EDUCATE

•
INSPIRE
•
TRANSFORM

THE
COMPLETE

lats
TRAINING GUIDE TO

wide muscular latissimus dorsi

2022-2023
FOR MEN OVER 40
 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

Learn the keys to optimizing every

minute of your workout to build wide
and thick lats and the missing link that
must happen before using common
approaches like “heavy compound
exercises” can ever work.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

For years I struggled to build my back. I studied

all the best backs in the world, the best
coaches, trainers and read all the magazines.
I did all the commonly suggested training
“tricks”:
Train heavier: I rowed 485 “strict”, DB rowed
200lbs for 10. Weighted pull ups with 120lb DB.
Train harder: I had two training partners. One for
the first hour, then another for the second.
Tons of pull ups: I did thousands. 10x10, 10x3,
4x20, 100 reps in 7 minutes. I often did them
every day.
Heavy Deadlifts: Consistently over 750lbs, 485
for 26 reps.
Compound movements, more volume, less
volume, 4x a week, 2x a week and everything
in between.

You name it, I did it and did it hard. Sure, I grew a little bit. But I began
to question whether I could do it at all.

PEOPLE TOLD ME For all my hard work, all

I DIDN’T HAVE I seemed to get was sore
elbows and shoulders.
THE GENETICS.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

If you’re stuck in believing any of these

common approaches, and beating your head
against the wall working harder than you need
to without the results to show for your
efforts, it’s ok, I was there too, and I’m going to
show you exactly where all this stuff fits in.

You see, this advice from the top athletes of all time ISN’T WRONG.
It’s actually very useful. It’s just missing one key piece….YOU ARE NOT
THEM, and neither am I. We are all built very differently. Some people fit
perfectly into certain exercises and other people simply will struggle.

That doesn’t mean you “can’t”, it simply means you can’t… yet.

Think about this:

Long legs, short legs.
Long arms, short arms.
Long torso, short torso.
Wide collarbone, or short.
Big rib cage, small rib cage.

And there are many more subtleties within that like proportions, angles,
insertions and muscle lengths. But it is really simple once you begin to
physically see it in the videos I’m going to give you. Imagine two people
with completely different body types doing the same exercise, or same
program and expecting similar results….

Completely ridiculous.

Yet this is what you’ve been trying to do up to now. Before we dive

into the specifics of lat training, there are a number of things you must
acknowledge before you will ever build any muscle maximally.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

HERE ARE SOME

THINGS I DON’T
WANT YOU TO DO:

• Train like everyone else.

• Thinking more is better. It’s not. Better is better.
• Focus on moving weight and completing sets and reps.
• Mindlessly lift heavy.
• Go back to the same stuff you’ve been doing.
• Avoid doing something because it doesn’t feel good….. yet.
• Get sloppy in your training so you can pad your ego.
• Be attached to old school bro-splits like once a week per body
part nonsense.
• Think lifting heavy is the key to growth (it’s not).
• Think that free weight movements are better than machines, or
cables (they’re typically not).

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

EXECUTION TIPS
FOR LATS:

• You must be able to achieve a neutral or extended • The position of the scapula (protracted or
thoracic spine. retracted, upward or downward rotation) + the
• You must be able to externally rotate your upper path of your upper arm will determine whether
arm (turn biceps to ceiling). you’re working your lats, or your mid traps,
rhomboids, rear delts.
• You must be able to get your arm over your head
(180 degrees of shoulder flexion). • Externally rotate your arm (turn the bend of your
arm toward the ceiling) to start the movement.
• You must be able to control your scapula (protract,
retract, depress, elevate, upward/downward • Initiate with the lat. It MUST contract first and
rotation). propel motion.

• You must be able to stabilize your trunk/spine • Muscle contraction propels motion. NOT
(resist rotation). launching a weight or momentum.

• You must initiate an exercise with contraction of • Close your eyes. Contract the lat, use that
your lats. contraction to move the limb. Add resistance
ONLY when this can be maintained through the
• You must know that the function of the lat is to pull range.
the upper arm behind the back to the spine.
• MUSCLE CENTRIC VIEW: Find the insertion
• Your grip must be stronger than your lats. of the muscle (the end furthest from the mid line
• Perfect form FIRST. Heavy weights second. of the body), and contract the muscle to pull it
toward the origin end of the muscle.
• MASTER the skills of a small number of exercises.
Do a lot of them, do them well. • Notice the path your upper arm takes: down,
out, oblique. This will determine what works
• PRO-tract (push shoulder blades forward) and most.
maintain that while initiating movement down with
the shoulder and arm at the same time.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

• Think about driving with your upper arm, forget about

your hand.
• Notice which joint has the greatest change in angle.
This will tell you which muscle did the most work.
*HINT: If it’s moving, it’s helping you move the weight,
or cheating you into a position to make it easier.
• The cue to pull “back” is wrong for lats. The lats pull
the upper arm down, then around behind you.
• The lat wraps around behind the body and originates
on the spine. When contracting during an exercise,
think about bringing the insertion of the muscle around
behind your back (aka, pull your armpit toward your spine).

THE CUE TO PULL

“BACK” IS WRONG
FOR LATS. THE LATS
PULL THE UPPER ARM
DOWN, THEN AROUND
BEHIND YOU.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

REMEMBER THIS:

S.S.I.
SETUP
Setup is the key to ensure the muscle you’re
trying to work is in fact the prime mover.

STABILIZE
You body will turn down contractions if it senses
any instability. Stability is the key to hard
contractions. Lock your body in stone.

