My gym has been nutty crowded.

Especially in the free weight area.

Everyone is using the Olympic bars for Deadlifts and it is driving me nuts.

My gym has turned into a danger zone.

There are people doing Deadlifts and dropping bars all over the place.

In the aisles, in between other benches etc.

Just getting to the chin-up bar takes timing.

[Actual footage of me working my way to the chin-up bar area.]

When I don't feel like dodging my way through the madness I'll stick to the exercise machine area.

Here's a way to get a decent back workout on a lat pull-down machine.

It's a simple way to hit a large potion of your back on one machine.

Begin with 3-5 sets of wide grip pull-downs.

I like to lift light on these and feel the squeeze in my lats.

I typically do for 5-6 reps will rest for about a minute and drop the pin down to a slightly heavier weight and repeat...

...until I hit a weight that challenges me for 5 reps.

The wide grip is the weakest pull-down variation for most people because your biceps aren't able to assist as much as a narrow grip.

This pre-exhausts the lats while keeping the biceps fresh.

So...

Finish with 3-5 sets of narrow underhand grip pull-downs.

I like to go heavier on these.

The weight that feels challenging with wide grip is the starting weight I use with this narrow grip.

I will perform the sets in a similar way.

Complete a set of 5-6, drop the pin down to a heavier weight, rest and then complete another set.

If I want to stick in the machine area I'll simply follow this up with seated cables rows to finish my back workout.

This isn't a breakthrough tip or anything...

Just a quick way to get a decent lat workout when you aren't feeling like doing chin-ups, or are in a situation like I'm dealing with.