Natural bikini athlete Yasmin Hodge says incorporating lats exercises into her bodybuilding training has helped improve her strength and performance when competing. She includes lat pull-downs, straight arm pull-downs and a variety of rowing movements in her training programme.

“These are movements that can be performed with a lot of isolation on the lat muscle,” she explains. That allows you to really think and connect to the muscle group you’re trying to strengthen.

Obviously, bodybuilding is an elite sport but that doesn’t mean our lats should be ignored. As we age, we become more susceptible to bone problems such as osteoporosis, which is why incorporating weight training into your regime is recommended. Russell confirms that “targeting large muscles like the lats can contribute to better bone density”.

Sore back? Poor posture? Here’s why you should be training your lats more often (using these exercises)