Longtime friend and student of the legendary Vince Gironda "The Iron Guru", Ron Kosloff answers questions about Vince's unique training concepts!
Q: MY LATS NEED WIDTH! WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD FOR DOING THIS? PLEASE, HELP!
A: Well, as we discussed in one of my other question and answers, this is an area you are going to have to specialize on. So, you’re going to have to cut everything else in half. If you’re doing 8 sets of 8 reps for all body parts you’re going to have to cut it to 4 sets of 4 reps and you’re going to do 10 sets of 10 reps for your lats. Now, I can understand wanting to increase width. One of the best exercises that Vince recommended was the chins, but it has to be done the right way. Vince said that the only person that he ever saw do the chins correctly was Don Howorth. What you want to do is stand in front of a chinning bar and get a 90 degree grip on the bar between your bicep and forearm. Now, you don’t want to get a greater grip than 90 degrees because you won’t be able to contract your lats and especially the teres major, which is the largest part of your back. Now, when you chin, this is the correct way to do it. You’re going to arch your body and when you pull up, bring the lower pec line up to the bar holding it for a count of six. Then if you do 10 sets of 10 reps with ten to fifteen seconds in between each set, you should see a difference. In Vince’s Best Exercise The First Work Out Bulletin, the 45 degree pulley (where you pull the bar in under your low pec line), your arms flare out to the side, your chest is high and protruding, and your head is back as you try to touch the elbows together and again for a count of six. Those are a couple of the best exercises where you can use a lot of muscle confusion. You can use other exercises, but those are the best two. Now, one of the things Vince taught me (because I had problems with my teres major) is that after you’re done chinning or doing 45 degree lat pulls, you can do some contracting exercises… maybe two or three sets. What you do is touch your elbows together in front of you with your hands at a 90 degree grip between your bicep and your forearm. Then, you lean forward, trying to contract the teres major (the upper part of the back) and cross your elbows. Squeeze and concentrate on bringing the extreme upper part of the back. Do two, three or four sets contracting and holding for ten seconds. And, after awhile, you’ll see what I mean… crossing your elbows, putting your elbows together, and squeezing as hard as you can, concentrating on squeezing the upper teres major and holding it for ten seconds. I think this will help you. But, remember… this is a specialized exercise where you’re doing 10 sets of 10 reps and cutting everything else in half. While you’re doing this exercise, think of trying to touch your shoulders together. That will draw the teres major out and contract it. If you have any questions give me a call.
