Lats exercises impact the strength and appearance of your back immensely. Lats are thick and large v-shaped muscles placed at the back of your body. They support the pushing and pulling movements of your upper body. For instance, when you perform a pull-up workout, your lat muscles get fully activated and indulged in the exercise. The best lat exercises with dumbbells engage your entire spectrum of lat muscles to grow and strengthen them. Gym equipment for back exercises can be challenging and expensive for some people. However, it does not mean you cannot work on your lat muscles at home. Just a pair of dumbbells and a bench are good to go for the starters and can actually yield you some impressive results. That said, let us look at some of the best dumbbell exercises to strengthen your lats at home.

Why Choose Dumbbell Workout For A Stronger Back?

To gain a strong, wide, and V-shaped back with dumbbells, including the best dumbbell exercises for your lats, can prove to be significantly beneficial. Dumbbell Exercises for the back such as bent-over rowing, dumbbell pullover, dumbbell single-arm rowing, and dumbbell deadlift are some of the finest workouts you can perform daily to develop a strong and wide back. However, relying only on the dumbbell workouts to work upon a strong back may not be enough. Doing compound workouts such as pull-ups, pull-downs, and other barbell exercises in the gym are equally vital to ramp up muscle gain.

Best Dumbbell Exercises For Strong Lats

Dumbbells are excellent as well as versatile workout equipment as they allow a greater range of motion for several kinds of exercises. Dumbbell rowing, incline raises, deadlifts, etc., work amazingly to build a strong muscular back. Below given is a list of lats workouts with dumbbells for you to perform-

1. Dumbbell Rowing-

Dumbbell rowing is a basic compound movement that simultaneously works on several muscle groups. Of course, latissimus dorsi or lats are covered during this workout. In fact, if you do not have access to advanced machines or barbells, it would be one of the most effective lat exercises you can do to get fire in your latissimus dorsi muscle. Apart from the back muscles, dumbbell rowing also works on arms, delts, and the core. It enhances strength in the back and serves the best for improving posture and athletic performance. Just make sure you keep your core and shoulder blades stiff and do not arch your back during this dumbbell lat exercise.

Steps To Perform Dumbbell Rowing-

• Take a dumbbell in one hand with the knee of the alternate leg on a flat bench. Keep the other leg firm on the ground beside the edge of the bench.
• With the other hand firm on the bench, keep your hand with the shoulder right beneath your shoulder.
• Row in this position with 8010 reps for strong lats

2. Dumbbell I-Y-T Raises-

This lat workout is not known to many people, but it is again super effective to grow the back muscles. There are variations for this workout as well, such as seated, standing, flat and inclined. This one is also a compound movement that works on the upper trap and rear delts. It’s more like an all-in-one workout, so if you were looking for one, your search stops here! However, you have to ensure the correct posture with the face away from the bench and neck near its edge. It will execute the correct range of motion as well as engagement if you perform it slowly.

Steps To Perform Dumbbell I-Y-T Raises- 

• On a 30-degree incline bench, lie down on your stomach.
• With a dumbbell in each hand, form a “T,” raising your arms till your head.
• Then, form a “Y” with your arms at an angle of 45 degrees. Hold this position and then raise your arms further till they form a 90-degree angle.
• Hold the final position, then return to the starting position and repeat the dumbbell IYT raises 8-10 times.

3. Dumbbell Bent Over Row-

Among a few other lat exercises, the dumbbell bent-over row is the best one to get the lats working! Research reveals that standing dumbbell bent-over row may cause lumbar spine load. So, hitting the lat with lighter weights is safer while performing a dumbbell bent-over row. If you are not much into pull-ups or pull-downs, this lat exercise may help you begin to start building your back. However, you must ensure your spine is neutral during the movement to avoid injury. While people may use other equipment, dumbbells always work the best to derive the best range of motion.

