14 Best Lat Exercises to Widen and Strengthen Your Back

Exercises that target the latissimus dorsi, aka "lats" are staples of any good bodybuilding routine. Moves like pulldowns, pullups, and rows—and their many variations—are essential for any guy trying to build back muscle. Surprisingly enough, though, lots of men get lat exercises wrong—or, if they do them correctly, they're simply not getting as much out of them as they could be.

When you think of ways to build out your back, your mind undoubtedly goes to lat pulldowns. Don't get us wrong, they're a great addition to any back workout (we've included them below), but if you want to build out your entire back, you'll need an array of horizontal and vertical pulling lat workouts that target the entirety of the muscle.

To help you build a strong and wide back, we've thrown together a list of the very best lat exercises (dumbbell lat exercises, cable lat exercises, and bodyweight lat exercises, included). Whether you tack on a few of these lat exercises at the end of your full body workout or utilize them as part of a well-thought-out upper body routine, incorporating them will give you a bigger, wider back in no time.

What Are Lats?

Your lats, or latissimus dorsi, is a set of large, flat muscles that span from the low back and run along the sides of the body, under the arms. Lats help move the shoulders and arms and stabilize the back. Climbers and swimmers are known for having well-developed backs because those exercises are directly controlled by the lats.

It's important to note that there isn't really such a thing as "lower lat exercises" or "upper lat exercises," as the muscle works as one, so isolating the upper or lower areas isn't physiologically possible like it is for the chest. When the lats contract, the entire muscle contracts—not just the upper or lower area.

However, when people talk about using targeted lower lat exercises, what they really likely mean is feeling more of a stretch in the muscle fibers of that area. Exercises like wide grip pullups or pulldowns can cause more of a stretching feeling in the lower muscle fibers where they attach to the pelvis and lower spine. But it's better to perform lat exercises that attack the muscle from all angles using a mix of vertical and horizontal pulling movements.

Related: 10 Best Back Exercises for Beginners to Build Foundational Size and Strength

Best Lat Exercises to Widen and Strengthen Your Back

1. Lat Pulldowns

Muscles It Works

Lats, biceps, rear delts, rhomboids and traps

How to Do It

1. Sit at a lat pulldown machine with a straight bar, to start.

2. Straighten your arms and grab the bar with an overhand grip outside shoulder width.

3. Draw shoulder blades down and back and pull your elbows toward your sides as you bring the bar to the top of your chest.

4. Pause and then reverse the motion to the starting position

5. That's 1 rep.

Pro Tip

Move slowly and with control, making sure you bring the bar down to your chest every rep. Keep your torso upright and pull the bar as low on your torso as possible. Pretend you're pulling the bar toward your belt, not your chest. Too many times people lean way back as they do this movement. Don't bother—you're just working your glutes, not your lats.

2. Wide-Grip Pullup

Muscles It Works

Upper lats, teres major

How to Do It

1. Grab the bar with an overhand grip wider than shoulder-width apart, to start.

2. Pull up to the bar in a smooth motion so the bar grazes the bottom of your neck at the top of the pullup.

3. Lower down—keeping the movement controlled—until your arms are locked.

4. That's 1 rep.

Pro Tip

This was one of Arnold’s favorite exercises for building wide-flared lats. Because he was pulling around 230 pounds to the bar, he would simply pick a number, say 50, and complete as many sets to failure as was necessary to reach that number. The fewer the sets it takes to reach that number, the better. In the 50-rep scenario, once you can reach your goal in five sets or less, it’s time to add weight.

3. Seated Cable Row

Muscles It Works

Lats, rear delts, traps, and rhomboids

How to Do It

1. Attach a straight or lat-pulldown bar to the pulley of a seated row station.

2. Sit on the bench with your feet against the foot plate, keeping your knees slightly bent.

3. Keeping your lower back flat, bend forward at the hips to grasp the bar and row it to your sternum.

4. Extend your arms and feel the stretch in your back before beginning the next rep.

Pro tip:

Keep tension on your upper body throughout the entirety of the movement making sure you don't lean backward to far at the end of the movement—it could put unnecessary stress on your lower back

4. Pullup (Shoulder-Width)

Muscles It Works

Upper-middle lats, rhomboids, rear delts

How to Do It

1. Grab the bar with an overhand grip right at shoulder-width apart, to start.

2. Pull up to the bar in a smooth motion so the bar touches the bottom of your neck at the top of the pullup.

3. Lower down—keeping the movement controlled—until your arms are locked.

4. That's 1 rep.

Pro Tip

Using this move will require more involvement from your biceps so grip may become a factor. If your forearms are prone to fatigue, consider using straps to make it through your working sets. Shoot for multiple (3 to 4) sets of 10 to 12 reps, adding weight once you can do so with ease. It should be noted that you can perform kipping pullups to “cheat” through a few reps if you fail before your target number of reps.

