Lat Pulldown Exercise Guide: Benefits, Variations, Mistakes

The lat pulldown is a common back exercise and targets mainly the latissimus dorsi. This is a large, flat muscle on the back, which is also found behind the arm and trapezius muscle. The lat pulldown exercise is generally executed using cable pulleys. Although there are other lat pulldown machines without cables. 

The lats support many other areas of the body other than just the back. They stabilize the neck, shoulder, and hips. Without strong lats, other areas of the body can experience pain or injury. It’s important to understand how to perform the lat pulldown and how to maximize the benefits. 

How to Perform the Lat Pulldown

Place both hands on the lat pulldown bar with a wide overhand grip. Achieve a seated position and place your thighs securely under the support pad. Keeping your feet flat on the floor, begin pulling the bar toward chin level. Avoid pulling the bar further than chest level. Maintain a straight back, keep your elbows tucked, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then slowly return the bar to the starting position. 

Lat Pulldown Variations

The lat pulldown is a versatile exercise. It can be performed in various ways and adjusted based on a client's fitness level or goal. Novice clients can start with a lighter load or a resistance band to practice form. Clients can also perform the lat pulldown in a kneeling or standing position. 

The regular lat pulldown requires a long bar attachment and a wide overhand grip. Depending on your client’s goals, you may want to switch the attachment. Some options include a straight bar attachment, rope, v-grip, or bands.

Additionally, there are several grip variations that you can use for a lat pulldown exercise:

1. Wide grip: The wide grip lat pulldown involves placing your hands on the bar with a wider than shoulder width distance between them. This grip targets the outer portion of the back muscles (latissimus dorsi) and the shoulder muscles (deltoids).

2. Narrow grip (close grip): The close grip lat pulldown involves placing your hands on the bar with a narrower than shoulder width distance between them. This grip targets the inner portion of the back muscles and the biceps.

3. Neutral grip: This grip involves placing your hands on the bar with a shoulder-width distance between them and using a palms-facing-each-other grip. The neutral grip lat pulldown targets the latissimus dorsi muscles and the shoulder muscles.

4. Reverse grip: This grip involves placing your hands on the bar with a shoulder-width distance between them and using a palms-facing-away grip. This grip targets the latissimus dorsi muscles and the biceps.

It's important to experiment with different grip variations to find the one that works best for you and to target different muscle groups.

Mistakes Made During Lat Pulldowns

The most common mistakes during a lat pulldown include using too much momentum, pulling the bar too far, and arching the back. When performing the lat pulldown, it’s important to engage all your back muscles, including the lats. 

To get the most out of your pulldowns and prevent injury, avoid arching your back. When the weight is too heavy, or a client's form is compromised, they often lean back and arch their back. This not only changes the angle of the exercise, but it puts your client at risk for injury. 

This is usually accompanied by excessive swinging or momentum of the body. This is used to pull the bar down when the weights are too heavy. Instruct clients to always sit up straight and keep a slight lean backward. The lean should only allow the bar to move past the chin. 

Grip width or placement is another common mistake. While there are wide grip and close grip variations, sometimes clients will grip the bar too wide or too narrow. Gripping onto the bar too wide can place excessive stress on the shoulders and pecs. Whereas keeping your hands close together will put more stress on the arms and forearms. The goal is to have a moderate to wide overhand grip. You can also apply this to the narrow underhand grip. There are many different weightlifting grip variations. 

Lastly, one of the biggest complaints from clients when performing lat pulldowns is forearm fatigue. Avoid letting the forearms take over the exercise. You can minimize this by not gripping the bar tightly. Also, avoid wrapping and squeezing your thumb around the bar. Encourage clients to lead the movement with their elbows. In other words, to bring the bar down, pull your elbows down and back. Don't use your arms and allow the bar to come to only chin height without leaning back. This promotes optimal contraction in your back and lats.

Learn more: How to Improve Grip Strength

Muscles Worked During the Lat Pulldown

Although the exercise is called a lat pulldown, it works more than just your lats. This overhead pulling exercise targets the entire back. Not only will back muscles be active but also the shoulders and arms. The lats are the largest muscle group in the back, but you can expect the trapezius and rhomboids to benefit also. In addition, your biceps and core will support the exercise. 

By adjusting your grip on the bar, you can easily change which muscles are targeted most. The lat pulldown is an effective alternative to the pull-up. If your clients are not strong enough to perform one, this is a great modification. Keep the routine alive by switching it up. Use different lat pulldown variations for clients.  

Benefits of the Lat Pulldown

The main benefit of the lat pulldown is muscle development and pulling strength. This is beneficial for all clients and athletes. It’s one of the most effective exercises to implement into upper-body workouts. It targets many different muscle groups at once. Building a stronger back is important for all fitness goals. 

Not only does the lat pulldown work different muscles, but it also produces a wide variety of benefits. This includes better posture and spinal stability. It doesn’t just work your lats, but the entire upper body can benefit. This is a great strength and muscle-building exercise that can be included in all exercise programs. It can be easily adjusted to fit clients of all levels, and it has minimal risk of injury when performed correctly. 

To build muscle and strength, there are many additional exercises clients can use. It’s important to know how to assess and build custom training programs. Check out ISSA’s Personal Trainer course. You’ll gain insight into which exercise is most effective for each movement and how to make the most of your programming.