Lauding the Lats

“A few years ago, I had a lot of lower back pain. Then I discovered pull-ups, the world’s best lat exercise. The better I got at pulling myself over the bar, the less back pain I experienced. To be sure, pull-ups are a daunting exercise. But the activity is addictive. When I started, at age 75, I couldn’t do a single repetition. Last week, at age 80, I did three sets of eleven each within a period of ten minutes.” Sanford Rose

Dolors & Sense

By Sanford Rose

KISSIMMEE Florida—(Weekly Hubris)—10/28/2013—Want to banish lower back pain? Start strengthening the core muscles of the body.

When I mention core muscles, most people think I mean abdominal muscles.

Not primarily.

The core of the body, in my view, runs from the upper buttocks across the fibrous covering of the spinal muscles, which is called the thoracolumbar fascia, and terminates in the largest muscle of the upper body, dubbed the latissimus dorsi, or “broadest back.”

The lats hang out on our sides and are essential to lift and lower the shoulders, but their role is much, ahem, broader. They are literally the nexus (that which binds) between the body’s upper and lower extremities—therefore, its “true” core.

Every time we run, lift, turn, or twist, we use the lats.

When these are weak, we can end up injuring the lumbar spine and its friable discs.

Indeed, many studies suggest that between 30 and 45 percent of lumbar injuries are traceable to weakness in the complex of thoracolumbar muscles that are anchored by the lats.

So the health of the tissue that can be felt drooping just below our raised arms is closely linked to that some distance away either in or just above our sacroiliac.

A few years ago, I had a lot of lower back pain. Then I discovered pull-ups, the world’s best lat exercise.

The better I got at pulling myself over the bar, the less back pain I experienced.

To be sure, pull-ups are a daunting exercise. But the activity is addictive. When I started, at age 75, I couldn’t do a single repetition. Last week, at age 80, I did three sets of eleven each within a period of ten minutes.

A lot of gain and never any pain.

What! Never?

Well, hardly ever.

Nor are pull-ups a male-only activity, despite much propaganda about women being unsuited for the activity.

Success depends less on gender than on mass and arm length, with which it is obviously inversely correlated.

That is, the more mass, the less likely one is to pull it up. And the longer one’s arms, the farther, and less attainable, is the top of the bar, over which one’s chin is supposed to reach.

For those who are unconvinced by my pitch and still plan to shy away from this rewarding activity, there are always lat pull-downs, which are far less strenuous since one obviously can control the amount of weight placed on a pull-down machine.

But whatever you do, do something. Don’t neglect those pivotal lats.

Note: The image of a pull-up used to illustrate this column derives from http://www.stupidgymshit.com/2011/06/19/the-best-upper-body-exercise/, which also offers an informative blog-entry and video on proper pull-up technique.