Jo Lindner Shares His Back Workout for Wingspread Lats

Jo Lindner, also known as “Joesthetics” back workout consists of many rowing and pulldown variations. 

The imaginary lat syndrome is a phenomenon in the bodybuilding world. It’s when bodybuilders think they have these huge lats, but in reality, they’re not that big. They’ll raise their arms and shoulders while flexing their biceps to make it look like they have massive muscles. But with Jo Lindner’s back workout, including cable pulldown variations, you can stop trying to fool people and build wingspread lats. 

Watch Lindner’s back workout on Instagram below:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jo Lindner (@joesthetics)

Jo Lindner was a 30-year-old German bodybuilder and fitness model with a large following on social media known as “Joesthetics“. He trained his body for about five years, and the results have been astonishing. Luckily for us and his fans, he regularly shares his routines and tips on doing them for best results.

The well-developed lats on this bodybuilder testify that whatever routine he uses works. So we were excited to see him put up some tips on his Instagram page. Here’s a look at the exercises he recommends and tips for building your lats. 

About Jo Lindner

Jo Linder is a bodybuilder, fitness model from Germany. Linder has become a social media influencer well-known for his fitness routines. Jo Linder also known as Joesthetics
is ripped with an aesthetic physique that often collaborates with Larry Wheels and many other influencers. 

Jo Lindner Back Workout

According to Jo Lindner’s Instagram, his favorite lat builder is doing cable pulldowns using the lat pulldown machine. He believes in trying many variations of the lat pulldown to target your lats from as many angles as possible. He also advocates for changing your grip and discusses the best way to do bent over dumbbell rows to build your lats. 

Besides looking great, your back improves other movements like bench presses, deadlifts, and squats. Having healthy lats also improves your physical stability and breathing. Here are the exercises Lindner posted.

Straight Arm Pulldown

The straight arm pulldown is an isolation exercise done standing with a straight bar on a cable machine. This exercise enhances strength and majorly builds your latissimus dorsi and teres minor. It also stimulates your triceps because the long head of your triceps crosses your shoulder joint, which moves during the lat pulldown (1).

For this routine, Jo Lindner advocates performing as many variations as possible. You can do the wide grip pulldown, focusing more on your lats. The close grip variation of this movement is an effective middle back and triceps builder. 

You can stand upright or lean over when doing a straight-arm cable pulldown. Leaning over, as Jo Lindner shows, gives you more stretch at the top but makes it hard to contract your lats at the bottom of the movement. He says, “There are so many variations of pulldown. Try all of them.”

Half Kneeling Single Arm Lat Pulldown

Bodybuilders also call this exercise the half-kneeling batwing pulldown, and when Jo Lindner does them, you can see why. It trains the lats, middle and low traps, and the rhomboids. You also get a nice stretch on your hip flexors when doing this exercise. 

Single Arm Cabled Row

The single-arm high cabled row is a unilateral routine primarily targeting your upper and middle back. It’s a great way to build your lats, traps, rhomboids, and rear delts. This exercise also engages your core. 

You can do this movement from a high-to-low angle or use the low pulley to do a low-to-high angle. Jo Lindner demonstrates the difference between how the back contracts when doing them and says doing both exercise variations is important. 

“We have to have one exercise where we pull this way [from the top], and we have to have one exercise where we lean over and pull this way [from the bottom]. Do all of them for full back development.”

Single Arm Bent Over Dumbbell Row

The single arm bent over dumbbell row works on your lats, traps, rhomboids, core muscles, and posterior delts. Using a dumbbell allows you to support yourself when doing the rows, which puts less stress on your lower back. This research shows you can use unilateral free-weight rows to target your core muscles better than cable and machine rows (2).

Jo Lindner shows that to build the lats better, you have to keep your arms extended and your head up. He then says to let his hand hang and swing back. You’ll only use your biceps if you lift up and down in the same plane. “This is how you do rows, [don’t] use your biceps, use your lats to pull,” says Lindner.

Single Arm Lat Pulldown

While lat pulldowns are great exercises, they can make you emphasize the dominant side of your body. A single-arm lat pulldown trains one side at a time, helping you to spot and fix any muscle imbalances. It’s also better for activating your mind-muscle connection. Jo Lindner says the single-arm lat pulldown is a good isolation exercise. 

Two-Arm Single Kettlebell Bent Over Row 

Two-arm single kettlebell rows target your upper back and biceps. Unlike the supported one-arm dumbbell row, this exercise activates your core for stability. As a result, this routine also targets your abs. Doing bilateral versions of bent-over rows is better for your stability as it activates the erector spinae and multifidus to a greater extent. Jo Lindner’s tip for this one is to squeeze each rep to get a full contraction. 

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more workouts from bodybuilders! 

References

1. Andersen, V., Fimland, M. S., Wiik, E., Skoglund, A., & Saeterbakken, A. H. (2014). Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 28(4), 1135–1142. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSC.0000000000000232 
2. Saeterbakken, A., Andersen, V., Brudeseth, A., Lund, H., & Fimland, M. S. (2015). The Effect of Performing Bi- and Unilateral Row Exercises on Core Muscle Activation. International journal of sports medicine, 36(11), 900–905. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1398646