Lat Pulldowns vs. Upper Back Pulldowns
Video taken from the channel: Mitch Heaslip
The Best Lat Pulldown Exercise for Building a Wider Back
Video taken from the channel: Matt Ogus
Lat Pulldown Variations and Form
Video taken from the channel: BodyAmbitionFitness
Pulldown Grip Variations
Video taken from the channel: Jim Stoppani, PhD
FIX YOUR LAT PULLDOWN NOW! | 5 Pulldown Variations for Muscle Gain
Video taken from the channel: Colossus Fitness
5 Advanced Lat Pulldown Variations for a BIGGER Back (GROW YOUR BACK NOW)
Video taken from the channel: Colossus Fitness
Do Lat Pulldowns Like This Instead (BETTER LATS GAINS!)
Video taken from the channel: ATHLEAN-X™
Step-by-Step Instructions. Grasp the bar with a wide grip with an overhand, knuckles up grip. Other positions and grips are possible but start with this standard position. Pull the bar down until it’s approximately level with the chin.
Exhale on down motion. While shifting just slightly backward is.The benefits of a lat pulldown and the muscles worked Aesthetics: One of the benefits of this exercise is that it is deemed as “the back builder”, and for good reason. The lats take up the majority of your back, so you can really work on that V-taper look as well.
Strength: Whilst we perform this exercise, we are really strengthening our back.Stand in front of a lat pulldown machine, grab the bar with a wide overhand grip, place one foot up on the edge of the seat, and lean back 30 degrees or so with your other foot planted firmly on the floor. Keeping your torso in a fixed position, contract your back muscles to pull the bar to your middle to lower chest.To figure out which lat pulldown variation is the best, researchers use a method known as electromyography (or EMG), which measures the amount of muscle fibers recruited during an exercise.
The more fibers that are recruited for the job, the more work that muscle has to do to perform the exercise, and maybe the training effect will be better.Check out this step-by-step process with to properly execute a lat pulldown. Adjust knee-pad so that your body is immobile. Set your feet flat.
Bring your chest towards the machine. Retract your shoulder blades. The rule of thumb here is to pretend like you are putting your shoulder blades in your back pocket.Half kneeling split stance: in-line, front knee at 90 degrees, on ball of back foot. Grip with same hand as back leg.
Start thumbs down and finish thumbs up as you pull (this will give you bonus shoulder external rotation to work your rotator cuff) Pull from your armpit and stop when your lat is tight.Lat Pull Down is one such machine exercise. It is also known by the name of cable pull down machine.
Lat Pull Down can be extremely beneficial in building upper body strength and target the upper body muscles, especially the latissimus dorsi, biceps, and deltoids muscles. It is also quite beneficial in keeping the shoulder healthy.Like the Cable Row, there are numerous variations on the lat pulldown primarily involving changes in grip position (underhand vs. overhand) and width. Since the lats do have different functions at the shoulder and lines of pull, varying the type of pulldown done can certainly be beneficial from both a strength and hypertrophy standpoint.To effectively target the lats during a pulldown, do the following: Use a pronated (palms away) grip.
Pull to the top of the chest. Use the grip (shoulder width or wider) that feels the most comfortable.Step 1Sit at a lat pulldown station and grab the bar with an overhand grip that’s just beyond shoulder width. Your arms should be completely straight and your torso upright.
Step 2Pull your.Sit at a lat pulldown station and grab the bar with an overhand grip that’s just beyond shoulder width. Your arms should be completely straight and your torso upright.
Pull your shoulder blades down and back, and bring the bar to your chest. Pause, then slowly return to the starting position.This is how to setup and do the standard seated lat pulldown exercise: Set the pin to vary the weight to be lifted. Set the knee pad to the right height. Your knees should be.
Most of the lat pulldown machines are pin-loaded with multiple weight options and a bar suspended freely from a pulley. Grab the two sides of the bar with your hands wide apart from each other. Grip the bar at the very edge. Sit down on the bench right below the bar.
The correct way to perform this movement is keeping your elbows slightly in front of you and then in-line with your hips as you pull down.The pulldown exercise works the back muscles, especially the latissimus dorsi or the “lats.”1 It is performed at a workstation with adjustable resistance, usually plates.
List of related literature:
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| from The Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises: Four Weeks to a Leaner, Stronger, More Muscular YOU! |
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| from The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Being Fit |
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| from Glute Lab: The Art and Science of Strength and Physique Training |
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| from The 80/20 Diet |
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| from Physical Activity Instruction of Older Adults |
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| from The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revis |
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| from NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training |
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| from Weight Training For Dummies |
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| from Kinetic Control E-Book: The Management of Uncontrolled Movement |
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| from Physical Activity & Health: An Interactive Approach: An Interactive Approach |
139 comments
Thanks Doc, really like the way show the differences. My question is regarding overhand grip with a shoulder width or just wider than shoulder width position, is that any different than wide overhand grip or just as same? And if I prefer doing the prior would that be fine for developing those upper lats?
