no lumps.

Please help me. I do plenty of bent over rowing exercises each workout, but I just do not know what else to do. My lower back is OK.

Rowing is a basic back exercise. You need isolation movements to bring up different areas of your back.

I suggest you try medium grip chins pulling the bar to the sternum 5 x 8.

Seated cable rowing (arching the torso each rep) 5 x 10.

Prone dumbbell rowing (on high bench) 5 x 8.

I would also do some trapezius work and posterior deltoid exercise.

More detail will be built into the upper back area if you build these two areas.