If you go to a gym, you will surely have seen the machine being used lat machine in both of the following ways: with the forward slash or behind the head, but what is the best variant?
What muscles does it involve and what are the differences? Let's find out!
Index
MUSCLES INVOLVED
La lat machine is a multiarticulatory exercise since it trains both i back muscles (the great dorsal, the great round, the rhomboids, the middle and lower trapezius), i posterior bundles of the deltoid and elbow flexors and, in part, the small and the large bib.
HOW TO DO IT?
Once positioned in front of the machine, hold the bar with your palms facing the tool, keeping the pinch (made with three fingers) wider than your shoulders.
At this point you sit down and start the concentric movement, flexing the elbow and adducting the humerus, bringing the bar above the chest. In the phase eccentric, you return to starting position, keeping the shoulder blades adducted and trying not to stretch the elbows too far.
The bust, throughout the movement, it must be tilted back slightly and the lower back must follow its natural curvature.
LAT MACHINE BEHIND OR FORWARD?
Who performs the rear variant often justifies the choice by explaining that in this way the trapezius muscles, the central part of the back and the posterior deltoids are better isolated; in reality the muscles involved are the same for both variants.
This exercise is performed in most cases "by hearsay”Not because it was really recommended to us by our personal trainer.
Evolutionarily speaking, the movement of the lat machine forward calls for climbing and the movement of grabbing something and pulling it down.
The movement of the lat machine behind goes against nature, no one would ever grab, for example, a branch to reap the fruits carrying it behind their back. The movement of the lat behind it is, therefore, forced and unnatural and more yes force one movement, the more the risk of injury increases.
Let's see the main differences between these two exercise variants for the lats:
- Anatomy and muscles: the dorsal is activated equally in both variants, but in the forward variant the pectoral is more involved;
- Joints: the variant behind is more risky for the shoulder, elbow and spine joints; with the forward version, the scapula-humeral joint undergoes less stress.
- Transports: the variant behind cannot be performed by everyone. To perform it correctly and not risk injuries, it takes aexcellent mobility in external rotation of the shoulder; if there is no such physiological mobility, it will be compensated by cervical flexion and excessive elbow extension.
- Wide or narrow grip: the variant behind has a single option: the wide grip. The forward lat machine can also be performed with a wide grip (with a frontal movement of adduction of the humerus) or with a narrow grip (extension of the humerus along the sagittal plane).
IN CONCLUSION
It's it is preferable to run the forward lat machine why:
- Respect more the functionality of the joints
- There is no scientific evidence that proves greater muscle activations than the posterior version
- There are fewer risks of accident because to perform this variant excellent extra-rotational mobility is not necessary.
And you, do you run the lat machine forward or backward? Let us know in the comments and remember to follow us on our Telegram channel
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