Take care.
Dammit! I just did chest/back yesterday, but I’m definitely going to try the alternating lat pulldown!
That shot she took from the back was great to see the actual tension on the lats and to get an idea of form better.
So adduction in front to adduction in the back in make sense since chest and lats are adductors on the opposite side when the elbow is closer to the chest origin but higher up it is furthest away from the lats origin
Hey guys, cool videos and great variations, I’ll definitely try one of these workouts for my back. Thanks for the tips yet again!!
just subscribed to you can you go check out my page and sum me THANKS for your support
This does seem like a potentially effective modification to a staple exercise. Will be trying it tomorrow with a single handle to see if I can truly focus through the lat. It can be so difficult to feel whether the lat is activating.
now you have beard is better, then i think your hair style have to find which good for you
the trainer and the owner wouldn’t let me do workout like Jeff showed. they think I am doing it the wrong way. always stepped in front of me saying blah blah even if I didn’t answer. so I changed that shitty gym.
4:05 The Smiths is the last type of music I’d expect to hear at a gym. ��
It makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry instead of wanting to hit the weights vigorously.
Yeah man, great video ���� I’ve been doing this for a while and still learning. I always thought this was a back bulker. But I see what you mean with the long stretch in the lats (this creating width) ���� right on
The only issue with doing stuff like this is you look like a dumbass
Assuming I’m doing the double arm version(sitting side saddle but pulling down with both arms), do you do both sides? Do you treat it like any other unilateral exercise, where you do all of the reps for one side and then the other? Do I need to do fewer reps per side? In other words, if I would normally(as in not sitting side saddle) do a set of 10 reps, would I do 10 reps for one side and 10 reps for the other side? Or do I do 5 reps for one side and 5 reps for the other side?
I m feeling muchh tension at my scapula more than my lats..its not pain but i m not feeling my lats…the best i get is just a little heat at my lats..i cannot fatique my lats..I m only tiring my hands..anymore tips on this?
Is it me or does does that thing really look like a shirt? (Not trying to be rude)
Absolutely fantastic. I love the advice and the way you recognized to better activate more movement into the exercise
hey matt big fan of yours….. respect… i just wanna should i eat more carbs than protein to get bigger muscles?
I notice after I do lat exercises I have MUCH better posture and stand with my shoulders back more. Love your videos Jeff!
Jeff I have a few questions to ask you please, I truest your judgement on a lot of issues. I am a transplanted patient ( kidney ) thank God successes ‼️‼️ the dr have cleared me. My question is how much protein should I intake with one 100% functioning kidney with out it spilling into my urine. Please help ��
Hi I do not post alot and am fat but I love your video I learn alot from them. I’m getting strong and building muscle. I like the approach you take with your workout. Just wanted to say thank you. I’m 210 25% body fat but a month ago I was 32% i want to be down to 17 or 14 in the next three months. I love that you do not like keto diet i do not either please keep making video
Nice vid. Which variation do you guys think has the greatest bicep activation?
this worked for me big time! been added to my workout.thanks
So are you supposed to retract the scapula doing the whole exercise?
Just tried this, but couldn’t extend my arm all the way, despite being only 5’11” tall. Tried the same movement kneeling as if I were going to do a cable crunch. Worked great!! I was able to kneel down as much as needed to retain tension through the entire movement. This also avoided the awkward seat position! Thanks for the inspiration Jeff! Keep em coming!!
So I have scoliosis my right lat looks more defined than my left. I’m not weaker in my left but since my curve goes to the right of my body the muscles pull more towards that side. Is there a way to “even it out” I was thinking about working my left side harder Than my right when I do back but I don’t want to get weaker on my right either.
Jeff did you go pull six reps on your right side after this? OCD
I have never seen someone doing it.bro it’s public gym,why to waste time with one hand wen we can do same thing with two.
What is a great substitute for pull ups, I cant do pull ups since I have a dislocated shoulders.
Hi Jeff! I’ve been watching your videos for some time now and taken most advices for my daily routines. My questions is if you have an advice on how I could fix uneven lats? It seems like my right side is getting more results then my left side, any tip on how I can fix this? Greatly appreciate it!
Guys in good shape…only a matter of time before Durian “Dipshit” Rider makes a video about how hes on gear lol
Nice tip.But this will convert 3 sets of lat pull downs into 6 sets.Not applicable if you have limited time.
