Lat activation/pulling with the elbows for dummies

**Emevas** · Posted On: 11/10/2010 7:18am

Minivans are awesome man, don't knock 'em. I get better mileage than an SUV, lower rollover rate, higher safety rating, holds more crap (which has been great for all the moves the military has done), and unlike a pick-up, I have a built in camper shell rather than having an open bed or having to buy an additional shell. It's also been nice for road trips and taking groups of friends places.

There's such a stigma attached to them, but I stopped worrying about being cool in high school, haha.

**handyman** · Posted On: 11/16/2010 1:51am

Thanks! Something so simple, yet so important!

**Cayvmann** · Posted On: 11/16/2010 12:55pm

I've been lifting for about 30 years, and some of this stuff isn't as obvious, even to seasoned lifters, as people might think. These helpful little hints would have been good to start with and a lot of wasted efforts would have been more productive, but you live and learn. I have learned a lot about form in the last few years and it has helped me get by some of the injuries that I have given myself along the way. I wouldn't trade all the effort with the weights for anything. It is hard work that pays off, well at least for me it does.

**Emevas** · Posted On: 11/16/2010 7:00pm

Originally Posted by Cayvmann

I've been lifting for about 30 years, and some of this stuff isn't as obvious, even to seasoned lifters, as people might think. These helpful little hints would have been good to start with and a lot of wasted efforts would have been more productive, but you live and learn. I have learned a lot about form in the last few years and it has helped me get by some of the injuries that I have given myself along the way. I wouldn't trade all the effort with the weights for anything. It is hard work that pays off, well at least for me it does.

Experience is king, and really, even with the advent of the internet and instant information exchange, nothing compares with hands on learning. I've tried helping so many folks over the net, and something that takes hours of trouble shooting via text and even video is something that could be corrected in seconds in person. So much of lifting is about feel, and just having the body awareness, which is really something you can only learn from trial and error.

**groundbully** · Posted On: 11/17/2010 12:47am

also it helps to use a thumbless grip helps to use the lats instead of the biceps

**Emevas** · Posted On: 11/17/2010 12:51am

Originally Posted by groundbully

also it helps to use a thumbless grip helps to use the lats instead of the biceps

I address this in the vertical pull video. Assuming you have the grip strength, it can be helpful, but a lot of folks will lose rows going thumbless.

**groundbully** · Posted On: 11/17/2010 12:55am

Originally Posted by Emevas

I address this in the vertical pull video. Assuming you have the grip strength, it can be helpful, but a lot of folks will lose rows going thumbless.

yeah i dont do thumbless anymore but when i did, id only do them on seated rows

**Emevas** · Posted On: 11/17/2010 1:08am

Yeah, they work a lot better on the cable movements. I actually liked thumbless with straps on cable rows to really hammer the lats.

**groundbully** · Posted On: 11/17/2010 1:12am

yeah i used to do those like crazy when i needed to develop my lats

**Dr._Tzun_Tzu** · Posted On: 11/17/2010 7:58pm

Great vid's E. Another exercise I used to do this was to use a device like in the first video, or even a overhead cable machine, and to touch my bicep with my free hand. This gave a feedback to help me relax the bicep during the pull. Once I had trained this relaxing as a skill I was able to apply it under heavier loads.

It feels really good when you are doing lat pulldowns and your elbow joint is like a relaxed hinge and the only tension is in the fingers to hold the bar and in the back and triceps. Of coarse this is still just activation drills for a big load that uses the full arms, and shoulder to pull.....