Why The Lat Pull Down Rocks and How To Use Different Variations To Activate Different Muscles

I won’t lie to you – I totally prefer lower body exercises  to upper body ones. And there’s good reason for that. I’m able to lift more with compound lower body exercises than I am with upper body exercises (especially when it comes to isolation exercises like bicep curls). For most women, strength is going to lie below the belt.

But as I’ve been going through my own fitness journey, I’ve really come to enjoy challenging myself when it comes to building my upper body strength and one of my favorite exercises has been the lat pull down, which is a strength training exercise that focuses primarily on the latissimus dorsi (aka the “lats”) or the broadest muscle in your back.

I’ll probably talk about my chin up journey in another article, but I would credit the lat pull down as being one of the exercises in my routine that helped me to complete my very first chin-up.  And this makes sense because the lat pull down and chin-ups / pull- ups recruit similar muscles (back, shoulders, arms, and core). What’s more is that lat pulldowns have been routinely implemented as a means of improving upper body strength as well as sports performance in swimmers, gymnasts, wrestlers, rugby players, cross-country skiers, and bodybuilders 1

 You may have already inferred this from the name but the lat pull down is a vertical pull type exercise. Pull exercises work primarily your back, biceps, and forearms, whereas push exercises (think push-up or bench press) work primarily your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Having a variety of both push and pull exercises in your workout regimen helps to increase overall strength. 

Muscles Worked In A Lat Pull Down

1Lat pulldowns have been identified as primary exercises for activating the

·       Latissimus dorsi

·       Teres major

·       Pectoralis major (not pictured below)

·       Infraspinatus

·       Rhomboids

·       Middle trapezius and lower trapezius

·       Biceps

·        Brachioradialis (in the elbow joint)

How To Perform The Conventional Lat Pull Down

1. Sit on the bench so that you are facing the bar attached to the lat pull down machine. Adjust the knee pad so your knees are bent securely under the pad. Heels should be planted on the floor.

2. Grab the bar with palms facing away from you (pronated grip) slightly wider than shoulder width. Stretch your arms as much as you can without shrugging your shoulders or raising off the bench.

3. Pull the bar down toward your chest, aiming for just under your collarbone. Think of pulling your elbows and shoulders down and back (think away from your ears) as you bring the bar down.

4. Hold the bar at your mid to upper chest while squeezing your shoulder blades back and down with a slight lean (around 70-80 degrees).

5. Return to the starting position without shrugging your shoulders.

If you do not have a lat pull down machine, you can easily do this at home with a resistance band. When gyms were closed during the pandemic, I would place the resistance band above the doorway and close it, kneel on the ground (or if you’d like you could use a chair for this) grabbing each side of the band in one hand slightly farther than shoulder width apart, and then squeeze my back and try to bring my elbows to my rib cage.

When performing this exercise, look to avoid:

1. Arching or rounding your back as you pull down. Not keeping a neutral spine may increase the risk of injury.

2. Using momentum to pull the weight. This is using your entire body weight instead of the targeted muscles.

3. Avoid pulling the bar to your waistline. This will cause additional stress to be placed on the shoulders.

Different Variations & Muscle Activation

Close Grip

A close grip is considered any position that is closer than shoulder width and will use more help from the biceps to perform the exercise.2 The advantage of a closer grip is that it allows you to pull the weight through a greater range of motion.

V Grip or Neutral Grip

When performing this variation, the major difference is the activation at the shoulder joint during the movement. Instead of primarily adduction, the shoulder is concentrically extending during the neutral grip3

Wide Grip

Wide grip is considered anything wider than the standard bar, outside of shoulder width, and will produce more activation of the latissimus dorsi and triceps.3

Supinated Grip Lat Pull Down

Supinated grip means gripping the bar with your palms facing towards you. When you grab the bar this way, try to place the width of your grip around shoulder width apart. Using a supinated grip will recruit more activity from the biceps.

Kneeling Lat Pull Down

Performing a kneeling lat pull down will help to increase the range of motion and make it more effective in targeting your lats.

You may see some gym goers performing a behind the neck pull down, which requires you to push your head forward to provide a clear path to your neck. Behind the neck pull downs should be avoided as they have been founded to promote muscular tightness of several large neck muscles and could lead to neck injury.