I was gonna shy away from doing this since i am newbie at the gym, but did it anyway. I was afraid someone was gonna come and correct me and i had Jeff’s video playing so i can just point to it. �� This was a game changer for me.
Perfect,absolutely sky rocking!!!Thank You so much for this video bro and all the best
This guy complicates the shit out of every exercise in the gym. I use basic exercises with basic form and only focus on getting stronger and stronger and my gains speak for themselves.
I do these on a HS front pulldown machine; 1 arm at time then extend the set by using both arms
That guy at 3:50 reminds of Neo from The Matrix when he’s leaning back.
Im slacking a little bit on getting to the videos. But next back day definetly going to incorporate some of these in my workout����
I agree with you on choosing this exercise, with the narrower parallel grip. The only think I would change or suggest is…pull your hands all the way to the chest, it will contract the lat muscles, and surrounding muscles of the scapula (shoulder blade) a bit more.
Better way is with under the cable. You can place yourself more on the side so you can do a better strech. You do not need lat pull down mashine. Just stand on your knees right under the cable but litle right (if you target right lat) or left (for left lat)
what if i have my upper back hunched and humped????? how i should train back?
18 inch arms, natural, 5’7″, 5% bf, 5 million subscribers, 100% success rate, enough said
Good demonstration. You can really see exactly which muscle moves because he has pretty much zero fat lol.
dude in the red tank top lol I see that form a lot its cheating but ive tried it and it hits my lats but feels like a row. I like alternative lat pulldowns they are great for my lats. reverse wide grip too feel it more some how.
Cool idea but I have yet to see a single person EVER do this in the gym lol
Hey if i don’t have access to a lat pulldown pulley machine, can i hang upside down and do upside down lat pulldowns with dumbbells?
Well, i guess they would be called lat pullups…
You should go train that kid doing the ticep push down at 1:16.
yeah think of a pull up. chin over and true to the chest or it’s not a rep. half reps are fine to learn or isolate control.
how do you workout with Morrissey playing in the background. there should be wet floor signs up
Who else wasn’t paying attention to ogus because of those kids in the back lmfao
I have a question. How necessary are these “programs” to lifting
Every time am looking for something new find another one of your videos
Thank you! Had a great back workout today and had this video in mind the whole time! You guys are God sent ��������
Big fan. This stuff is invaluable as I power through my first two months of working out. It’s crazy how fast I see results, being super skinny has it’s upsides. Some of the best form videos I’ve seen on youtube.
Sharing this video for the simple fact some people think I am crazy for doing the single arm lat pull-downs. Glad I am not the only person who does this with the handle
I am a beginner in weightlifting. I just feel the soreneness and burn in my forearms not necessarily my back am i performing the exercise incorrectly? I don’t lean forward at all and leave room to lean back a little bit. No pain when using this exercise and i use best form as possible.
Hey guys! question what if your gym doesn’t have a v-bar piece? What could you do instead?
Your haircut is horrible, just shave it off. You’ll look much better.
Nice! I was just planning to do something like this for my arms, but if it works the lats more: bonus!
Thank you Matt. I always let go of the pointer fingers and thumbs so it can take away from the forearm and bicep pump that I feel when do pull downs. Yes, I do a little less weight, but I can squeeze the s**t out of my lats! I see people with ENORMOUS Biceps, and flexed forearms doing pulls with a lot of weight on the stack. How much of it is shared from lat to forearm!? Keep up the good work!
i have a question i think its related to this video somehow, i can do 5x chinups (elbows close to body) with 45 lbs attatched to me very comfortable, but when i switched to pullups elbows to the side and hands facing away ofc my strenght went down but thats normal, my problem is I have pain in my left shoulder doing the pull ups, any solution?
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Time Stamps:
( 0:02)Proper Form
Common Mistakes:
1. ( 0:57)Not enough control
2. ( 1:24)Half reps
3. ( 1:35)Leaning too forward
Lat Pulldown Variations:
1. ( 1:51)Neutral grip lat pulldown
2. ( 2:33)Close grip reverse lat pulldown/close grip front lat pulldown
3. ( 3:10)One arm lat pulldown
4. ( 4:00)Alternating bar lat pulldown
5. ( 4:31)Wide grip reverse lat pulldown
cool stuff guys, I have a lat video on my channel also if anyone is interested, the presentation is something different than you have ever seen before haha
Great video Jeff! I have a question that’s been on my mind for awhile now. Every time I do push ups, my lats are sore the next day. My chest are not sore from push ups but my lats! What’s going on?! I do normal push ups and believe me I seen tutorials on how to do push ups. my forms seems to be alright.
