Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown
Also known as: Straight-arm cable pulldown, Straight-arm pulldown, Straight-arm pushdown, Cable Pullover
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Description
Hinge forward at a high pulley and sweep a short straight bar from above your head to your knees with straight arms, so your lats do the pulling. The work sits along the sides of your back and in the teres major at the back of your armpit, while your lower traps hold the shoulder blades down. Your elbow angle never changes, so your biceps and grip can't give out first. That makes it a good lat warm-up before pull-ups or pulldowns and a finisher after rows. Pick the bar over the rope version when you want both hands fixed on one bar and a steadier, heavier set.
How to Perform
- Clip a short straight bar to the high pulley and pick a light weight to start. A lat bar held shoulder-width also works.
- Grip the bar overhand at shoulder width and walk back a long step or two, until the plates stay up with your arms reaching forward.
- Feet hip-width and knees soft, push your hips back until your torso is about 30–45° above horizontal. Back flat, head between your arms.
- Reach your arms forward and up in line with your torso. Set a small bend in the elbows and keep that angle for the whole set.
- Start each rep by pulling your shoulders down, away from your ears, before the bar moves.
- Sweep the bar in an arc, moving only at the shoulders, until your arms are near vertical and the bar is in front of your knees.
- Hold a second, then let the bar rise over about 2 seconds along the same arc until you feel a stretch under your armpits.
- When the set is done, walk toward the tower and let the plates settle on the stack before you let go of the bar.
What Muscles Work
Primary Muscle:
Secondary Muscles:
Tips
- Sets of 10–15 reps suit most people. This isn't a lift for heavy singles; around 8–10 clean reps is as heavy as it usually pays to go. Add reps first: when you reach 3 × 15 with the same torso angle and no elbow bend, move the pin down one plate, usually 2.5–5 kg, and work up again from 10. If the stack jumps in 5 kg plates or bigger, use the add-on weight or stay on each weight longer.
- Most of the work runs along the sides of your back from the armpit toward your waist, plus a little low between the shoulder blades and in the back of your upper arms. If your triceps or forearms burn more than your back, your elbows are bending and straightening.
- Two to four sets do the job as a warm-up before pull-ups or as a finisher after rows. Torso keeps bobbing? Go lighter and stop the bar at your thighs, or switch to the Machine Pullover, where the seat holds you still. To make it harder, take 3 seconds to sweep the bar down and hold it 2 seconds at the bottom.
- If the stretched top position pinches the front of your shoulder, stop the bar a little lower on the way up.
- Substitutes: Rope Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown (hands can travel past your hips, wrists neutral), One-Arm Straight-Arm Cable Lat Pulldown (evens out left-right differences), Machine Pullover, Dumbbell Pullover (lying on a bench, no cable needed).
Common Mistakes
- Bending and straightening the elbows so the bar gets pushed down like a triceps pushdown. Set a small bend at the top and keep it, moving hands and upper arms as one piece from the shoulders. If you can't, the weight is too heavy.
- Standing up out of the hinge or bobbing your torso to get the bar moving. Set your hips back before the first rep and keep the chest angle fixed; if the torso has to move, drop a plate.
- Rounding your lower back to get deeper into the hinge. Hips back, knees soft, back flat. Hinge a little less if your back starts to round.
- Half reps: the bar stops halfway down, or your arms never come back in line with your torso. Finish with your arms vertical and a one-second hold, and on the way up return to the full stretch without letting the plates touch down.
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