5. Gorilla Row

Muscles It Works

Lats, teres major and minor, middle traps, rear delts

How to Do It

1. Stand with your feet wider than hip width, to start.

2. Place a kettlebell or dumbbell outside each of your feet.

3. Hinge your hips back and bend your knees slightly and make sure your back is straight and your core is engaged.

4. Hold the kettlebell handles with a neutral grip.

5. Pull one elbow up towards your hip, keeping it close to your body.

6. As you row up, push down into the opposite kettlebell on the floor.

7. Lower the kettlebell back down to the floor.

8. That's 1 rep.

9. Repeat the same movement on the opposite side for desired reps and sets.

6. Kipping Pullup

Muscles It Works

Upper lats, teres major, biceps brachii

How to Do It

1. Hang from a pullup bar using an overhand grip with hands outside shoulder width, to start.

2. Retract your shoulder blades and swing your legs back so your torso moves forward. Your body should create a backward arc.

3. Then, contract your chest and swing your legs forward using the momentum to help you pull your chin up over the bar.

4. That's 1 rep.

Pro Tip

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool CrossFitter, this is part of the required curriculum and so should be part of your regular training routine. If you’re new to the movement, be sure to train it only under the supervision of a knowledgeable and vigilant coach to limit your risk of injury. Because it places such a stretch on the fragile musculature of the shoulder joint, the small muscles of the rotator cuff may decide to revolt. In the context of a more traditional, size-and-strength focused routine, kipping pullups are an excellent way to finish a set of normal pullups. Once you hit initial failure on your controlled reps, add a handful (3 to 5) of kips to really finish off your lats.

7. Landmine Row

Muscles It Works

Lats, rhomboids, traps, rear delts

How to Do It

1. Place the end of a barbell into a corner, to start.

2. Facing away from the corner, hold the barbell with both hands at the opposite end, above where you load the weights.

3. Stand so the bar is sitting in the middle of your legs.

4. Keeping your lower back flat, bend at the hips until your torso is slightly above parallel with the floor.

5. Draw your shoulder blade back and row the bar until the weight almost touches your chest.

6. That's 1 rep.

8. Chinup

Muscles It Works

Lower lats, rhomboids, biceps brachii

How to Do It

1. Hang from a pullup bar using an underhand grip with hands facing towards you, to start.

2. Pull up to the bar in a smooth motion until your chin is over the top of the bar.

3. Lower down—keeping the movement controlled—until your arms are locked.

4. That's 1 rep.

Pro Tip

If your lower lats have been lagging behind, then you should try making this challenging move your focus. Try to maintain a vertical body positioning as you pull through to the top and squeeze your shoulder blades together before lowering yourself under control to a full stretch. For variety and increased difficulty, as well as a slight shift in the muscular focus, try using a wider (outside shoulder-width) underhand grip.

9. Incline Row

Muscles It Works

Lats, rhomboids, trapezius, and rear delts

How to Do It

1. To start, set an adjustable bench to a 30- to 45-degree incline.

2. Lie on the bench chest-down with a dumbbell in each hand planting the tips of your toes on the ground.

3. Draw your shoulder blades back and together as you row the weights to your sides before bringing the dumbbells back to the starting position.

4. That's 1 rep.

Pro tip:

To avoid straining your neck keep it in a neutral position and rest your full upper body on the bench to stabilize yourself.

10. Neutral-Grip Pullup

Muscles It Works

Lower lats, rhomboids, traps, brachialis

How to Do It

1. Grab the bar with a neutral grip, to start.

2. Pull up to the bar in a smooth motion so the bar touches the bottom of your neck at the top of the pullup.

3. Lower down—keeping the movement controlled—until your arms are locked.

4. That's 1 rep.

Pro Tip

To perform the narrow-grip neutral pullup, simply position a parallel-grip cable attachment over a pullup bar. The wider-grip version will usually require more creativity, but certain pullup towers in gyms have parallel bars that extend out a bit. They may be thicker than the provided pullup bar, which means the use of additional grip strength. An outdoor alternative may await you at your local playground where a set of monkey bars will offer a variety of hand spacings – narrow, wide, and other! Incorporate a variety of neutral-grip pulls into your routine for thorough development.

