What's a lat? I'll tell you so you can use the Cap Bar.
Written: Mar 27 '04 (Updated Mar 30 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, light, essential for lat work.
Cons: Not highly versatile.
The Bottom Line: An essential piece to work the lat muscles especially. You can work the mid back as well.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Cap Barbell Chromed Hollow 48-Inch Lat Pull Machin... |
I am reviewing Cap Barbell Chromed Hollow 48-Inch Lat Pull Machine Bar MBT-14RH. I have reviewed other attachments, which you will find below. Some have similar features and some are so similar I might not recommend them. The Lat Pull Machine Bar (from now on knows as the lat bar) is an essential piece of equipment although it is certainly not as versatile as Cap Barbell Pull Down Rope.
Having said that, this piece of equipment can be used non-traditionally if it is the only attachment you have at home or if you just want to buy this one. If you work out in a gym, you will have other options for working various parts of your body. As I have said in previous reviews this is not a barbell. A barbell is a long, straight bar (though some are curved but I don’t call them barbells either- the ez curl, for example) that either has weights built on it or you put weights on it yourself. Attachments are not barbells but that’s what Cap calls them so if it works for them, it’s fine with me.
My description:
This is a hollow 48-inch bar. As all of Cap’s equipment, which I have reviewed, this is well made. It will last you a lifetime. It is made of chrome-plated steel. If you do a Google search you will see that this lat bar is described with capped ends. That isn’t true. Cap makes lat bars that have capped ends and are 48 inches but they are solid. (You will see MBT but the model is slightly different.) I am reviewing the product shown and the product listed the MBT-148RH.
The hollow bar has textured polyurethane grips. I much prefer the hollow bar both because I like the long grips and because it is lighter than a solid bar. It isn’t heavy but because it is much longer than Cap Barbell Chromed Hollow 18-Inch Low Row T Bar you do have to be careful not to hit a lamp in your house or a person working out at the gym while carrying it!
These grips are very comfortable. They feel like foam. If you use the lat bar holding the ends only you will not need gloves. If you look closely at the picture you will see that there is smooth steel after each grip and then there is a rougher area. I always wear gloves, but if you don’t and want to hold the lat bar here you might want to consider gloves especially if you wear rings.
How does it go on the cable/pulley machine? Start by connecting the bar to a cable or pulley machine. If you have a universal-type product at home you should have an attachment that is up high for this bar. The Cap Lat Bar will go on a machine that works by pulling the weights with a cable. The cable will have a round metal piece on the end. Attached to that it will have a clip. The clip opens so you can put the hole on the top of the bar through the clip. If the pulley is high and you are having trouble pulling it down the clip might be in a heavy weight. Just pull it out and then the cable will come down easily and you can attach the bar to it. You can also move the whole cable to various levels and will if you want to make the most of. For example my husband and I work our triceps at different heights with this bar. All this only takes a minute to do.
Ok you’ve described the bar but what is a lat?
It is important that you know what body parts you are working. This Cap Bar works the latissiumus dorsi (lat) muscles. These are the large triangular muscles that extend from below the shoulder down to the small of your back on both sides. The lats are wide muscles. They are the largest muscles in the upper body. Your lat muscles pull your shoulders downward and to the back- that is their function. Doing pulldowns develops the width of the lats. The way you pull down the bar and where you hold the bar will determine how your lats are developed. This bar is the bar for working these muscles. I always, always start my back workout with lat pulldowns.
As an aside we work our largest muscles first so if you are working your entire body either at home or at the gym you would start with your legs or back first. If I am doing a circuit (a total body workout usually with machines)I start with my back first- that’s how I was trained at the first gym in which I worked. The second gym and others work legs first. Also if you are splitting your workout and work two body parts a good choice with the back is to work your biceps that day.
Ask Jo Your Personal Trainer:
As I have done previously I will give you a couple of ways to use the Cap Hollow Lat Bar. But feel free to e-mail me, leave a comment or question and I will answer it.
The hallmark exercise for this muscle is the lat pulldown machine. You will be able to do this as I said on your home machine assuming you have a cable attachment. You will be sitting on a bench of some sort. I’ve used home gyms that had me facing away from the back of the machine. I am used to sitting facing the machine. In either case there should be a support for your knees.
Most gym equipment (and some home equipment) are designed for men (still!) meaning that if you are short it will be harder to do this perfectly. Some gyms have pads on which to sit or rest your back on to accommodate women and shorter people. I have no problem with my gym’s machine and I’m not quite 5 feet 5 inches tall. You will adjust the knee support pads so they are firmly on your legs just above your knees. You may have to stand up to reach the Cap Lat Bar. Grab the grips with each hand and sit down. You can adjust the weight if it feels too heavy or light as you pull down. You want it to be heavy enough so it doesn’t come right down. In other words you must pull hard in order to work your lats effectively.
Hold the bar with an overhand grip and pull the bar down smoothly until it hits your chest. Make sure your upper back is doing the work rather than your biceps. Don’t sway back (very commonly seen in gyms) – you will now involve your lower back and you don’t want to. As you let the bar go back up do so slowly and you’ll be able to feel a nice stretch in the lat area.
I may as well state this and some will not agree with me. At one time it was common practice to pull the lat bar behind the neck. We now believe that to be potentially very harmful to your neck. If you watch someone do it (people still insist!) you’ll see the unnatural angle of the neck which can cause a lot of strain and potential injury. So please stay away from pulling the bar behind your neck.
If you hold the lat bar in different areas you will be working different parts of your back, which is fine. I often grab the smooth part or even bring my hands in closer. The closer my hands are the more I am working my mid back rather than my lat muscles but the mid back must be worked as well, though there are other attachments designed just for that reason.
In my review of the 18” bar I talked about Dickersons. These are usually done with a shorter bar but in a pinch I use the 48” bar. For example in my mom’s condo there is a fitness room with a universal machine. In order to do Dickersons I use the lat pulldown bar (Though it may not be a Cap, I’m not sure.) I stand up and face the machine. This takes a bit of maneuvering because you will probably have a bench in the way, but where there is a will there is a way. I then hold the bar in the area that is not smooth essentially turning the lat bar into a short bar. I then pull down while standing to work my back.
Jo Final Thoughts:
The Cap Hollow Chromed Lat Machine piece is essential in spite of it not being highly versatile. For $20.00 though it is the best way to work your lat muscles. There are a couple of other ways but I may talk about them at some other point and it is unlikely you will be buying a Gravitron or its equivalent for your home.
Again, please feel free to leave me a question or comment.
Related reviews in which you may be interested in:
Cap Barbell Chromed Hollow 18-Inch Low Row T Bar
Phoenix Bench
World Gym
Curves for Women
Power House Gym
WAI Yoga Ball Kit 151
Precor StretchTrainer
Thane AB-DOer Pro
Precor EFX546 Elliptical Trainer
Concept II rower
Cybex 900T treadmill
Precor C846 Recumbent
NordicTrack Classic Pro skier
Cap Barbell Pull Down Rope
Recommended:
Yes
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