Hey man i know its kinda late to be answering because i havent been on the threads but do you have any advice on how to really target those specific muscles to the fullest
indeed young man- first excuse the spelling mistakes- auto correct isnt working ;o)
ill explain as best as i can and if you have questions, let me know.
before you start, go in front of the mirror- bathroom or do this when you have at least a good minute without people watching, you want to slowly flex your lats and hold- picture your lats in your head, get the full vision.
now go to the lat pull down, you will need the a single handed device (kind used for curls) - just one and only 1
postion your self on the seat, you need to start off with a light wgt. you are going to start off with your strong side. knees under the pad, again, a light wgt.
your arm will be stretched upwards, bicep will be facing you. almost in the pull up postion. you want to take your left hand and place this directly over right side so you can no feel the stretch of the lat.
keep that hand there during the full set
as you begin to pull down, you should start to feel your lat getting tight and the contraction point (your elbow should now be on your right side) squeeze your lat.
remember when you flexed in the mirror? you want to feel that vision - now you are making the mind to muslce connection.
do a few more reps on the right, focus on your lat as you pull and release- now stand up, switch hands, arm at the top, right arm over you left lat and pull down, slowly. feel the contraction of the lat? you should, elbow at the side and squeeze/flex the lat.
once you have that feeling of that lat, every excecise you do for back, pull ups, t bar row, cable rows, you will now be able to flex your lat and feel it working. i can give you more, but let me know if this helped.
for those i have trained and taught, the lat is the hardest so your not alone. people just throw a lot of wgt on the oull down, put the knees under and yank away. working everything at 90% and 10 % for the lats.