Abdominals

[flow]

Try an exercise wheel and do planks.

[master splinter]

an interesting thing i learned is that when lifting the arm, if you do not engage the shoulder then you will be using your lats, which are stronger and unified more to your center. you can also try a rowing machine if you have a gym at school, when you hit college they will definitly have one there.

[Inevitable]

yep the college gym is definately adequate for most needs, in my school, kinda small and during lunch is normally packed, but its free to use and you can go anytime..... hmm.... might wanna start heading up the gym myself, packed on some winter weight

[LeiYunFat]

I have a weight room at my school and weight equipment at my house, and I find rows to be ineffective. It's most probably my technique, but it might be that my arms give out faster than my lats. I prefer pull-ups (chin-ups), but I'll probably be trying out the bent over rows again.

[Inevitable]

never had much success on the rowing machine myself, mind you its fun to use in the summer when it gets hot out, do some rows and get a nice breeze while your at it

[tetsumaru]

widen your grip when doing your pull ups...or some pull up bars angle at the ends grab on there and try your pull ups...its definately harder but you can feel your lat muscles more and less on your arms...The bent over rows are a great idea too...you can do that movement again without any weight in the similar fashion that I described (100 fast or slow with dynamic tension)...oh I had heard he same about what you said about dyanmic tension but if you discipline yourself and stick to a consistent work-out schedule incorporating dyanmic tension you (I should say I noticed..its deifferent for everyone) will notice a difference....I like do exercises that do not require any use of machines or equipment. I feel I strengthen different muscles this way.

[LeiYunFat]

Yeah, I do about 1.5+ shoulder width. The bend is might be standard, so how far I do it is I hold the bar right where it begins to bend. This works out to substantially greater than my shoulder width.

[master splinter]

the trick to the bent over row is to flex your lats lightly before engaging in the movement, give your lats the tigers share of the work. and is okay to lean back into it, this will help you to engage and isolate the lats. pullups are good too, but much more challenging.