INITIATE
Make sure the muscle you’re working is the
muscle that initiates the movement from the
stretched position on every rep.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

BIGGEST MISTAKES
IN BUILDING LAT
MUSCLES:
• Doing too many exercises and never mastering the skill • Choosing exercises based on other people, or
of any of them. “best” exercises.
• Lifting weight instead of challenging a muscle. • Not learning your structure and what exercises
best challenge your muscles.
• Thinking about the exercise instead of muscles.
• Pulling “back”.
• Not understanding muscle centric training: insertion
to origin. • Pulling the weight toward you. Think: pull
yourself to the weight instead.
• Not focusing on stability at the spine.
• Leaning back.
• Not having the mobility/strength to extend the thoracic
spine (mid-back). • Using anything other than the lat to initiate the
movement.
• Not addressing scapula stability and mobility
first (upward and downward rotation, retraction, • Retracting (pulling your shoulders back) first.
protraction).

Here are the Core Exercises to Master for Lats:

• Reverse Grip Pulldown
• Dumbbell Rows-One Arm
• Long Rope Cable Pullover
• Bent Over Dumbbell Row *
• Seated Row (1 or 2 arms) *

*Exercises may be done supported or unsupported. The

difference being that when an exercise is done supported,
the ability to produce force is not limited by your ability
to internally stabilize the body. For most people, internal Videos for these
stability will almost always be the bottleneck in your exercises, and all
ability to challenge a muscle. The SKILL of stability the Core 40 exercises
must be trained or it will always inhibit progress. are in MI40 Nation.
Head there now and
watch them.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

HOW MUCH,
HOW OFTEN?
How much, and how often is a question
that is dependent on a number of different
individual variables:

SKILL RECOVERABILITY
How well do you execute this exercise? Your ability to recover from your training is dependent
The better you train with a Muscle Intelligence TM on: nutrition, sleep, stress, environment, perception of
approach and without extraneous movement effort, history, aerobic fitness, mitochondrial health.
(swinging), the more direct tension you send If any of these are not optimized, your recovery will vary.
through a muscle. More tension means the muscle Make a list, assess yourself subjectively.
will receive more damage and direct fatigue, and
therefore need more time to recover.
TYPE OF TRAINING STIMULUS.
The muscular system doesn’t need as long as the Neurological, hypertrophy and metabolic style training
nervous system does to recover, so when training will all impact your recovery time differently and therefore
with intelligence, you can really expect to feel better how often you should train.
physically and mentally even when training more In general, the nervous system will take 48-72 hours,
often and with higher volume. the muscular system will 24-72 hours*, and the
metabolic system can take much less time.
Neurologically taxing workouts (heavy workouts or
mindless lifting) tend to cause more overall fatigue *NOTE: the more time spent eccentrically in training,
to the body and mind. Doing this strategically, or the more time you need for recovery of the muscular
when the goal is to get strong, is a necessary part system.
of the training adaptation. However, this type of
neurologically taxing training is not the best way to
build muscle.
VOLUME & FREQUENCY
Volume and Frequency is inversely proportional. As one
Think of training like this: goes up the other goes down.
You can only ever have one “choke point”. One Training a body part more often (every 1-3 day), means
system that is challenged most. If your goal is to the volume in each session must go down.
build muscle, this has to be the muscular system
This is a great place to begin for someone looking to
more often than not.
improve the skill and contractile ability within a muscle.
If your choke point is the nervous system, or In general, the faster you want to learn a skill, the more
metabolic system (your ability to produce energy), often you should do it.
those systems will be taxed the most and therefore Training with a lot of volume in a workout, and the
they will be the one to adapt. muscle needs longer to recover. Typically 48-72 hours
Ensure the muscular system is most often the one between workouts, or more for the muscular system
being taxed by not training to complete failure every to recover.
set (let your perfect execution be your guide), and
by measuring rest periods to allow enough time for
the body to replenish energy substrates.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

MINDSET
• You must walk into the gym with absolute confidence.
• Prepare your mind. Create an anchor of the person you
are in the gym.
• Become a Jedi. Laser focused effort.
• Skill mastery must precede hard work.
• You must know your plan, and execute with relentless
effort.
• Focused savagery during sets.
• Equanimity (Calm, undisturbed mind ) between sets.
• No anger, no anxiety, no fear.
• Absolute certainty that you will accomplish every rep
with perfection and aggression.
• Always do more than is expected of you.
• You can do so much more than you believe. Your mind
will always limit you.
• Never let anyone beat you. Find their weakness, and
exploit it.
• Every single workout is an opportunity to create your
greatest self, or retreat into weakness and defeat. AND THE BIGGEST
• You must feel the fear, and smile, knowing you’re
becoming a better version of yourself.
LESSON OF ALL:
• Seek to challenge your muscles, not to pad your ego.
• Challenge your weaknesses, don’t simply pursue your
Don’t EVER be a victim.
strengths.
• Seek to challenge all properties of the muscle. Choose your words.
Strength, Endurance, Volume. No weaknesses.
Choose your company.
• Skill of exercise is the foundation of all growth.
• Your mind is your greatest ally, or your biggest enemy.
Choose your body.
Train it. Choose your mindset.
• Never quit.
Create your life.
• Never quit.

The Complete training Guide to Lats

 BIG, MUSCULAR LATS

CONCLUSION:
Now that you’re well versed at the
keys to develop this and any body
part, the next step is implementation
and progression.

How to Proceed and Succeed:

START NOW! Do not wait to implement these tips tricks and cues.
READ one tip a day and master it.
WATCH one video a day and practice practice practice.
NEVER revert to poor habits. Your ego will be a worthy opponent.

FOLLOW up with one of our intelligently designed workout

programs. They are designed to increase skill acquisition and
progress maximally without plateaus.

The Complete training Guide to Lats