Lat pulldown machine exercises and variations: how to execute and implement them for your best back development.
Lat pulldown machines are a fantastic tool for back exercises. There are many different ways to use the lat pulldown machine and all it’s variations. Lat pulldown exercises can be varied by grip width, grip type, hand positioning, and angle of the pull. Even if you can do pull-ups and don’t technically need a lat pulldown machine, it can be a very great tool for back strength, size and development.
What are Lat Pulldowns?
Lat pulldowns are typically a seated pulling motion that mimics a pull-up. Because pull-ups are basically all or nothing; binary; you can do one or you cannot, they are tough to practice well. If you cannot pull up your own body weight, you need to build strength at that angle first. Resistance bands and machine lat pulldowns allow you to do this.
Lat pulldowns allow you to practice this movement well, using full control of the muscles around your shoulder blades and perfecting your form. Don’t get me wrong: to achieve the ability to do pull-ups, you have to do some ugly pull-ups. But, along the way, lat pulldowns are a great way to take steps toward pull-ups.
Why Are Lat Pulldown Exercises Important to Do?
Strong lats are crucial to building and maintaining good posture, significant upper body strength, and preventing biomechanical stress from muscular imbalances. Lats are one of the most interesting muscle groups, and one of the largest contributors to full body strength.
A strong back makes a statement; it is undeniable that a person with an impressive back lifts, and pulldowns are one of the best exercises to help with this. In men, this looks strong and powerful. In women, this looks strong and graceful. I often hear my clients tell me their goals include having a strong, pain free, and aesthetically pleasing back.
Finally, if you are a bench only type of person, you’ll develop imbalances that the lat pulldown can help you fix. Excessive stress on the shoulders from a heavy bench routine can be helped by balancing out the chest work with back work.
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Why Are Lat Pulldown Exercises Important to Do?
Lat pulldowns work the whole back: lower back, middle back, upper back, and even arms. We don’t really want this to be an isolation exercise, but the pull up does not work your back in isolation. The muscles used from doing the lat pulldown exercise are the latissimus dorsi muscles, rhomboids, upper and lower trapezius muscles, and rear deltoids. The grip muscles of the hands and fingers, and forearm flexors, and biceps also assist in these exercises.
Fun fact: the first time I achieved a pull up, my abs were the most sore of all my muscles. Isn’t that wild? I had prepared my back muscles well and built stronger lats by doing a solid strength training program and pull-down exercises, but my abdominal muscles had not fully joined the game until I did full range of motion, unassisted pull-ups. I point this out just to highlight how pulls are not an isolation exercise.
How to do the Classic Machine Lat Pulldown (Regular Grip)
- Adjust the Seat and Knee Pads:
- Sit on the pulldown machine and adjust the seat height so that your feet are flat on the floor.
- Position the knee pads so they sit comfortably on your thighs, holding you in place during the exercise. (This helps a ton! Don’t skip this!)
- You’ll stand back up and start in a standing position while you get your grip on, next.
- Grip the Bar:
- Reach up and grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you), slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Not a super close grip or very wide yet.
- Make sure your hands are evenly spaced on the bar. Don’t set up crooked, ain’t nobody got time for that.
- Starting Position:
- Sit down with your arms fully extended and your torso upright. Think chest up, and allow your shoulders to stretch up.
- Pull your shoulder blades down and move smoothly into driving your elbows down, into your hips.
- Pull the Bar Down:
- Pull the bar to your upper chest or just below your chin, keeping your torso steady and your core engaged.
- As mentioned above, think about your elbows retracting into your hips, not pointing back behind you.
- Return to Starting Position:
- Return the bar overhead. Control your movement upwards, extending the elbow joint first, and then letting the bar pull you back into the stretched position.
- Keep your chest up as you are stretched back into your initial position.
Lat Pulldown Variations
The classic lat pull-down, described above, is one you should practice first. It’s symmetrical and balanced, and will help you learn to recruit and connect to your lat muscles. From there, experiment with different variations on the pulldown machine so that you can truly begin to feel how you can use your lats to control your shoulder joint and your arms. Then, try to feel, individually, your lower lats*, upper back muscles, mid back muscles.
Focus on learning this scapular depression and elevation first:
Start with light weights so you can learn that mind muscle connection. Don’t be afraid to go heavier though; the pulldown is pretty forgiving. It’s not dangerous to increase the weight as you’re learning.
*There’s truly no “lower lats” because the lats are one muscle group that originates from the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and fascia, ninth to twelfth ribs, and posterior half of the iliac crest. This means your lower back, and hip bones. From there, imagine the muscles attaching to your upper arm.
Note that you do not have to MASTER the basic lat pulldown to move on to any other pulldown variations. Do your best to practice good form on all of them, and you’ll learn from each exercise to the next. For best results in building muscle and just learning the exercise, practice many variations doing the best you can.
Single Arm Lat Pulldown
The single arm lat pulldown is an excellent variation of the first exercise. In this exercise, you’ll use a single handle or ring instead of a straight bar attachment. You’ll perform your pull one side at a time. I like to stretch the whole side that I’m working. For example, if I’m pulling with my right side, I’ll grip the ring or handle with my right hand, and then skooch over in the seat, dropping my right leg closer to the floor. This creates a straight line stretch all the way down my right side, from my right arm, all the way down to my right knee, which is either close to or resting on the floor.
This is a great exercise to feel one side at a time, and to make sure your arms are being worked symmetrically.
Here are some barbell and dumbbell back exercises if you are looking to expand your workouts.
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
The wide grip lat pulldown is an excellent variation of the first exercise. For this exercise, you’ll set up just like you would for the class pulldown, except you’ll take a wider grip. You can think about doing the top of the “Y” in the “YMCA”. This variation might feel a little tougher, so start light again. This is an excellent exercise to focus on that mind muscle connection, and really feel your lats. This is a great option to really challenge yourself to move into pulling heavy weights.
Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown
Neutral grip means that your hands face each other the whole time. You might not use a typical lat pulldown bar for this exercise. You can do this with a bar attachment that places your hands facing each other, or you can use two separate attachments like rings or handles that you can control yourself. For these neutral grip lat pulldowns, the primary difference is just hand placement. Focus also on the main technical points of the classic lat pulldown, above.
Underhand Grip Lat Pulldown
Also called a reverse grip lat pulldown, this is also like a chin up. In this case, you’ll use an underhand position, meaning your palms are facing you. For wrist comfort, you’ll probably have a shoulder width grip, or even closer. This is one of the best pullup options to begin, because you’ll find you can progress on these faster than on a wide grip lat pulldown. Your biceps will really get a workout and help out with this movement.
Pulldown Machine Exercises and Variations: Execution
With a couple of different attachments (tricep rope, straight bar attachment), the pulldown machine can be used like a cable machine for other exercises. These include cable face pulls, tricep pushdowns, the straight-arm pulldown, seated row and low rows (if it is a lat pulldown low row machine). Every weight machine is different, and you’ll typically find better options at a gym than at a home gym. So if you are a hybrid home gym/gym gym athlete, be strategic and take advantage of a few of these pulldown machine exercises while you have gym access!
Learning the basic exercises, working your whole body (full body push pull upper style), eating healthy cooking, and lifting with good technique will drive you to your goals the fastest you can go!
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About the author
Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.
