how wide can the lats go?

[Voice of Doom]

I was training at Gold's gym with my chiropracter...happens about once every two months.  We were taking a break and looking at the "hall of fame" bodybuilders pics on the wall.  Im sure every Golds (and others) has them.  He asked me when, in the chronology of the pics, I thought steroid use started.   I didn't know...he pointed to the wall and said somewhere between Reeves and Bill Pearl.  I asked him how he knew.  He said it was because of the size of the lats.  That it wasn't possible to get the lats to flare out from the body to that degree "naturally".

What do you think?  How big can a "natural" get his lats to be?   I've been hitting mine hard for a year now and don't see much of a change.
If you look at guys like Reeves, Grimek, Ortiz and Clancy Ross you tend to see a long defined muscle but tapered closer to the body.

Any advice?

[candidate2025]

naturals can grow their lats the same as any other muscle. steroids dont efffect one muscle more than another. Im the back routines of the guys from back in the day were made up of mostly dead lifts and bb rows...some pull ups too, but nothing crazy like everybody now who starts and finishes lats with pulldowns/chin ups for all the extra width.

[Voice of Doom]

What abaout T-Bar Rows?  Or are they just for adding density to the middle back?

[Sculpter]

I'll put in my 2 cents on this.Just personal opinion & what i've seen myself.Talking to old timers (some not even bb'ers) that i've seen or met & was impresed by their back width or size every 1 of them has told me that you have to do wide grip chins for width.Now for those not being weight trainers that impressed me?These were people w/manual labor jobs.I myself was a commercial crab fisherman & i'll tell you there were some guys I saw that simply impressed me regarding back size & width.I think it was because if you have to lift lobster or crab traps all day long your back is gonna get a hell of a workout.In the days before winches on boats these guys had some impressive arms on them also!So,...want a big back w/width?Do wide grip chins, deadlifts & rowing exercises for it.BTW t-bar rows will give you thickness mainly & to some degree also some width.

[Ursus]

doing wide grip chins for width is a myth.

the lats contract more effectively and intensely doin narrow grip. fact!

[Voice of Doom]

WHat about changing the width of the grip in barbell rows?

After a certain weight I think it could be dangerous...but its one of the exercises I really enjoy.  Think I should take it wider?

MY gym has a t-bar machine but it wont let you get a glose grip...I stopped using it becuase It felt like I couldn't get a good contraction...that the movement was to short.
Ive started doing single arm rows ever other workout for variety.

My shoulders and arms are coming along good but with out the lats to tie them to the waist, Im not happy with a front double bicep pose.

What about hitting them with one exercise every other day...for 7-10 days to shock some new growth??

Any ideas?

Thanks