Lat Pulldown Exercise: A Back Sculpter

Lat Pulldown

The Lat Pulldown is a core mechanic of most back and lat workouts. Try not to cheat by using your body weight to aid you in lifting the weight down. Instead, try to focus on squeezing your lat muscles, and drawing your power from your entire back region. Alternative grips such as, narrow grip and underhand grip, are possible, start with a slightly wider than shoulder width stance when starting out.

Here are 5 lat pull down variations:

1. Wide-Grip Lat Pull-Down

If your main objective is to increase your back’s width, go for wide grip lat pull downs. They better stimulate the teres major and upper lat fibres, in addition to working the biceps, forearms, triceps, rotator cuff muscles and posterior deltoids. Still, avoid taking an excessively wide grip as this will reduce the range of motion and increase susceptibility to injury. One of the greatest benefits of this variation is increased pull up strength. Make sure to squeeze and retract your shoulder blades for maximum muscle activation, and avoid relying on momentum to do your muscle’s work.

2. Behind-the-Neck Lat Pull-Down

This variant may place undue stress on the shoulders in people with an inflexible shoulder girdle, for many others it can be the best back builder in their routine. The range of motion will allow for a stronger overall contraction and lead to bigger gains, as long as you keep your form in check and start with a lighter weight. If you don’t have shoulder mobility issues and you’re looking for the lat pull down that will give you the most for your back.

3. V-Bar Pull-Down

The V-bar pull down will help you emphasise the centre of your back, while still working your lats. Training these muscles will provide support for core movements and improve your stability and performance in all athletic pursuits. With a secure grip on the V-bar attachment, slowly pull the weight straight down until it’s about even with the middle of your chest, focusing on the contraction of the back muscles. Lean back a bit more than usual to better engage the lats and complete the full range of motion. Also, strive to achieve a full stretch at the top of the movement.

4. Reverse Close-Grip Lat Pull-Down

This variant is best for building thick, full lower lats that go all the way down to the waist. Take a close grip, underhand grip on a lat bar attached to the high pulley of a lat pull down station and keep your chest up and lower back arched as you pull the bar down to your chest. Keep in mind that the closer your hands, the more you will involve the muscles in the centre of your back.

Reverse grip pull downs stimulate the development of the lats by improving the range of movement in the shoulder joints and scapula, while also increasing shoulder stability by engaging the traps and biceps.

5. Single-Arm Lat Pull-Down

Unilateral exercises are tough to beat when it comes to improving mind muscle connection and maximising contraction. Add a few lighter sets of single arm lat pull downs at the end of your workout. Perform every rep in a slow and controlled motion and hold the bottom position for a few moments before returning back to the top. As you pull the handle down, squeeze your elbows to your side as you flex it. Avoid completely returning the weight in order to keep tension in the working muscles.