Lats Unlock the Lift

You hear your Coaches talk a lot about having our lats turned on in just about every barbell movement. The back squat, clean, deadlift, row, bench press all typically have some sort of cue that involves your lats.

But why?

It all ultimately boils down to bar path and stress on the low back. Yes, we like to have you aware of things like efficiency so that you can move more weight and develop all the strength and muscle, but primarily, a bar path that is where it should be will set your body parts up to be in the position where they are supposed to be.

A straight bar path means you are controlling the bar, the bar is not controlling you.

The lats are directly involved in that action. If you have “passive” or sleepy lats, then the bar will drift away from you. If you think about actively trying to crush an apple in your armpit, then your lats will be “on”, the bar path will be straight, and you’ll be set up to be both efficient and healthy.

If you struggle to find this feeling of tension in your lats, just flag down a coach today during warm ups and have them spend a few extra minutes with you. It’s a point of performance that you don’t want to ignore.

-Dave