Palm Tree Syndrome

Diagnosis

This condition is so named because those with high lats are shaped like a palm tree – a thin trunk with all the mass at the top. The upside to high lats is that they highlight the waist-to-shoulder differential. The downside is that they can make it difficult to gain size in the back and can leave the torso looking too waspish. The condition is caused by high latissimus attachments and/or a failure to properly stress lower lats. High attachments are inherited, and there is nothing you can do to change your genetics, although you can maximize the lowest boundaries of your lats.

Remedies

• Train your back alone to focus all of your attention on it.
• Learn how to feel each lift in the targeted area. Minimize biceps action. Focus on stretching and contracting the lowest portion of your lats.
• Emphasize long close-grip rowing movements with a maximum stretch.
• Stretch thoroughly between sets.

Lower-Lat Prioritization Routine

Professional's Advice

By keeping his back flexed throughout the movement and pulling the bar with strict form to a spot several inches in front of his face, Dennis James focuses front pulldowns on his lower lats.