One of My Favorite Exercises

Below you will see two pictures of my favorite weight training exercise for the back.

It is a staight arm lat pulldown.  Easily done at your local gym.  I like it because it really works your latissimus dorsi and nearby muscles as you pull the bar down.  Not the same, but it uses these mucles in a similiar fashion when swimming.

You can really develop good strength throughout the middle of your pull with this exercise.  I thought of this exercise because I did a couple of XC ski sessions lately.  When when poling you peform the same movement as shown in the pictures thus obtaining the same benefit.  I had a great swim today, fastest one of the year and I think that is partly because of these movements.  Obviously, I did a great amount of base training (many long swims with a lot of pulling emphasized) which helped too.  Just thought I would share this if you are the type to hit the gym.