No, not the real Arnold. Just me taking quotes of great workout information from his book The New Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding. So without further adieu…
When It Comes To The Lat Muscles,
Arnold Says…
“The lats have two basic functions as far as bodybuilding is concerned: They pull the shoulder back (a rowing motion) and pull the shoulders down (a pulldown or chinning motion). A common mistake when doing these movements is to use too much biceps effort and not enough back, or to involve the muscles of the lower back in a swaying motion instead of making the lasts do most of the work. You have to make an effort when training lats to isolate them so that only these muscles are involved in the movement.”
Quote Source: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s New Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding
Image Source
how to build a big chest, shoulders ?
A great place to start for chest and shoulders is your basic bench press…and then you can move into variations of the bench (Incline/decline/overhead) and dumb bell presses as well with the variations. Check out Bodybuilding.com. they have a lot of great information and demos for every part of the body.
Arnold was probably the greatest bodybuilder that has ever competed but he lacks in knowledge about how the body functions. This “knowledge based on experience” is what is wrong with most bodybuilding oriented instruction.
Bio-mechanically, the lats attach to the upper arm (humerus) and move the arm in relation to the torso. They perform “shoulder extension” and “shoulder adduction”. Both of these joint motions are the upper arm moving in relation to the torso. Pulling the shoulders back is called scapular retraction and is a product of the rhomboid and the middle and lower trapezius. Drawing the shoulders down is accomplished by the serratus anterior, which connect from the inner surface of the scapula and attaches to the 3rd, 4th and 5th rib. As they contract, they draw the scapula downward and tight against the ribcage. Lack of function of these critical muscles produces the winging effect on the scapula. The serratus and the aforementioned rhomboids, middle and lower traps all work together in drawing the scapula downward.
The swaying motion Arnold refers to does take away from the lats functioning but not in the way he describes. Actually the swaying and sway back posture (excessive lower back curve) makes the lats ineffective because the scapular anchors are not able to function which in turn takes away from lat function.
Proper performance is a matter of proper body positioning and maintaining that proper position throughout the exercise. Most experts feel that you just have to “concentrate” to make a muscle work. If only it were that easy. It is like concentrating on your car going in a straight line instead of holding on to the steering wheel.
Seated rows and pulldowns were designed to exercise the lats but performance is not a given as most contend. Positioning of the spine and the entire body is required as well as using the lats to perform the exercise instead of initiating movement with the forearms and biceps.