SCAPULA DEPRESSION = LAT ACTIVATION
Any kind of lat activation is heavily reliant on the depression of your scapula. What’s depression of the scapula? In other words, pushing the shoulder blades down towards your back pockets. Another way of saying this is to push your armpits down towards your hips
Why is this so important? Because it’s a crucial part of technique in the Big 3
Retracting and depressing the scapula will ensure a lot of your upper back muscles are activated throughout the movement as well as place the shoulder joint in a safe position whilst squatting and bench pressing.
In a deadlift, you only want to depress the scapula as it’s more beneficial to your overall technique and positioning to keep the arms as long as possible. Retracting the scapula will shorten the arms, altering your position in a negative way
Want to grow your lats? Learn how to activate them! Want to ensure you can get the most out of your squat, bench press and deadlift, learn to depress your scapula and become very good at it because it will pay off
I use this exercise before every session for the sole purpose of improving my ability to engage my lats in my training
I was never good at doing this, I still need improvement, but I’m a hell of a lot better then I ever used to be at using my lats with all my lifts or even activating them when wanting to train them
Give this exercise a try! 3 sets of 10 reps each side. I’d recommend to use a cable machine instead of a band but if you don’t have one, a band will do
Simply elevate your shoulder blade and then depress it as much as you can and repeat. If you want to, place your opposite hand on the lat you’re trying to activate to feel if it’s actually activating or not. You should feel a nice squeeze and be left with a little pump after doing these
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