Just about every pullup engages your lats. Unlike chinups, which exert biceps more, pullups primarily target lats. Other muscles such as your triceps, shoulders and core play supporting roles. For a lat workout, try standard, wide, narrow or sternum pullups.
“The muscles that are targeted when performing chin/pull-ups include all of the major pulling muscles on your back. This includes your lats, trapezius, rhomboids, erector spinae, teres major, and your arms (in particular the biceps),” says Stark.
The pullup is one of the most effective exercises for strengthening the back muscles. Pullups work the following muscles of the back: Latissimus dorsi: largest upper back muscle that runs from the mid-back to under the armpit and shoulder blade. Trapezius: located from your neck out to both shoulders.
Wide Grip Pull Ups
Wide grip pull ups are the grandaddy of them all. Grab the bar with a wide overhand grip and tilt your head back as you pull your chest towards the bar. This variation really widens the lats and will give you that classic V taper.
The pull-up is often the goal and the method for achieving other goals. It's a key movement and it should never be replaced by the lat pulldown if possible, though the two can play together well.
Lat Pulldown vs Pullups: The winner
Both of the exercises are great for your back, and particularly your lats; that goes without saying. Overall though, the pull up is a better exercise in terms of muscle activation, real strength building, and a better range of motion and muscles used.
The best pull-up grip is a medium-width, pronated false grip for targeting the lats. The underhand grip is best for targeting the biceps. The neutral and underhand grips are easiest for pull-ups. But there's more to the way you grip when it comes to pull-ups.
If you are a beginner with no training experience, you will likely be unable to do a single pull-up. However, fit and active men should be able to do at least 4 to 8 pull-ups in one set. Fit and active women should be able to do at least 1 to 3 pull-ups in one set.
Pullups train the upper back and biceps. While these are important muscles, you do not want any muscle group disproportionately strong compared with the rest of your body. If you only do pullups, you will develop a muscular imbalance. Incorporating other exercises to counterbalance the pullups is key.
Building muscle requires just as much focus on exercise selection, as it does exercise execution. Chin-ups can help you build both back thickness and width arguably better than any other exercise, providing you select the right type and execute them in a specific way.
The key reasons why you can't feel your lats during a set of pull-ups are: Your lats are weak. You're using the wrong grip. Your form is poor.
Shoot for multiple (3-4) sets of 10-12 reps, adding weight once you can do so with ease. It should be noted that you can perform kipping pull-ups to “cheat” through a few reps if you fail before your target number of reps.
YOU'VE GOT BAD POSTURE
And for some, weak lats can actually be at the root of poor posture. “Sitting all the time with bad posture leads to a weak mid and upper back, which is also turning off your abdominal region,” Kite says.
Research says the pull-up and chin-up are equally effective. When it comes to activating the lats and traps they both work. Grip width is more important. When it comes to recruitment of the lats, the distance between your hands is the most important factor.
The lats are some of the muscles responsible for connecting a punch from the rotation of the core, through turning the punch over and generating additional power. Most fighters who lack the necessary power to move their opponents backwards are typically called arm-punchers.
Do Genetics Play A Role In Lat Development? Genetics play a huge role in the development of every muscle. For lats, this role is no less. For example, some bodybuilders just won't develop sweeping lats like others and might have an extremely hard time building the back.
Training your lats will pay off in a number of ways. Functionally, strong lats mean you'll perform better when it comes to pulling exercises—and that's not just upper body moves like rows and pullups. You'll find your deadlift is even stronger, too. You'll also benefit aesthetically.
So on that basis with enough practice, pull ups can definitely make you stronger. Unfortunately, the potential strength gains you can make doing pull up exercises in isolation are limited. To make meaningful progress in strengthening your body you will still need an external load (resistance).
No, pull-ups are not an ab-isolation exercise. When you are performing these, your whole body is working, beginning with the hands and ending with your calves. Nevertheless, it is recommended that during pull-ups you try isolating your core. That is, put less pressure on your hands, legs, and chest.
Pullups are one of the most challenging workout moves that require serious strength. Think you've seen and done it all when it comes to fitness? No matter how long you've been working out, there's always room to improve and challenge yourself.