Yoga Glossary · Muscles
Latissimus dorsi
The broad back muscles that pull the arms down and back and lengthen in folds and Child's Pose.
The latissimus dorsi is the widest muscle of the back, sweeping from the lower spine and pelvis up to the front of the upper arm. It extends, adducts and internally rotates the arm — the pulling-down-and-back action of a row or a pull-up — and helps depress the shoulders away from the ears.
Yoga asks the lats to do both jobs: they engage to draw the arms down and the shoulder blades onto the back in standing poses, and they lengthen fully when the arms reach overhead and forward, as in Child's Pose and Down Dog. That reach-and-lengthen quality is why Child's Pose is as much a back stretch as a rest.
In practice
- Reach long in Child's Pose and you are stretching the lats from armpit to low back.
- Engage them by imagining dragging the hands down the mat without moving them.
- Tight lats limit overhead reach — they show up when arms cannot straighten beside the ears in Chair.
Poses that lengthen it
- Arms Overhead (Upward Salute)
- Chair Pose
- Warrior I
- Reverse Warrior
- Extended Side Angle
- Triangle Pose
- Ragdoll
- Gorilla Pose
- Seated Forward Fold
- Wheel Pose
- Prayer Twist
- Side Plank
- Downward Facing Dog
- Child's Pose
Related terms
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The Yoga Glossary is an educational study reference. Definitions are standard yoga and anatomy knowledge in plain language; nothing here is medical advice.