Lat pulls, Cant touch chest.

[peteroy01]

im taking a beginning weight lifting at school. Its a joke. or untill now anyways. 1 of the graded exercises is lat pull downs. and you have to touch your chest. Ive tried all kind of different weights but i cant touch my chest. the closest i get is about 2in away. Does anybody have any ideas, stretches, or anything.

[Hellmaskbanned]

Thats.....Very strange. You mean where your coller bone is right?

[Mogamedogz]

That is EXTREMELY odd... did you just start working out?

[nyjetsfan86]

how far apart are your hands when holding the bar

[peteroy01]

yes to the collor bone.
Ive been lifting for 7yrs.
and hands are a little wider than shoulders.

[Benches505]

Take a wider grip

[peteroy01]

dude im running out of bar.

[peteroy01]

i could probably go another 3in out on both hands but i dont think thats going to fix my problem

[nyjetsfan86]

first of all not everyone is the same size and dont have the same range of motion so no dont go wider, the correct way to find where your hands should be when doing a lat pulldown, stand infront of the machine keep hands down to your sides and then raise your hands up thats where you should keep your hands because to do a lat pull down correct you want to drive your elbows into your ribs

[Mogamedogz]

Maybe you could try doing some chin up's (wide grip).

[peteroy01]

i can do 16 chin ups, but only up to the chin. i just cant do chest ups.

[Mogamedogz]

How about iso seated cable rows with light weight.

[peteroy01]

all my other back exercises are ok. i can go all the way to my stomach with cable rows. and besides thats not what im getting tested on. Wow this really pisses me off. im the biggest guy in the class and i cant touch my damn collar bone.

[peteroy01]

anyone??????????????

[Serotonin]

How is your rotator cuff? Can you manually dislocate your shoulders or kind of pull them from the socket w/ out much trouble?

I had a problem with my shoulders and it was similar to your pulldown issue. I saw a physical therapist and he had me do some strength exercises for the tiny muscles in my rotator cuff. It was a rubber hose and I just did arm extensions w/ it under my foot. Anyways, to work those tiny muscles you need low weight (spring-like tension) otherwise other muscles kick in and you skip the rotator cuff.

Just a thought for ya. Good luck

[peteroy01]

thanx, i messed my rotator cuff up about 2yrs ago. i went through all the therapy but i guess maybe thats whats wrong with me.

[MFT81]

Dude, who cares, I NEVER touch my chest with the bar, For me Im about 2-3 inches away, I have long arms I bet you do to.

The key is to make sure that you feel your lats contract as if you were hitting a rear double bi pose, (Kind of,you get the point)

I know you've got some know it all grad student but if you tell them you cant cause of ROM or injury you should be ok.........

[MFT81]

another thought is the machine itself, ours is very compact at our gym,

guys who are over 6 foot have to sit all the way forward and then lean back to perform the exercise as well.

Finally IMO I dont think you should target pulling the bar to the collar bone, for most I would advise mid chest. but thats just how I do it.

[peteroy01]

o i know touching your collor bone is retarded, its just what the fat ass instructor says we have to do.

[Ajc330]

maybe the weight is too heavy

[peteroy01]

na thats not it. hell i even tried 40lbs. and i still couldnt bring it down to my collarbone.

[rock357]

dude, I wouldn't worry about it. Tell those idiots you have a bum shoulder. if you can do 16 chins and have good form on the pulls then your muscles are working very well. at least with in their given range of motion. I wouldn't force any thing on my body that is a strain to do. Everyone is different. If your instructor doesn't like your form, stand up and give him a front lat pose and show off those wings and say "Whats up now!@&%"

[peteroy01]

i think gravity, a 45, and an instructors foot would make a good blend. damn gravity is a bitch

[IronReload04]

i would hope they dont force you to do anything painful just to maka a grade

[gigem]

yeah sounds like that old injury is what your problem is imho

[Ronnie Rowland]

You don't need too!

[Ronnie Rowland]

You don't need too touch the chest as long as your contracting the lats!

[nyjetsfan86]

as long as my elbows come down into my ribs i dont care where the bar is touching

[collar]

bring it down to chin then.

[maxex]

You might be going to heavy. Try doing without any weight, slowly so yo dont crack your sternum<<spelling?? and squeez in as if you were trying to put your elbows in your back pockets. If you can do that then slowly go up plate by plate untill you you start losing form.

Think less is more.