Lat Machine Back and Shoulders - Charles A. Smith (1951)

 

Now, I feel a wee bit bad about the "sales pitch" add-ons here . . . Charles A. Smith is my Number One favorite lifting author. But then, the sales game was part of keeping employed in his case and he did get burned repeatedly by Ben & Joey. Consider this, though . . . when Martians first arrived on Earth back in 1951, they had seen Muscle Power (Mars Edition) on the stands back home. Upon arriving, the strongly built Martians with their triple biceps peaks on all three arms first words to earthlings were, "Take me to your Weider." And a lot of that publicity, as well as the first honest "Mr. Universe" competition was due in large part to Mr. Charles A. Smith and his writings. I love 'em all! 

The article . . . 

I can recall many years ago when I was around ten years of age, having an odd notion about what happened when a lawbreaker was "pinched" by the cops. 

I had the distinct idea that a big, burly policeman went around, seizing portions of the anatomy of the unsuspecting between thumb and forefinger and gave it a mighty tweak. It was many, many years before I learned that a literal interpretation of the phrase was sadly out of line. 

Well, I DID learn. 

There are some people who NEVER learn anything. 

They toil along day after day, using the same old stuff, sticking to all the old habits, afraid to break away from the accustomed and the routine because of that stodgy straightlaced dame we call "Convention." For these people, the slightest change means the most violent revolution. The smallest innovation means the complete upheaval of their little world. They are complete triumphs of the mediocre, never improving, never bettering their physical and mental health, and remaining in the same old rut day after day and year after year, because long, long ago they were told that a certain method of exercising was THE be all and end all of power and development, the alpha and omega of all weightlifting knowledge. 

There are scores of lifters and bodybuilders who fondly imagine that the only exercise to develop, say, the deltoids and triceps is the two hands press, the only muscle movement to grown abdominals is the situp, and the only calf exercise is the toe raise.  

Definition inducement? -- Don't know anything about it! Peak contraction? -- What's that? Flushing methods -- a plumbing arrangement maybe? Cheating methods? -- Don't play cards. "What's good enough for Bill Acrocephalic, is good enough for me" say these geezers and the result is they have as much muscular development as a figment of the imagination. The old methods they use, the old ideas they entertain, lock them fast in the grip of slump and staleness. Progression is a word nonexistent in their lexicon. Success is beyond them. 

How different with the intelligent body-builder. 

Failing to achieve results, he looks around for the cause and effect. 

Does he eat the right foods? Is he getting the sufficient number of hours sleep? Is he working too much at other activities? Does his enjoyment take more out of him than it should? Is he following the instructions of his coach, or the course he has purchased? Has he been using the same schedule of exercises over too long a period? Does he need to CHANGE that schedule, try a new series of exercises, specialize on this or that portion of the anatomy? 

Bu common sense reasoning, by following the advice of those who plan a course scientifically and with an eye to progression of the individual, he manages to snap out of a slump. 

Note: Here is a Weider ad from the era for a lat machine, as used by Clarence Ross if ya didn't know. The illustration shows a rather large and solid looking wall-mount device being used by a well-muscled Lilliputian or something there. The real deal was a wee bit frailer when it arrived. As were some of the champeens and heroes when seen in the light reality . . . but no matter . . . 

once again . . . IT'S THE GREATEST BARGOON EVER OFFERED, A BEAUTY OF LIFE-TIME CONSTRUCTION . . . and . . . YOU NEED THE "LAT" MACHINE! There's a classic Muscle Power article written by The Joe (T.O.C.) announcing the American arrival of Arnold what's-his-name and The wee W lays it on nice and thick with the "student of" routine . . . gotta get that one on here soon. It's funny! 

  

When it comes to specialization, there is a horse of another color. There are two qualities which nearly all body-builders strive to obtain more than any others -- BULK and DEFINITION [more than SANITY in many instances]. 

Perhaps size is the one most sought after and achieving this, the weight trainer then plans to gain more muscularity while sacrificing none of his size. It is an accepted fact among instructors that barbells and dumbbells can supply certain quantities of size and definement to the physique, but to go beyond this, to reach the acme of shape and power one must turn to the "unusual types" of apparatus which allow different uses than the orthodox equipment. 

