Latissimus Dorsi (Lats) and Yoga: Anatomy, Stretches and Pain

The latissimus dorsi, or lats, is the widest muscle of the back. It runs from the lower half of the spine, the back of the pelvis and the lowest ribs to the front of the upper arm bone, and it pulls the arm down, back and in toward the body. In yoga you stretch it every time the arms go overhead, and you work it when you press the hands down to lift the body or lower slowly through Chaturanga.

Muscle group: back and shoulder. Stretched by: side bends, Child's Pose with the arms forward, Downward-Facing Dog, the top arm of Cow Face Pose. Worked by: Chaturanga, Locust with the arms back, pressing up from Staff Pose.

What the name means

The name is Latin. Latissimus means widest, and dorsi means of the back. The muscle lies close to the skin, so on a lean, trained back you can see it: the flat, fan-shaped wing that gives swimmers and climbers their V shape. It is one of the muscles in our series on essential yoga body parts.

Picture from Wikipedia

Where the lats sit

Every muscle has an origin, where it starts, and an insertion, where it pulls. The lats have a broad origin and a narrow insertion.

• Origin: the spinous processes of the lower six thoracic vertebrae (T7 to T12), the thoracolumbar fascia that covers the lower back, the back of the iliac crest (the top rim of the pelvis) and the lowest three or four ribs. In many people a few fibres also come from the bottom tip of the shoulder blade.
• Insertion: a narrow tendon that wraps under the armpit and attaches to the front of the upper arm bone, in the groove between the two bumps at the top of the humerus.
• Nerve: the thoracodorsal nerve, from the lower part of the neck (C6 to C8).

Because it crosses from the pelvis to the arm, the lat links the shoulder to the lower back. Through the thoracolumbar fascia it connects to the glute on the opposite side, which is one reason a tight lat can show up as a pull in the lower back. Our post on fascia and yoga goes deeper into that sheet of connective tissue.

What the lats do

• Bring the arm down and back. Extension of the shoulder: rowing, pulling, swinging the arm back when you walk.
• Draw the arm in toward the body. Adduction, as in a pull-up.
• Turn the arm inward. Internal rotation of the upper arm.
• Pull the body up. When the hands are fixed on a bar or a hold, the lats lift the trunk toward the arms. That is the main work in climbing and chin-ups.
• Press the shoulders down. With the hands on the floor, the lats help push the shoulder girdle down and lift the body, as in lifting the hips from Staff Pose.

Working on one side, the lat also helps bend the trunk sideways. It works together with the trapezius and the muscles around the shoulder blade, and it has a role in breathing that sources describe in different ways (more on that below).

Where you meet your lats in yoga

Lift your arms overhead and your lats have to lengthen. If they are short, the body finds the missing range somewhere else. The signs are easy to spot in Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute) and Downward-Facing Dog:

• the lower ribs flare forward and the lower back arches as the arms go up
• the elbows bend and splay out to the sides

Try it against a wall. Stand with your back to it, heels a hand's width away, lower back and ribs touching. Raise straight arms forward and up. If the thumbs cannot reach the wall without the ribs leaving it, your lats, and often the chest muscles, are part of what holds you back.

Yoga poses that stretch the lats

A lat stretch needs two things: the arm overhead, and the side of the body lengthened away from the arm. Rounding the back a little and turning the palm up increases it.

Child's Pose with a side reach

1. Come into Balasana (Child's Pose) with the knees wide and the arms long in front of you.
2. Walk both hands over to the right, shoulder-width apart. Keep the hips heavy toward the heels.
3. Press the left hand into the floor and breathe into the left side of your ribs. You should feel the stretch from the armpit down toward the left hip.
4. Stay five to eight breaths, walk the hands back to the centre and repeat to the left.

A stability ball, a chair seat or a block under the hands does the same job and lets you round the lower back a little more.

Standing side bend

1. Stand with the feet together. Raise the arms overhead, interlace the fingers and release the index fingers so they point up.
2. Reach up until the upper arms are beside the ears. Firm the thighs and draw the belly in.
3. On an exhale, bend to the right, pressing the hips a little to the left so the body stays in one long line from the hands to the heels.
4. Go only as far as you can breathe and hold the line without sinking. Stay ten seconds or more, come up on an inhale and repeat to the left.

This is the warm-up that opens the Bikram series, described in detail in Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana. Gate Pose (Parighasana) gives a similar stretch from a kneeling position.

Downward-Facing Dog

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) takes both arms into full flexion with body weight behind them, which makes it one of the strongest lat stretches in a regular class. Bend the knees generously and move the chest toward the thighs to put the stretch in the back instead of the hamstrings. Turning the upper arms slightly outward lengthens the lats further, since they rotate the arm inward.

Cow Face arms

In Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) the top arm reaches up and bends behind the head. That stretches the lat and the triceps of the top arm. Use a strap between the hands if they do not meet, and keep the ribs from flaring forward.

Eagle arms

The arm wrap of Garudasana (Eagle Pose) stretches the space between the shoulder blades more than the lats themselves. Lift the wrapped elbows to shoulder height and lean the trunk slightly forward to bring in the upper, outer part of the lats.

