Bigger Teres Major = Wider Back = Bigger Man by Vladi
The latissimus dorsi may be the main muscle responsible for the popular V-shape or wide back cobra like look but there is more to it. This when the teres major a.k.a. the little lat or lat junior kicks into play.
Actually it's a really small muscle but it really adds to the bodybuilding illusion - the wider the back the smaller the waist looks and the bigger the man/woman appears.
"Hmmm...so how do you work this...brah? Rows? Pull-ups?"
Yes, the teres major works quite a bit during wide grip rows and pull-ups. However I have two favorite exercises both invented /or presented / by the famous bodybuilding trainer Vince Gironda. One of the exercises is called high bench dumbbell rows (similar to Bulgarian ring rows) and the other one is 45 degrees pulley row which is basically the cable machine equivalent of the sternum chin-up.
You can see how to do both exercises in the video clip below. Special thanks to www.ironguru.com for posting the videos. Thank you.
"Bro...off-topic... in the video Vince Gironda says that he wants the girl to have high lats. He said he doesn't want any length to the lat. I want lower lats too.
What are you doing to me?"
He said those are his plan for the girl - Kay Baxter and he explained why. Nobody wants you to have high lats. It's weird looking but in order to add wide we need to focus exactly on the upper area and the exercises presented by Vince Gironda help you do exactly that. Don't worry it's not all the back work you are supposed to do.
"How many sets/reps do you recommend for those exercises?"
Go for more volume and strict form on those. You want to minimize the potential cheating as much as you can focus on the back rather than throwing some weight around. So 3 sets of 8-12 reps sounds fine in this case. This is more of an assistance exercise - not general work like barbell rows or deadlifts so there is no point doing 5s or 6s.