It has been many years now since I first commenced barbell training. In those days -- and they are really not so far off -- exercise benches, incline benches, adjustable squat racks, cambered squat bars, abdominal boards, leverage bells, AND Lat Machines, such as publicized and popularized by the . . . 

  

. . . Weider Research Clinic were practically nonexistent. In fact, the only gymnasium that I knew of, using pulleys and types of lat machines to any extent, was the studio of Alan P. Mead. There may have been one or two others, but not to my knowledge. There was a special reason for Mead using this type of equipment, but that can wait for a few paragraphs, for it directly ties in with the subject of this article -- back development. 

The number of really outstanding physiques in those days could be counted on the fingers of one hand -- thumb excluded. Today we get them by the hundreds on every beach. They crowd our gymnasiums and flock into our physical excellence contests. They are everywhere and more are coming (we can't let 'em reproduce!) into the limelight each day. 

Years ago, pictures were published in the magazines of those days, of physiques, which while they were outstanding for that era, would not even compare with the future greats we show in Muscle Power. 

The reason is obvious. In the face of difficulty and reaction, by flaunting the accepted conventions, the game has developed from the shot-loading barbell to the numerous pieces of apparatus mentioned above. It has risen from the swamp of abuse and vilification to the clear waters of medical recognition and universal acceptance. 

We find every type of barbell equipment used in the outpatient departments of city hospitals. The Army medical corps, and its physiotherapy branch has obtained amazing post-operative results with the use of iron boots and pulleys. Abdominal boards and exercise benches are used to build up injured muscles and normalize shattered limbs. There isn't a branch of medicine you can name that doesn't in some way make use of WEIGHT TRAINING. 

Perhaps the most valuable piece of weight equipment is the latissimus machine and the kindred pulleys. Here is an apparatus which can be used not only in developing each and every muscle group, but also for remedial work. 

It can build definition and bulk. Tone the muscles and repair them. All the smaller yet important muscles it affects, flushing the underlying tissues -- fibers -- and imparting a fullness that only barbells and dumbbells rarely achieve. 

Perhaps its main value lies in the "novelty" of the exercises which can be performed. After a diet of straight muscle movements, the workouts which one can engage in on the lat machine leave the exerciser refreshed and ready for the next workout -- eager for it. 

The muscles of the back are in the main "pulling muscles." True that you can obtain quite a good development with the practice of the various rowing motions, but for complete muscle building, exercises in which every fiber of the back is worked, the lat machine is without peer. 

I have often wondered what Melvin Wells . . . 

  

. . . could look like if he used pulleys regularly. With a musculature already titanic, to what heights might he not rise with intensified, specialized courses, with the use of modern equipment, instead of having to rely on just a barbell and dumbbells as he has had to do until recently. 

Perhaps, the extreme in definition and bulk has never been so completely realized as it was with Alan P. Mead . . . 

Room here for a little history: 

Lieutenant Alan Philips Mead MC, 17th Lancers, WW1 - "Death or Glory" 

Mead came from a wealthy family in Middlesex and had been studying to become a lawyer prior to the outbreak of war. Like many men with higher social standings sat the turn of the 20th century, he opted to enlist as a cavalry officer in the 17th Lancers. Their motto of "Death or Glory" became his mantra. 

He became one of the millions of men who returned home from the Great War with life-changing physical or psychological wounds. In early 1918, he was leading his platoon in combat as a junior cavalry officer on the Western front. A German artillery shell landed near him, severely maiming one of his legs. His continued gallantry in the ensuing skirmish with German forces merited him a Military Cross, but this injuries resulted in the amputation of the leg. 

If you've ever seen the book, "Weightlifting Made Easy and Interesting" by W.A. Pullum, you've no doubt viewed the section on his successful students. The number that either never returned alive from service in WWI or came back with missing limbs is staggering. 

At 24 years old, he was medically released from the military and returned to complete his studies. He grew despondent in his law practice, being sickly cripple in the civilian world was a far cry from the world of "Death of Glory." He found "physical culture" to be therapeutic and dedicated himself to the very early sport of bodybuilding. A vast majority of strongmen in the era exercises to build bulk, while Mead joined the minority which focused on aesthetics. He caught the attention of famed strongman Monte Saldo, who became his training partner and photographed what was then considered to be an unbelievable physique. 

