When people think about the core, they think about the abs. That’s not wrong, it’s just incomplete.

The lats rarely get mentioned in the same conversation, yet they’re one of the biggest contributors to how your trunk stabilises, transfers force, and manages pressure. If you’re training core stability without any thought to your lats, you’re missing a big piece of the system.

What are the lats

The latissimus dorsi is one of the largest muscles in the body, and its attachment points are the reason it matters so much for core stability. It originates from the thoracolumbar fascia (the connective tissue sheet across your lower back), the lower spine, and the pelvis, then sweeps up and across to attach on the humerus (upper arm bone).

That attachment pattern means the lats aren’t isolated to the shoulder. Via the thoracolumbar fascia, they’re directly connected into the trunk and pelvis, which is what makes them part of the core rather than just an arm and back mover. This same connection is also why the lats are considered part of the posterior oblique sling, a functional line that connects one side’s lat to the opposite side’s glute. Because the lats sit at the intersection of both systems, that sling becomes directly relevant to core stability, not just to how you pull or throw. Every time you walk, throw, lift, or rotate, this sling is doing work you probably never think about.

Why the lats matter for core stability

Because of that structural setup, the lats end up playing several roles that go well beyond back strength:

• They act as a bridge between the upper body and the pelvis, rather than a muscle that works in isolation
• They’re a key contributor to the posterior oblique sling, supporting cross body force transfer during gait, throwing and rotational movement
• They contribute to spinal stiffening, helping the trunk resist unwanted movement under load
• They influence rib position, which has a direct effect on how well you can manage intra abdominal pressure

That last point is worth sitting with. Tight or short lats can pull the ribcage into extension and flare, working against posterior rib expansion and effective pressure management. This is often a mobility problem showing up as a stability problem. Someone can have lats that are strong in the gym and still restricted enough to compromise rib position and pressure management day to day.

This is why we’re looking at the lats through both a strength lens and a mobility lens in this post. Building pulling strength alone doesn’t guarantee good rib positioning or trunk control if the tissue itself is short and restricted. You need both ends of that spectrum working together.

Benefits of strong (and mobile) lats

• Improved load transfer between the upper and lower body
• Greater trunk stiffness under load, useful for lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling
• Better support for the rib-pelvis stack, working with pressure management rather than against it
• Shoulder stability that doesn’t come at the cost of trunk control
• Full rib excursion, supported by lat length and extensibility, not just lat strength
• Reduced compensation patterns, like over-relying on lumbar extension or global core bracing to create stability

How the core and lats work together

Force transfer. The posterior oblique sling connects lat to opposite glute through the thoracolumbar fascia. This sling is central to how force moves across the body during gait and rotational movement, meaning your lats are involved in something as basic as walking, not just heavy lifting.

Spinal stiffening. Think of the lats as part of a guy-wire system for the spine. Under load, they help create tension that stiffens the trunk and resists excessive movement, working alongside the deeper core musculature rather than replacing it.

Shoulder and trunk synergy. Good shoulder mobility depends on trunk stability. Since the lats sit right at the junction between the two, they need to be both strong enough to contribute to trunk stiffness and mobile enough to allow full shoulder range without the ribcage compensating.

Exercises to train the lats for core stability

The exercises below are grouped by the function they target, from force transfer through to rib position and mobility.

Mobility

Thoracic extension over foam roller — Positioning the legs at 90/90 on the wall, or bent if that’s more accessible, helps control pelvic position while the thoracic spine extends over the roller, isolating rib and upper back mobility rather than letting the lower back take over. This can be done unweighted to focus purely on the mobility, or with a bumper plate held overhead or across the chest to add a light load through the same range, useful once rib and thoracic mobility are established and you want to build a bit more control through the position rather than just passive movement.

TRX lateral line stretch — This directly targets lat length and extensibility, which matters because a short or tight lat can pull the ribcage into extension and flare. Addressing this through a supported stretch helps restore the rib positioning needed for effective pressure management and full rib expansion. This variation is also super accessible for all levels.

Strength

Leg assisted pull up, feet on bench — Using the legs to assist means you can load the pulling pattern without needing full pull up strength yet, but the trunk still has to stay stiff throughout the movement. This builds the lats’ role in spinal stiffening, teaching the body to resist excessive movement while under a genuine pulling load rather than a passive hang. This variation shown is definitely a more challenging variation, to modify simply place your feet on the floor and build from there.

Tall kneeling band pulldown — Performed here in a kneeling hinge, this variation takes away the stability of a wide standing base, forcing the trunk to hold its position through the hips and spine as the band resists the pulldown. It builds real pulling strength through the lats while also reinforcing spinal stiffening, since the trunk has no choice but to stay organised under load rather than compensating through the lower back.

3 point cross body row — Holding a static hinge while pulling cross-body means the trunk has to stay stiff against rotation throughout, building the same spinal stiffening qualities as the other strength exercises above, with the added challenge of maintaining that hinge position under load.

Chest supported row — Supporting the chest removes the need for the trunk to stabilise against momentum, isolating the pulling muscles rather than turning this into a full-body stiffness drill. This makes it a useful way to build straightforward lat strength, particularly if you want a pulling exercise where fatigue shows up in the lats themselves rather than being limited by trunk control first.

Core + Lats

Bird dog with 1 arm pulldown — Layering a loaded pulldown onto a bird dog turns a familiar stability drill into a genuine force transfer exercise. The opposite arm and leg extension already challenges anti-rotation control, and adding resistance through the pulling arm means the lat has to work in coordination with the opposite hip, reflecting the posterior oblique sling connection that’s active every time you move diagonally through the trunk.

90/90 kettlebell pullover off bench — This trains the lat through a lengthened range under light load, working shoulder mobility and lat extensibility at the same time as trunk control. Because the ribcage has to stay positioned well throughout the movement, it reinforces that shoulder range shouldn’t come at the cost of losing rib or trunk position, which ties directly back to pressure management.

Bringing it together

The lats are a structural link between your shoulders, spine, and pelvis, and they need both strength and mobility to do that job well. Train them in isolation for pulling strength, and you’ll miss half the picture. Train them with rib position and pressure management in mind, and you start building a core system that actually holds up under load.

If you want this built into a full program rather than piecing it together yourself, the Lift with Emily app has this kind of training woven through it, including a 7-day free trial so you can try it before committing.