If a muscle is not developing, the usual answer is :work harder, work more. In my experience, anyone I have worked with that tried to get a certain muscle up to speed was working very hard as it is( exception calves)
So what is amiss?
A few things in my opinion. First off, most people do not take the time to sit down and think
A. what the muscle does and
B. what exercises they need to pick to make it work for them.
To illustrate, we will the use the lats as an example.
The main function of the lats is to pull your arms toward you from the from and from the side. So it pays to start the workout with some stiff arm pulldowns or flex deadlifts in order to get the proper mind muscle connection.
From there on, follow the check list for greater gains.
1. Stability. Before you start any exercise, make sure sure you are properly situated. In the example of the lat pulldown this means: abs are tight, shoulder blades pulled down.
2. Activation. Move the shoulder blades first , most people make it a biceps curl by bending the elbows first. The body does not understand bodybuilding and it will use whatever muscle was used first. Since your biceps are smaller than your back, they will burn out first, leaving you with a crappy set.
3. Tension. Create tension in the lats by turning your palms outward and look the shoulders downward.
4. Add intelligent volume vs half reps. The “work harder ” crew always screams for cheat reps, half reps and failure. In my opinion, this will not get you anywhere but burned out or injured. Instead, add intelligent volume such as mechanical drop sets or extra work within the contracted/ stretched position
As for the back you could do the following
1. mechanical drop set for the back
Lat pull down outward intention
lat pull down overhanded closer grip
Lat pulldown underhanded grip, lean back
6-8 reps each
Could be added to every non back workout per week
or add work in the contracted / stretched position.
3×10 stiff arm pull downs
3×10 pull overs
These principals can be applied to any muscle you feel is not quite there.
In this video, you will find the summary of the above please help me beat the evil youtube algorithm by liking and commenting!
Maik