Steps to perform Dumbbell Bent Over Row- 

• With an overhand grip and the palms facing each other, hold dumbbells in both of your hands.
• Lean forward by bending your knees and pushing your hips slightly back with a stiff core.
• Aim at a full contraction as you bring your arms out at your sides.
• That’s the position for dumbbell bent-over row that you should repeat 8-10 times.

4. Dumbbell Pull-Up Superman-

Supermans are an exciting at-home workout; doing them with dumbbells can certainly make you achieve stronger and bigger lats. Not only this, but dumbbell pull-up supermans can also assist you in fixing your posture flaws. Using lighter weights and keeping the hands and chest off the ground during this lat exercise is beneficial. Furthermore, you have to follow the ‘the slow the better’ rule for dumbbell pull-up supermans to witness highly effective results.

Steps to perform Dumbbell Pull-Up Superman- 

• With dumbbells in your hands, lie down on your stomach with your arms extended ahead and palms facing down.

• Raise your arms off the floor, imitating a superman fly, bring your elbows near your chest until you feel a complete contraction in your back muscles. Hold this position of dumbbell pull-up superman and repeat for 8-10 times.

Also Read : Men’s Kegel Exercise

5. Dumbbell Bent-Arm Pull-Over Lat Workout-

Initially, there was confusion about whether the dumbbell bent-arm pull-over was a chest or a back workout. Some experts cleared the air and said that it does help build strength in back muscles. However, to realize that it works for you, it’s better to give a shot at all the variations of this exercise. It may respond differently for different bodies trying to gain different muscle results. Despite these uncertainties surrounding this exercise, one thing that it surely offers is an aesthetically stunning athletic body. While performing the movement, make sure the dumbbells you use are light, allowing you a fuller range of motion and ample flexibility for the muscles to engage.

Steps to perform Dumbbell Bent-Arm Pull-Over Lat Workout- 

• With your feet firmly planted on the floor, lie down on a straight bench with dumbbells in your hands. With a slight flex in your elbows, keep your arms extended and palms facing towards each other.
• Keep the core tight, bring the weights over your head until your arms are absolutely contracted, hold for a few seconds, and return to the initial position.
• Repeat dumbbell bent-arm pull-over lat 8-10 times.

6. Incline Dumbbell Lying Row-

Now, this is a lat workout that you can perform both at home and at the gym. Its main focus is the lats only when it works on the back. To burn up your lats with an incline dumbbell lying row, ensure that you row the dumbbells upwards with a neutral grip.

Steps to perform Incline Dumbbell Lying Row- 

• Keep two dumbbells underneath a 45-degree inclined bench. 
• Form a prone position with arms extended below and chest at the edge of the bench. Then, hold the dumbbells with a neutral grip with palms facing each other and engage your lats and other back muscles.  
• Hold this position for a few seconds, and after a break of 2-3 minutes, repeat the steps to complete 8-10 reps of incline dumbbell lying row.

7. Dumbbell Deadlifts-

This, again, is a compound exercise that works on the back muscles simultaneously with a special focus on the lats. If you include dumbbell deadlifts in your daily workout routine, you will indeed experience an improvement in the strengthening and toning of your back muscles.

Steps to perform dumbbell deadlifts- 

• With a hip-width stance, stand firm on the floor and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
• Palms facing inwards, keep your arms extended right in front of you. 
• Now, keeping the back absolutely straight, push back your hips and bend your knees till your shin. 
• Engage your lats at this position, take a rest for 2-3 minutes as you return to the initial position and repeat dumbbell deadlifts for 4-6 times. 

Conclusion

The above-mentioned lat exercises are excellent for working on various back muscles besides the lats. Of course, these exercises are not the only effective ways to build strong lats. however, this does not mean that these dumbbell lats workouts fall short in building a robust back. If you want to build your lat muscles at home, these exercises are some of the finest picks for you. Even if you go to the gym, incorporating these workouts into your back workout will not disappoint you.