Lat Pulldown: Muscles Worked and How to Do It
TL;DR
The lat pulldown works your lats as the main mover, pulling the bar down toward your chest. Your biceps bend your elbows, your middle back draws your shoulder blades together, and your shoulders help control the movement, building the same pulling pattern as a pull-up with adjustable weight.
- Primary muscle:
- Lats
- Secondary muscles:
- Biceps, Middle back, Shoulders
Muscles worked
Your lats are the primary mover in the lat pulldown, pulling your upper arms down and back as the bar travels toward your chest.
Your biceps bend your elbows to help complete the pull, your middle back squeezes your shoulder blades together, and your shoulders assist as your arms move through the range of motion.
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How to do it
- Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
- Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip. Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
- As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
- As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work except for holding the bar; therefore do not try to pull down the bar using the forearms.
- After a second at the contracted position squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement.
- Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Form tips
- Set the thigh pad snug and grip the bar wider than shoulder width.
- Lean back slightly and pull the bar down to your upper chest, not behind your neck.
- Drive your elbows down and back rather than just bending your arms.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the bottom before controlling the bar back up.
- Use a full range of motion, letting your arms extend fully at the top of each rep.
Exercise details
| Equipment | Cable |
|---|---|
| Level | Beginner |
| Mechanic | Compound |
Used by lifters following PPL, 5x5, upper/lower, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the lat pulldown a good substitute for pull-ups?
Yes. The pull-up and lat pulldown train the same main muscles, your lats, biceps and middle back, in a very similar pattern. The pulldown lets you adjust the weight, making it useful for building up to full bodyweight pull-ups.
Wide grip vs close grip lat pulldown: does it matter?
Both work your lats as the prime mover. A wider grip emphasizes the upper lats slightly more, while a closer or underhand grip brings in a little more biceps. Either is an effective choice.
More lats exercises
Exercise instructions and photos come from the free-exercise-db library, public domain, the same library used inside the PR Streak app.