11. Dumbbell Pullover

Muscles It Works

Latis, pectoralis major, triceps

How to Do It

1. Lie flat on a bench holding a dumbell in your hands with arms straight over your chest.

2. Keeping your upper arms in the same position, lower the weight until your elbows are bent 90 degrees.

3. Then, lower your upper arms until they’re parallel to the floor.

4. Pull your arms back to the starting position, straightening your elbows on the way up.

5. That's 1 rep.

12. Towel Pullup

Muscles It Works

Lower lats, rhomboids, traps, brachialis, brachioradialis, wrist flexors

How to Do It

1. Place a towel over a pullup bar and grab an end in each hand, to start.

2. Hang from the towel until arms are extended.

3. Pull yourself up until your chin is higher than your hands.

4. Slowly lower down to a dead hang. That's 1 rep.

5. If that’s too hard, start by hanging from the towel for 30 seconds or as long as you can, then progress up.

Pro Tip

A pure strength move, the towel pullup first focuses on your forearms. If your forearms aren’t strong enough to solidify your grip, then your lats won’t be able to do the work that they need to in order to complete the pull. Like the one-arm pushup on chest day, this is a move for more advanced trainees who have mastered the basics. This simple move, however, can translate to greater grip strength on your traditional pulls, so don’t wait until you feel you have “graduated” into the realm of the advanced. Finish your next back day off with 2 to 3 sets of this move to failure and strive for a greater number each time you hit the gym.

13. Deadlift

Muscles It Works

Biceps, lats, glutes, hamstrings

How to Do It

1. With a barbell in front of you, stand with your feet hip-width apart and roll a barbell up to your shins, to start.

2. Bend down to grasp it outside your knees.

3. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, push through your heels and extend your hips until you’re standing with the bar in front of your thighs.

4. Make sure to keep the bar close to your body throughout the movement.

Pro Tip

Keep the bar close to your shins throughout the movement to ensure you aren't leaning too far forward.

14. Bentover Row

Muscles It Works

Lats, middle and lower traps, rear delts

How to Do It

1. Place a barbell in a squat rack slightly below your knees, to start.

2. Grip the barbell with your palms facing down.

3. Lift the bar from the rack, hinge at the hips, and keep your back straight.

4. Bend your knees slightly, brace your core, and lower the bar towards the floor until your elbows are completely straight.

5. Pull the bar back up towards your belly button and then slowly lower it back down to the starting position.

6. That's 1 rep.

Related: How to Make a Workout Routine and Training Plan that Delivers Big Results

How to Incorporate Lat Exercises into Workouts

Lat exercises can be incorporated into your workouts on either an upper body day (upper-lower split), on a pull day (for push-pull legs), or every training day if you do total body workouts, depending on your training split. It's a good idea to choose a mix of vertical and horizontal pulling exercises spread out over your weekly workouts.

For example, you could add the following exercises to your upper/body split if you work out 4 days per week with 2 upper body days:

Day one:

• Pullups

• Bentover rows

Day two:

• Lat pulldowns

• Seated cable rows

Depending on your goals, anywhere from 2 to 25 sets of back exercises will work. If you plan on maintaining your current strength or muscle, two solid sets split up into two different training sessions during the week may suffice for a beginner.

If your goal is to build the maximum amount of muscle you can in your back, 8 to 25 sets per week is a good guideline, depending on your fitness level. Start with 8 sets, and work your way up over the course of several weeks. Lifters with 3 to 6 years or more of consistent lifting under their belt may need the higher volume range to see a lot of growth.

Related: How Many Reps and Sets You Should Do for Every Training Goal

The Benefits of Lat Exercises

Your lats (latissimus dorsi) are the broadest muscles in your back, and doing lat exercises that build muscle will create a V-shape or "wings" that look impressive and give you a wide, broad visual appearance. The lower lats area starts at your low and mid back and extends upwards and outwards to your humerus (upper arm bone).

Lats are used for movements that require pulling, like rowing, pullups, opening doors, and for activities like climbing, swimming, throwing, or chopping wood. Doing lat exercises can make these movements easier, plus improve your sports performance. Strong lats will help prevent back and shoulder pain and injuries, including shoulder impingement.

Your posture and breathing are also impacted by your lat muscles, so doing lat exercises will support them both. Strong lats help counteract sitting postures that can round your shoulders and make you look hunched or cause neck and back pain.