Chik-fil-a did those bodies good… i dont look like that after a full menu mukbang ������
I bought ax2, I thought it would be easy looking at the workouts, until I tried them. They kicked my butt
I like how this enables to pull the two-handed weight with just one hand.
I like to go super wide for 4 sets and medium rep range. Next I use the close grip “T” bar, and finally normal width for 6 sets 3 over hand and 3 underhand. Ever week I try and change from high weight low reps to low weight high reps. Seems to work so far
I find relaxing your arms.. and hands when pulling down you can feel it.. more that’s my opinion
Cant focus with those two melons shitting around in the background
How much should I be loading? I feel the stretch when I lift heavy but then I can’t get a good contraction because of too much weight
Is it better to do light weight and up the reps?
When I go to the gym everyone looks at me thinkin “where the hell did u get that excercise from?!”
If it doesn’t touch ur chest and then stretch your lats all the way at the top then ur half reppin ��
Thats true i tried the one hand lat pulldown and trust me it actually worked for me ��
I don’t know why he sounds like Bear Grylls in this video lol.
In spanish this videos don’t exists. Y debo sólo ver lo que hacen, dado que no entiendo todo.
If you lean back for a lat pulldown, it then becomes a row.
For your health
Can’t wait to try this one out! My lats have always been a problem area for me
I appreciate that you guys keep it clean. it’s nice to be able to watch a video in front of my kids. PLEASE don’t go the way of 99 percent of fitness channels dropping F bombs every other word
This could be useful tip for one arm chin up. I had to try this!!
-> complains about partial reps
-> does partial reps by not straightening the arms at the top
with that kind of thoracic extension, you’re performing a rowing movement which negates the purpose of a vertical pull
No offense but this is kinda dumb. That have a row machine where you can do this…at least at the gym. This is good to do if you only have this machine at home.
WHY IS EVERYONE GIVING NEGATIVE REVIEWS OF THIS MANS TRAINING TECHNIQUES… this guy knows his stuff… TRY IT… Respect to ATHLEAN-X TRAINING
Alternating lat pulldown!? Fricken brilliant sir(s). Gonna try that for sure.
Seems it would be better to have the arm out to the side, to line up with the direction of the lat fibers.
What about leaning back too much? Kind of like on the cable row machine.
Excellent explanation of biomechanics. Thank you very much Jim! Much success
Tha k you fpr teaching me how to do proper lat pulls… ill show you how to properly do your eyebrows Josh
for the wide grip lat pull down does top of your chest to be a complete ROM or does getting close enough count?
hahahaha wtf is that kid doing in the background.. not hatin but that was fucking comedy.
I don’t know why I feel like this, but Jeff is such a fucking gangsta
Jesus christ
why don’t more people do actual pull-ups and weighted pull-ups instead of pulldowns?
That kid and his buddy in the background…complete gym fuckery going on
This is my new fav channel..great and thorough explanation..good looking guys. voila!!
Genius as usual. Such a smart dude. Nobody better on YouTube. Hands down.
Hello captain, if I send to you a pictures of my body, can you write to me a course of workouts??
I go to the gym and I hardly see a trainer with a jacked body. If you are a personal trainer, remember that your body is your business card.
Hey, nice soundtrack by The Smiths and superb tips, thanks very muchhhh!
I am really not comfortable introducing my wife to this dude. I am sure he has not true guy friends.
Informative video. Close grip pull-down’s is one of my favorite exercises so incorporating that into my workout should be easy.
Great tips even for this 60 year old guy. Definitely going to try these. Thanks again.
I would have to agree, and so would Yates…except that weighted chins are even better…but basically the same movement, only with even more stretch and greater range and no help from erectors at all.
Dude, you dont even know how much this helps me to improve my left lats, which are shorter than the other.
Especially because i have scoliosis
Neat video! I youtube as well, and I would appreciate it if you could check out my channel & sub:)
What about if using the D-Bar (is the wide bar with neutral grip)?
Hope you are well jim im amer from morocco, i just wonder that pull down with wide grip as you showed us targets the rear delts more than upper lats right?
Just look and learn much more about it from Unflexal workouts.
i only feel the pain on my pecs and triceps what am i doing wrong?
Very informative video and professionally presented. Nice job!
I love the way he teaches “single arm high cable row” best move. I never feel my lats pain before when i do dumbbell or barbell row until i did this.
