In all areas of life, there is always one factor which sets apart one person from all of those around him or her. In sports, it is the person with the height that stands out. In politics, it is the person with military experience that enjoys a certain amount of added reverence.
And when it comes to standing out from the crowd in bodybuilding competition, it is the athlete with thickest and widest back muscles – the lats – that stands out from the competition and usually ends up in the winners’ circle as a result.
The lats are like the wings of a majestic eagle – perched behind the athlete, making him appear wider and more powerful than his peers. Lat insertion points in the back can vary, so some athletes will have a natural advantage in terms of width appearance.
However, with the right kind of persistent training, any athlete can develop his or her lat muscles to their utmost potential – allowing wins over competitors and the former self alike! Are you ready to learn how?
Choose the right exercises
First, let’s look at the movements you’ll be using to target your lat muscles. The name of the game here is controlled explosiveness with movements that isolate the lats as much as possible. The first movement you should choose is lat pulldowns – tried and true, they deliver a full range of motion and keep your body in a fixed training arc, isolating the lat muscles.
Move on to the smith machine for bent-over rows. Again, the nature of this movement is a fixed range of motion, so you can fully extend and hit the lats with everything you have without losing form or risking injury. Move on to seated cable rows, a nice movement for mid-back development with the use of controlled yet powerful and explosive repetitions.
End your lat training day with power rack deadlifts, for a limited range of very heavy weights using a shorter fixed range of motion, to target the lats rather than the lumbar region of the back.
You gotta eat!
Unless you’re taking enough steroids to feed a horse, you are not going to be able to simultaneously get ripped and shredded while adding 12 pounds of beef to your back. Decide if it’s diet time, or it is ‘massive lat building’ time.
If decide on the latter, then it’s time to put down most of your cardio for a bit, and stop at CostCo for a nice stack of steak and potatoes to pile on your plate for the next 3 months.
Add 500 calories of solid carbs (rice, pasta, potatoes) and protein (beef, chicken, turkey, eggs & whey) to your plate each day in order to give your body the caloric resources it needs to add one pound of muscle a week. This may not seem like much, but in 3 months, you’ll have added 12 pounds of muscle and a total of probably 18 pounds of ‘bulk’ when you add in a little water and some fat.
You’ll look like a much larger beastmode version of your current self!
Persistence is key If you’re targeting the back for serious lat growth, then you need to think about the long game. Don’t get hung up on “what can I do to blow up my back in the next week”. Rather, you need to be thinking about three months MINIMUM before you see the complete level of transformation and overhaul which you desire. Be patient. Plan for a winter bulk so you can keep on lots of clothes, and surprise the world with your new 4-dimesional back once it’s time to diet down for summertime display. Back development takes a while to achieve, but has such a lasting impact that most champion lifters kick themselves for not dedicating themselves to it sooner! Don’t let the arms do all the work The biggest mistake that athletes make when training the back is, well, training the arms! No matter how impressive your arms may be, one of your key goals on back training day is to keep the arms out of it! If you have a massive biceps pump at the end of your lat movements, then you have cheated yourself out of an even better lat muscle pump. Don’t flex your biceps and work them on back day. Use your hands like hooks, as a means only to grip the weight. Slowly flex & feel the back muscles contract on every repetition and their growth will surprise you! 
Take your supplements
When it comes to successful back training, supplements help in two major ways. First off, a supplement such as Primal Surge 10X can be used to help you to train with added intensity. You’ll demand more of your lat muscles than ever before, and they’ll grow as a result. Then, following your workout, choose a supplement such as Mesobolin to help with your overall mass gains. Insane strength comes from a combination of work, nutrition, and yes, smart supplementation.