Yoga poses that work the lats

Yoga asks the lats to hold and press more than to pull. These poses give them work.

Staff Pose with a lift

1. Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose) with the legs straight and together. If the hamstrings pull you back, sit on a folded blanket.
2. Place the hands on the floor beside the hips, fingers forward. Use blocks under the hands if your arms do not reach the floor with straight elbows.
3. Sit tall, press the thighs down and flex the feet.
4. Press the hands down and draw the shoulders away from the ears. Lift the seat a few centimetres off the floor, or take the weight off it if lifting is not there yet.
5. Hold three to five breaths, lower, and repeat three times.

The downward press of the shoulders is lat work. Staff Pose without the lift trains upright sitting and the backs of the legs instead.

Chaturanga and Plank

As you lower from Plank to Chaturanga Dandasana, the elbows move back along the ribs. Keeping them there, with the shoulders no lower than the elbows, asks the lats to hold the upper arm against the body. Go slow. A three-count lowering works them more than a drop.

Locust with the arms back

In Salabhasana (Locust Pose), reach the arms back beside the body, palms down, and lift them away from the floor. Lifting straight arms behind you is shoulder extension, one of the lats' main jobs, and the whole back body works at the same time.

Lat pain and yoga

A tight or overworked lat usually aches in the middle of the back, under the armpit, behind the shoulder or along the side of the ribs. It often shows up after unaccustomed pulling: a first climbing session, a day of rowing, a set of pull-ups too many. Soreness of that kind fades in a few days, and gentle side bends and Child's Pose can feel good while it does.

A real strain or tear of the latissimus dorsi is less common. It is mostly reported in throwing athletes, climbers and gymnasts, and it tends to start with a sudden sharp pain during a hard pull or throw. That is not something to stretch through.

• See a doctor or physiotherapist if the pain came on suddenly during effort, if there is bruising or swelling, if you lose strength when you pull, or if pain or tingling runs down the arm.
• Stretch gently if the muscle feels tight and sore but works normally. A stretch should feel like a pull along the side, never like a sharp pain.
• Skip deep overhead poses in the first days after a strain, and come back by way of Child's Pose and a bent-knee Downward Dog before full-arm work.

Our 10 tips to avoid yoga injuries cover the basics of practising around a sore spot.

Where sources disagree

Is the lat a breathing muscle? Many yoga and fitness texts list the lats as accessory breathing muscles. The anatomy literature is less settled. The lat attaches to the lowest ribs and is active in forceful breathing out, in coughing for example. Some anatomists also describe it helping to lift the ribs on a deep breath in when the arms are fixed. In quiet breathing it does little. So yes, but only when breathing is hard work.

Do tight lats cause poor posture? Short lats limit how far the arms go overhead and can pull the upper arms into inward rotation. Whether they cause a rounded upper back in daily life is a different claim, and posture has many contributors. Stretching the lats will help your overhead range. On its own it will not change how you stand.

Is yoga enough to strengthen the lats? Yoga works the lats in pressing and holding, and it stretches them a lot. It has almost no pulling, which is what builds them most. Teachers who come from strength training usually recommend adding rows or assisted pull-ups, and so do we in why yogis need strength training. A low bar or a sturdy table edge you can lean back from and pull yourself toward works at home.

For a full class on this part of the body, Side Body Goodness is 60 minutes of side bends toward Gate Pose at level 2-3, and Back Body Strengthening is a 20-minute Hatha flow for the whole back at level 1-2.

Frequently asked questions

What does the latissimus dorsi do?

It pulls the upper arm down, back and in toward the body, and turns it inward. When the hands are fixed, as on a pull-up bar, it lifts the body toward the arms. It also helps press the shoulders down, bend the trunk to the side and push air out in forceful breathing.

How do you release a tight latissimus dorsi?

Use stretches that take the arm overhead and lengthen the side of the body: Child's Pose with the hands walked to one side, a standing side bend, Downward-Facing Dog with bent knees, and the top arm of Cow Face Pose. Hold each for five to eight slow breaths and do both sides.

What causes a tight latissimus dorsi?

Mostly repeated pulling without stretching, as in climbing, rowing, swimming and pull-ups, or long hours with the arms low and the shoulders rounded. A lat that is rarely taken through its full overhead range tends to lose some of it.

How long does a strained latissimus dorsi take to recover?

Soreness after hard training fades in a few days. A mild strain often settles within a few weeks. A larger tear, which is rare and mostly seen in throwing athletes, can take several months and sometimes needs specialist care. Let a doctor or physiotherapist assess anything that started with sudden sharp pain.

Where do you feel lat pain?

In the middle or lower back, under the armpit, behind the shoulder or along the side of the ribs. Pain that runs down the inside of the arm, with tingling or weakness, needs a medical check, since it can also come from the neck or the nerves.

Which yoga poses stretch the lats?

Child's Pose with a side reach, standing side bends, Gate Pose (Parighasana), Downward-Facing Dog, Puppy Pose and Cow Face arms. What they share is the arm reaching overhead while the side of the body lengthens away from it.