Kneeling Lat Stretch

The kneeling lat stretch fixes the hands on a bench and sits the hips back toward the heels, which lengthens the latissimus dorsi from the upper arm all the way to the pelvis. Because the lat attaches to both the arm and the lower back, it only stretches fully when the arm is overhead and the spine is long at the same time, and this position produces both without asking for any balance or flexibility elsewhere. A tight lat limits how far the arm can travel overhead, which shows up in pressing, in pull-ups and in the front rack position of a squat. Let the chest sink toward the floor as the hips travel back, and breathe out slowly into the position rather than pushing down into it. Work one side at a time by walking the hands slightly to one side, which deepens the stretch on the opposite lat considerably.