How to Get Wider Lower Lats (V-TAPER!)

If your lats don’t seem wide enough and they look like they end shortly below your armpit, you will want to watch this video on how to get a v-taper. Here I show you 5 lat exercises for getting a wider back by focusing on the lower lats. The key to getting sweeping lats is to not only train your back with the right exercises but by making sure you are performing them the right way.

That said, if you want to build a wider back and lats you have to do two very important things in your back workouts. First, you must be willing to take the exercises you are doing through a full range of motion. Simply focusing on the middle portion of every row, pullup and pulldown is not going to give you fully developed lats just as doing this with your curls will give you fully developed biceps.

Beyond that, if you don’t ever focus on creating a peak contraction of the lats by digging your elbow into your hip at the bottom of every rep, then you won’t get the muscle to grow as much as it is capable of. Each of the lat exercises shown here will help you to do exactly this. They will take your lats through a full range of motion and get you to place extra emphasis on the contracted position of the muscle.

The first exercise shown is called the tripod underhand row. It is important to note that the grip makes all the difference in the effectiveness of this exercise in targeting the lats. When you perform it with an overhand grip you shift most of the focus of the move to the muscles of your upper back rather than the latissimus. When you switch to a supinated grip your elbow becomes much easier to tuck into your side, drive towards your pelvis and ultimately obtain a greater contraction of the lats in their fully shortened state.

The second exercise is the wide grip underhand pulldown. This one actually helps those that struggle to feel what it should feel like to get your elbows driven into your hips. Because the movement starts with your elbows out wide, the only place for them to travel is down and in closer to your hips and pelvis. The underhand position once again helps to allow the elbows to ultimately get closer to your sides and increase the contraction of the lats.

The rocking pulldown is another awesome back exercise for building wider lats because it adds the additional ability to get rotation of the torso as you drive your arm down into your side. Being able to focus on one side at a time helps those that struggle to feel a strong contraction in the lats even more.

If ever there was a face pull for your lats, the high cable row would be it. This allows you once again to train one side at a time in a very athletic manner - by standing on your feet with the ability to include rotation for a v-taper back. This enables you to separate your hips from your shoulders by rotating them in opposite directions which really increases the stretch on your lats and allows for a more powerful contraction. Not just that, the up and away position of the arm creates an even more significant stretch on the lats attachments which tends to allow the user to feel a stronger contraction of the lats at the end of each rep.

The incline single arm stretch pulldown is an amazing lat exercise for growing a wider back. This setup does require that you have access to an incline bench and a cable apparatus, but if you do, it’s worth the extra effort. Here you can get an amazing stretch on the lats by letting your arm drift high up overhead, with a clear target for your elbow to be driven down towards your hip on every rep. The contraction you should feel on this in your lower lats will be intense if performed correctly.

Finally, there is no better lat exercise for building straight arm scapular strength than the straight arm pushdown. Performin the move one arm at a time as shown in the video. Look to not just get to the level of your back but past it to really increase the squeeze on the lower lats in the bottom position.

For more videos on how to get wider lower lats and a v-taper torso, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at the link below and don’t forget to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

[SSx]

1:16 Dumbell tripod row
2:46 Underhand wide grip pulldown
3:37 one arm high cable row
4:53 incline single arm latch stretch pulldown
6:22 single sided straight arm pushdown

[mudgie]

“Do your lats come out and stop here?”

No, not even that far lol

[pancakes]

Exercise 1: the dumbbell Tripod row
1:16

Exercise 2: Underhand wide grip pull down
2:46

Bonus exercise: the rocking pull down
3:17

Exercise 3: the one arm high cable row
3:38

Exercise 4: incline single arm lay stretch pull down
4:54

Exercise 5: Single sides straight arm pushdowns
6:23

[briggs]

Been implementing Jeff’s recommendations to my workouts for about a year now. Pushing past the pain and now after a year, I’m down 87 lbs and getting where I need to be with definition.
Thank you Jeff and Athlean-x team for helping this mid 40s guy getting back to where I need to be with workouts and nutritional needs
It’s not always about his biceps...but they are great

[SamK-thqr]

Kanye: I am the best lyricist in the world Jeff: “right off the bat, when you’re trying to develop that lat”

[smithy]

The quality of these vids is improving at a faster rate then Jesse’s muscle growth

[jamestaylor]

Gym staff: Sir you can't move that inline bench over there
Me: It's okay, Jeff Cavaliere told me to
Gym staff: Well here let me help you move that!

[GoodPuD]

Jeff, thanks for these exercises. I had no idea how weak my lower lats are until I did these. Even with light weight and higher reps, my lower lats are super happy. I now also know why my lower back area hurts when standing for long periods, the lower lats being weak. Mine have been screaming since I did these Tuesday night, especially when standing and leaning over the sink or something. Awesome add to my workout, thanks!

[athleanx]

*NEW “FAST ACTION” Q&A* - After giving away more than 10, 000 programs, it’s time to switch it up! Leave your most burning question about this video or any other training, PT or nutrition question within the first 2 hours of this video’s release (as a separate comment!!) and I will pick 8 to get a detailed reply from me right here in the comments. Answers will be posted within the first 24-48 hours of you leaving the question. Good luck!

[godz]

Me: First time right in time
Jeff: Stopped give away programs

[CornholioPuppetMaster]

So I guess when I’m that shredded, I’ll also hear heavy guitar riffs during sets

[clay]

Does anyone else just get mesmerized by his biceps

[eagleflight]

"It's like a *facepull* for your lats" Say no more, I ll do it everyday

[maryseeker]

You’re so lean that we can really see the way that the exercise works the muscles and thus learn very well from the videos that you do. Much appreciated! Also nice synopsis helps recap the lessons in this segment.

[vincentvega]

Me in the gym: just doing exercises Jeff recommended
Personal trainer: * very skeptical * You sure you know what you're doing?
Me: Athlean X
Personal Trainer: * silently walks away in shame *

[MKrebs-klud]

Either Jeff is a life long learner or he’s been holding out on me with these techniques. AX2; NxT, max size, Beaxst...

[pelegbenartzi]

I always had issue with mind muscle connection when when it comes to back workouts, especially with lats. But the high cable row did the trick, I could fill my lats immediately. Thanks Jeff, you really help me with this one!

[Lpj]

So I switch these up in the order that I do them. But I do my rowing for lower/middle traps first along with….you guessed it - FACEPULLS. Then move to Dumbbell Tripod Row(My favorite), Next 1 arm high cable row, then finish with one arm pull down. Doing a few sets of each of those 3 my Lats are absolutely Shredded lol. Absolutely Love these. Past 2 months I’ve been watching these videos I have gotten great results and can really tell during and after my workouts that I’ve worked the target muscles extremely well. My Lat, Traps and Rhomboids have blown me away at how fast they got huge compared to what I had started with. This is the first time I’ve ever weight and resistance trained “seriously “ and when I learned wth I was doing. Thanks Jeff!! I picture what my muscles are doing as I work them which may be weird but it helps my mind muscle connection incredibly. Your Chest workouts have blasted my chest as well. 👊🏼✊🏼💪🏼

[yj]

3:21 I really need the shirt "ATHLEAN X SAID THIS WAS OKAY" to do this move

[BaileyBaratheon]

My mother: *contracts to push me out when giving birth*

Jeff: giving birth is killing your gains! How to properly contract and give birth with the correct form in this video