The key to a wide back and big lats - Pull-Ups
These days when you walk into the gym, the majority of people, if you ask, will struggle or be unable to do pull-ups. This may be because they dont do them often, or it may be that they have just never learnt to do them properly.
When people first try pull-ups, they either find them easy (some people find bodyweight exercise comfortable from the first time they try it) or they can find them almost impossible. When it is a case of the latter, they tend to ignore them, rather than to learn and master them.
If this is you, I want to help you learn how to do them!
Negatives
The first step in learning to do pull-ups is negatives. They are the part of a pull-up where you lower your body away from the bar. So to do a set, jump and pull your body up to the bar; from here lower yourself as slowly as you can to the point where your arms are fully extended and you are just hanging. You should aim to increase the amount of time you can last with each rep.
Once you get the hang of negatives and you are starting to make each rep last 15 to 20 seconds, then you can advance on them by adding:
Isometrics
Isometrics are when you hold your contraction at a certain part of a movement for a number of seconds. For example, during a negative rep that you could hold for 20 seconds, you could add an isometric when the elbows are at right angles, so around the half way point. If you can hold it for 10 seconds, you just made your rep 30 seconds. This is great for the strength increase you are looking for!
Mastering Pull-ups
Now once you have mastered the ability to perform negative reps with isometrics, you should find you are able to perform a full pullup. To learn them, you want to keep your hands narrow on the bar, around shoulder width. This will allow your arms to aid more in the movement. Once you are up to sets of 8 to 10 reps, you can widen your grip a bit, with the intention on focusing more on the back and broadening the lats. You should aim to eventually have your hands about double your shoulder width to really see great results! Good luck!
