Homemade Lat Rowing Machine

Some people believe, inaccurately, that you must perform a pull-down exercise in order to provide a good workout for your latissimus dorsi muscles (also known as lats). You can give your lats an efficient workout using exercises involving a rowing motion—as long as you become aware of how the lats function, and work them accordingly.

  1. The Lats

    • The lats—large back muscles formed like wings and responsible for the V-shaped upper body of many swimmers and bodybuilders—perform medial rotation (rotating your arm), adduction (moving your arm back to the body after having lifted it out to the side) and extension (moving your arm back toward your body after having lifted it in front of you).

    Rowing Machine

    • You can easily build your own rowing machine at home: You'll simply need exercise bands with handles, a door anchor (resources) and a door. While you sit down in the type of rowing machine you typically find at the gym, you will stand up in your homemade rowing machine. Attach the door anchor to a doorjamb at breast-bone level. Move the exercise bands through the anchor's noose until the you have the same length on either side of the anchor. You have now completed your rowing machine.

    Execution

    • Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding one handle in each hand. Pull the bands until they are extended but not taut. Squat down 90 degrees while keeping your arms straight out in front of you, at shoulder level. The bands will slacken somewhat as you squat. Stand back up while pulling your elbows backward in a rowing motion as far as you can. Repeat the motion at a brisk pace for 30 seconds; slow down the motion for the subsequent 30 seconds. Do this set five to 10 times, depending upon your fitness level. You just performed an interval series on your homemade rowing machine—the best method for doing cardiovascular work on any type of rowing machine.

    Lat Involvement

    • Keep your elbows close to your sides with your palms up while performing your rowing motion in order to get the most lat involvement. If you want to build more muscle and focus less on the cardio aspect of the rowing, get bands with more resistance and perform the rowing motion more slowly.