Mead experimented with the most effective ways to build his triceps muscles in particular, creating pulley systems from which modern lat machines derive from. His physique and feats of strength drew huge audiences, and at his peak he performed 70 continuous repetitions of straight armed pullovers with a 70-pound dumbbell. 

He barely broke a sweat. 

Mead didn't care much for the fame he drew, even as bodybuilding became increasingly popular. He did it for himself, and remained devoted only to his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. That was his "glory." 

He died sometime in the 1960s, in relative obscurity an shunning the spotlight to the end. 

Continuing with the article . . . 

Alan Mead, who had the the misfortune to lose a leg in the first World War, first worked with dumbbells and the various exercises which can be performed lying down, but realizing the potentialities of the pulley, equipped his studio with every conceivable type. 

His back build defied description. Even though his pictures showed a rippling writhing muscle mass, they didn't do him justice. The trapezius, the teres major, the deltoids, the latissimus and erector spinae muscles stood out in bold and sculptured relief.

Few have approached him in definition and size. 

[without juice and a "diet" that'd bankrupt a Sheik and drive a monk to signing up with Genghis Khan's current earthy reincarnation as a bull with three nonworking testicles and a reverse-designed vagina, as they say]

There are a couple of arrangements to be made for the exercises which follow. 

First, it will be necessary to fasten a broad band of webbing or canvas to the floor so that the feet can be hooked under it. When performing standing lat machine exercises, the weight used is or can be considerable, and will eventually rise above that of the lifter's bodyweight. When it does, it will not be possible to continue exercising unless you have the feet secure and the body thereby rendered immovable. 

Secondly, it will also be necessary to have a strap fastened on the floor or bench so that it can be placed around the upper portion of the thighs. This will be used when exercises call for the lifter to use an exercising bench or sit on the floor. The Weider Lat Machine is . . . fill in the sales-pitch here. 

In specializing for back development, it is essential that you first work o8ut with your usual schedule and add the Lat Machine exercises as an extra portion, as that part of the program which will be devoted to a specific area. Don't be afraid to work extra hard, forcing out the reps and flushing the muscles. In between workouts make sure you get plenty of rest. Drink lots of juice sweetened with honey. The yolk of an egg beaten up in the juice and honey will provide you with the necessary energy and protein without excessive intake of "food in bulk." 

EXERCISES 

 

1) Place a bench under the lat machine bar and, sitting on the bench hook your feet under the band of webbing. The excellent drawings by Peter Poulton

https://www.menspulpmags.com/pulp-illustration-artist-peter-poulton-an-update-on-his-bio-and-his-work-part-2/ 

clearly illustrate the correct position. Reach up with your hands using a fairly NARROW grip and take hold of the bar. From this position PULL DOWN until the bar is as far down as it can go. Hold it there for a short count of two and then repeat. 

Commence with a weight you can EASILY handle for 3 x 10 reps and work up to 3 x 20 over time. Add ONE rep per workout until the 20 reps for 3 sets are reached, then add 10 pounds and drop down to 3 x 10 again. This exercise develops the trapezius and teres major muscles. The use of a wider grip develops the latissimus dorsi. 

Note with Illustration 1: "For bigger lats and bulkier trapezius, try this lat machine movement. A narrow grip gives you the sloping shoulders of the true powerhouse. It develops the teres major and trapezius muscles. A wide grip is the regular latissimus dorsi exercise." 

2) Place the bench under the bar and lie on it with the head immediately under the bar itself. Reach up and grasp the bar with the hands using a wide grip and from this position pull DOWN until the bar touches the chest. Hold for a short count of two and return the bar to above the head and repeat. 

DON'T let the shoulders leave the bench and try and keep the entire back as flat on the bench as possible. 

Same set/rep/poundage progression as Exercise 1. 

This exercise develops the lower portion of the trapezius and the rhomboid muscles. The intercostals, the serratus magnus and the posterior deltoids are also affected. 

"An unusual exercise. Developing the intercostals and serratus magnus muscles, it strongly affects the entire rib box and builds up a powerful back and deltoids."