What about mixed grip (one over and one under)? Is it a perfect balance of both hitting the upper and lower lats?
omg i have always been leaning too far forward, well straight up, and no one ever corrected me! My hands were also not far enough apart. thank you!!
sorry i was zoning out on those spazzies in the back and when i came back you were talking about fish hook hands i dont know WTF is going on
Great job man! You mentioned a leaning back but do you mean it is for just the upper back or the whole spine? If a leaning back is just for the upper back I find it is a bit hard to keep the abs tightened. Is it necessary to keep the abs tight througout the range of movements for pull down exercises?
I’m thinking of buying that bar for my home gym cable machine but before I do I want to know if it’s decent for curls as well as tricep pushdowns because I know it’s good for rowing like what you’re using it for but I also want to be able to use it for other movements and if it’s not that good at all for other movements also then I’m just going to get the short straight bar that rotates possibly instead and use that basically as my All Purpose cable machine attachment.
Never seen the alternating pull down. Very cool, need to try it! Thanx, this was a very good video!
the last one is a high cable row for romboidsa, trapezius and last for lats
I did this in a gym and some dudes were looking at me weirdly, felt like they were judging me in the inside of their heads ��
I love that you emphasis variety, and neutral grip. My chest isn’t that huge but because you have given us so many variations of the pulldowns my back is big, giving me a 51 inch chest. in 18 months I’ve gone from 48 to 51 inches in only 5-6 programs.
Remember a lat has two functions, shoulder flexion (like what Matt’s demonstrated) and humorous adduction. ����
stop talking and do some exercise!!!!!! talking while doing the exercise so stupid. talk before or after
what im doing here, no comments to read, so sad to be early:(
The smiths as a background music in your gym. Wow…in mine there’s just disco/pop trash.
I bought a neutral grip back bar this week and it is shockingly amazing how much my back had exploded. I haven’t used one in years because they’re hard to find in gym stores where I am. I ordered one on Amazon and the leverage you get with this bar is crazy. My arm pits feel like the muscles underneath and all the way down are tight and feel like they’re twice as big. Get this bar because it’s the only one you’ll really ever need. Great video too. I bought this bar after I watched it. You learn something new everyday they say and I learned from this guy that the bar he uses does work best and cuts out a lot of needless work and injury for someone like me who has a torn rotator cuff.
can i do this all 5 varation in my every back session or i jist choose 1 or two?
for go the machine, save your back, lose some wt., build expertize chinning-
Very helpful and great advice. Because sometimes many of us don’t have a lot of back bars to work with. I’ve been Pumping iron for 4 decades but can always learn something new from different people. Thank you.
2:35 most helpful information as I always feel biceps when I work back to the point where I don’t think i’m working my back at all. Thank you.
This is a good instructional video, I perform this exersise until I can feel a stretch at the top of the movement in my lats and then pull until hits my upper chest, I’m slightly leaned back like he said. I also see alot of people do half reps with way to much weight(letting their ego take over)
His body is like a lesson in anatomy. It’s so f*** distracting. If only the trainers at my gym were more like him.
This is very nice i did it on the cable high pully not seated with the handle instead of bar though
jeezus h christ you’re in a PUBLIC place put a fucking shirt on you egocentric douchebag.
Looking at those kids in the back kinda reminded me of myself 2 years ago haha
Two pullied cables (pulled at same time) separate handles Pulldowns, most dont because you move less weight, know and use the Bar to connect both,. this will build far more strength.
If you happened to enjoy this video then we highly recommend you checking out the rest of our How To videos:
Fix Your Form Playlist: http://bit.ly/FixYourForm
Shoulder press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkkCpKSccjQ
DB Bench press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soq7ElEu0MU
Deadlift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJHvV2EPsY
Face pull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bLivsAhDFY
Lateral raise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=von4DUh9soE
Close grip bench: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1uIv77eo6I
Seated row: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A77hAjcpN1s
Hey Matt. Awesome info. I wanted to see if you could give me some advice. Ive only been lifting seriously for a little over a year. and im pretty proportional in most of muscle groups except my back. My upper back is way more developed than my lats and it makes almost a shelf appearance at the bottom of my shoulder blades. What do you think i should do as far as training? Should I stop training for thickness for a while so my lats can catch up or train specifically lats more often?
you’re talking about doing that for a greater range of motion and stopping way short of full extension for no reason. rofl.
Love the info in these videos! You guys serious put out some awesome shit! Subscribed.
Sound quality in the gym is terrible… ible… ible (echo)
kshhhhhhhssss (general background noise)
CLANG!!! (clanging weights)
If you wanna be my lover… (gym music) (it’s the Spice Girls)
“Testicles!” (somebody in the background randomly shouting “testicles”)
Seems like i am doing everything listed here, but i just feel it in my biceps.