WHAT DO ENGAGED LATS LOOK & FEEL LIKE?
When training, subtle adjustments make all the difference... & nothing demonstrates that like proper lat engagement! I briefly mentioned engaging your lats in my post about
proper core engagement
when I said we want to make sure our shoulders aren’t shrugging/hunching. It’s more nuanced than that though, which is why I created
this video
.
In short, if your posture is looking sloppy, then your lats are not engaged.. which means your core is also not properly engaged... which could lead to difficult/painful movement or even injury (ouch). So let’s talk solutions!
Focus on:
- keeping neck long
- keeping chest open
- "locking in" shoulders (compress your shoulder blades back & down as if you were trying to slide them into the back pockets of your jeans)
All while keeping your core engaged:
- not arching lower back
- not puffing rib cage out
It's also worth mentioning that training your lats with exercises like lat pulldowns, pull-ups & rows could not only improve your ability to engage your lats, but also your awareness of whether or not they're properly engaging & maintaining good posture with any movement you do. I hope you find this check list, along with this video visual helpful! Shoot me an email if you have any questions!