LATS ALL, FOLKS! LEARN HOW TO ENGAGE YOUR LATS TO WIDEN YOUR BACK AND ATTACK HEAVY LIFTS WITH MORE FORCE!

Don't leave massive strength gains on the table by haphazardly approaching the bar and lifting dangerously. Get your lats in the game and destroy serious weight!

As a medical student, and throughout anatomy classes, I learned the function of the latissimus dorsi, which helps me out as I workout at the gym. It takes a rare breed of muscle nerd to detail the functional role of the latissimus dorsi, otherwise known as the "lats." This is a baffling shame since the lats perform a variety of critical functions and happen to be one of the largest muscle groups in the body. Alas, the lats have taken a back seat to certain spotlight-hogging, sexy muscles like the arms and abs. It's time to for the lats to shine! Your lats deserve more consideration and focus than a few extra sets of pull-downs at the end of a back and biceps day. Here's your guide to engage the lats and exploit one of the strongest muscle groups in the body! LAT ANATOMY AND FUNCTION: If we put our anatomy hats on for a moment, it's easy to see that the latissimus dorsi are, to quote Ron Burgundy, "kind of a big deal." The lats cover a vast surface area from an origin standpoint, and they affect major functions throughout the body. They work to medially rotate and extend the shoulder joint. They also depress the shoulder girdle and assist in lateral flexion of the trunk. The latissimus dorsi also accomplish more lesser-known but equally important functions, especially in the context of sports, performance, and heavy lifting. The lats have significant fascial connections that essentially tie them to the entire core through multiple layers. They play a major role in lower back, sacral, and shoulder stability. The lats do a bang-up job at increasing spinal stiffness by resisting flexion and tension. They basically bullet-proof the lumbodorsal fascia and sacroiliac (SI) joint against shear forces, which is crucial during loaded deadlifts and squats.

STRONG LATS MEAN BIGGER LIFTS - At this juncture, we know that the latissimus dorsi are vital players in human musculature, but we haven't discussed how they contribute to and can help improve your core lifts—especially your deadlift. The lats work as part of a system that includes the glutes and thoracolumbar fascia, which is a membrane that covers the deep muscles of the back. When we lift heavy things, force is transferred from the lower body to the upper body in a diagonal pattern called the serape effect. The lats are essential to this transfer of force. COOL FACT - THE LATS SERVE AS AN ACCESSORY MUSCLE IN RESPIRATION! Look at the fiber orientation of the glutes. It matches the fiber orientation of the lat muscle on the opposite side of the body. Force is transferred from the glute on both sides through the thoracolumbar fascia into the opposite lat, forming a pseudo "x-shaped" belt across the back. This provides an immense amount of stability and stiffness for the spine, which establishes more tension and in turn results in more weight lifted. DEADLIFT ACTIVATION AND BEYOND. I've long championed the notion that most trainees have no clue how to activate or engage their lats during training. There's no telling how much weight has been "left in the tank" or how much long-term progress has been stalled due to this easily remedied issue.

I observe countless mistakes when people deadlift. Some treat the deadlift as if it's a squat and set their hips too low, lift with a rounded back, or have issues with foot and hand placement. Entire books have been written on the deadlift, but there's one mistake that universally sticks out like a sore thumb: the inability for most trainees to engage their lats. Many people see the deadlift as nothing more than bending over and picking up a barbell. While that's true in the literal sense, it's a bit more complicated in practice.