3) Place the bench in the same position as before but this time lie with head AWAY from the bar -- the feet will be under it. Have a training partner pull the bar to you so that you can get the full resistance right from the start. From this position pull the bar towards the head and back until the arms are pointing straight up and above it. Hold the bar as in the previous exercises for a slow count of two and CONTROL the bar back to the starting position and repeat. 

Same set/rep/poundage progression as above.  

The important point in this exercise is the controlled lowering of the weight to starting position. 

This movement develops the anterior deltoids, the posterior deltoids, the supra  and infro spinatus and teres major and lower portion of the deltoids. The serratus magnus is also affected to a lesser extent as are the toenails and nasal hairs. 

"The 'pullover in reverse' on the lat machine. An extremely effective muscle movement for the entire deltoid group, the supra spinatus and other groups of the shoulders and upper back." 

4) With the bench in the same position as in the previous exercise [there's not enough variety, I quit this lifting thing], seat yourself on the bench and place a strap around the thighs. Take hold of the bar with a grip of shoulder width and pull down with the body until the entire trunk is level with the body. 

   

Until my trunk is . . . pardon me?

Like this, Sir?

You humans are all bloody absurd.  

Return to starting position and repeat. 

The only portion of the body moving during this exercise is the trunk. The arms do not move and the legs remain firm along the bench. 

 

Another method of using this exercise to develop elephantine yet athletic/aesthetic mousecular mass is to remove the bar (there's a fable in there somewhere I am certain https://secondwindpub.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/the-mouse-and-the-elephant-an-african-fable/] ENOUGH ALREADY! 

Another method of using this exercise is to remove the bar and replace it with a band of webbing that will pass over the head. The movement is the same. 

Start off with a poundage which you can use for 8 reps and work up to 15 reps. Use 4 sets of this exercise which develops the entire structure of the erector spinae. 

"Reverse situps" -- a complete and power packed exercise for the erector spinae muscles, it also reduces superfluous flesh from the hips and buttocks [Nah, this guy'll tell ya that's simply not scientifically so, preposterous in a comedically dry yet refreshing way, as they say . . .   

https://www.youtube.com/@shreddedsportsscience/videos

5) Place an INCLINE bench so that it slopes AWAY from the bar of the lat machine. Lie on the incline bench and get your training partner to pull your pants pull the bar down so that he can take hold of so that you can take hold of the bar. From this position and with the arms straight, elbows locked, pull down until the bar touches the hips. Hold for a short count and return to original position and repeat. 

3 x 10 working over time to 3 x 20 reps. A fairly wide grip can be used. In fact, varying the hand spacing has good developmental value. This exercise develops the latissimus dorsi and the intercostals.  

"One of the finest lat machine exercises for developing that wedge-shaped torso. The use of the incline bench entirely "localizes" the muscular stress right where it is needed most . . . on the lats and intercostals. 

6) Place an incline bench so that it slopes TOWARDS the lat machine. Place the bar with a loop of rope [this was prior to the 10,000 attractions of all them various and sometimes goofy cable handles and bars], and with the arm held along the side grasp the loop and raise the arm from the side to above the head and make an effort to pull the arm slightly back of the head as you lie on your side on the incline board. As in the other exercises, hold for a short count of two, then lower and rinse and . . . 

Same set/rep/poundage progression as above. This exercise develops the lateral deltoids and the muscles which rotate the shoulder blades. 

"For those deltoid-capped shoulders, try this muscle boulder-builder. Oops. A valuable "press improver" the exercise also builds up the trapezius.  

7) The final exercise is one which is perhaps the "complete" latissimus developer. Place a bench under the machine and use the loop of canvas instead of the bar. Sit on the bench, and reaching up grasp the loop. Pull the arm straight down to the side keeping the arm locked and straight throughout the exercise. The weight must be off the ground when grasped. If the seated position on the bench makes this impossible, then sit or kneel on the ground. 

Start off with a weight you can handle for 4 x 8 reps and work up to 4 x 15 over time before increasing the weight. 

"The 'Complete' latissimus developer. The use of a strap readily adapts the machine to single-handed use. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!