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Lat pulldown
It's the pull-up with the weight you choose, and that's why it's the best place to learn to pull with your back. It's also where most people sit down, pull any old way and end up feeling it all in their arms.
What it works
- Lats, which give your back its width
- Teres major and lower traps, which pull your shoulder blades down and together
- Biceps and forearms, helping with the pull
How to do it
- 1Adjust the thigh pad
Thighs held firmly: if the pad is too high, your body lifts with the weight and you lose your base.
- 2Grip and sit down
Hands a little wider than your shoulders, palms facing forward. Sit down with your arms already straight, feeling the weight pull your shoulders up.
- 3Pull your shoulders down first
Before bending your elbows, move your shoulders away from your ears. Just like in the pull-up, that move is what switches on your back.
- 4Pull to your chest
With your torso leaning back slightly, about ten or fifteen degrees, bring the bar to your upper chest, thinking about driving your elbows to your ribs.
- 5Go back up slowly
Let the bar rise in two or three seconds until your arms are fully straight and you feel the stretch at the top again. The next rep starts there.
The mistakes you see most
- Leaning way back. Leaning back forty-five degrees and pulling turns the pulldown into a row with momentum. A little lean is fine; lying back isn't.
- Pulling the bar behind your neck. It demands shoulder mobility almost no one has and adds nothing over pulling to your chest.
- Extremely wide grip. Very wide means less range and more shoulder, not more back. A little wider than your shoulders is enough.
- Shrugging as you pull. If your shoulders rise toward your ears, your upper traps are working. Shoulders down first, then pull.
Variations
- Underhand grip. Palms facing you and hands shoulder-width apart. More biceps, elbows close, and many people are stronger this way.
- Neutral grip. With the V-handle or a parallel-grip bar. Usually the most comfortable for shoulders and elbows.
- Single-arm. With a single handle. It allows more range and reveals whether one side pulls more than the other.
- Cable pullover. With your arms almost straight, pulling the bar down from above. It isolates the lats without the biceps joining in.
Frequently asked questions
Lat pulldown or pull-ups?
The pull-up adds holding your own weight, and the pulldown lets you choose the load, do long sets and work close to failure with no risk. If you're chasing your first pull-up, the pulldown helps, but it doesn't replace it: you have to hang from the bar.
How low should I pull the bar?
To your upper chest or collarbone. Lower isn't more back: it's your shoulder rotating too much.
How many reps?
It handles eight to fifteen per set well. If you're doing fewer than six with good technique, it's probably time to move on to band-assisted pull-ups.
I don't feel my back, only my arms
It's almost always because you start by bending your elbows. Cut the weight in half, pull your shoulders down first and go back up slowly. Once you feel it, you can add load again.
And to keep track of what you lift
In the Reverfit Workout app every exercise comes with its animation, and you log the weight and reps set by set, with what you did last time right in front of you. Free and with no ads.
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