You’ll want to use this gym essential when you’re looking to work on your back. The widest back muscle, the latissimus dorsi, may be strengthened using lateral pulldowns, a common back exercise. If you’ve ever seen other gym-goers doing lateral pulldowns, you can now get the advantages yourself.
There is no need to worry about looking like a complete novice at the gym since we’ve got you covered. If you’re interested in learning more about how to do lateral pulldowns, how to get the most out of them, and how to achieve the best results, keep reading.
Do lateral pulldowns the right way!
Sit on the seat with your hands facing away from you and your grasp slightly wider than shoulder width to begin a lateral pulldown. Make sure you keep your core engaged by leaning back slightly.
Bring your shoulder blades away from your neck as you begin the pulldown movement. The muscles beneath your armpits that wrap around your spine should contract as a result of this exercise. Nikki Gnozzio, personal trainer and creator of Junction Bodyworks, recommends lowering your chin to roughly an inch in front of your nose (opens in new tab). “Restore the weight to the position at the peak of the movement. Control the weight. Try to maintain the rest of your body as steady as possible, other from the movement of your arms. As you lower the weight, try to inhale so that you may expand your chest and exhale as you raise it again.”
After you’ve learned how to do lateral pulldowns, it’s crucial to ensure that you’re doing them correctly. You want to make sure you’re stimulating the proper muscles while you’re doing these exercises (lateral squats, plank jacks, kettlebell swings, etc.).
Raphael Konforti, senior director of training at YouFit Gyms, believes that pulling from the elbows activates the back muscles rather than the arms (opens in new tab). Instead of remaining fixed, the shoulders should move with the movement of the elbows.
You’ll also benefit from a lighter grip when it comes to holding the bar. As a result, many individuals resort to using their arms rather than their back to lift the weight. In order to maintain the elbows straight to the floor, “stop the elbows from locking out at the top and draw the elbows towards the ribs,” adds Konforti.
Lat pulldown form blunders are common.
To get the most out of any workout, including lateral pulldowns, you need to use proper technique. If this is your first time performing lateral pulldowns, your form may be a bit off-kilter, but here are some typical faults to watch out for the next time you do the exercise.
Josh Honore, NASM-CPT, Row House(opens in new tab) and STRIDE(opens in new tab) XPRO for Xponential+, says the most frequent error many individuals do with this action is passively pushing the bar down without setting the shoulder blades. At the bottom of the movement, excessive internal rotation, or shrugging, of the shoulders is a critical indicator.
As a remedy, lower the shoulders back, then feel the muscles constrict as soon as you begin to move. Make sure you feel that tension throughout the whole exercise.
Leaning back too much during lateral pulldowns is another typical error. According to Honore, “This is frequently a result of excessive weight on the stack and excessive ego at the gym.” “Reducing the weight for a more regulated and precise contraction is always a good idea with practically any workout.
Do lateral pulldowns have any advantages?
lateral pulldown, what muscles are you focusing on? Lats, lower traps, biceps, and forearms are the muscles you’re aiming for, according to Konforti.
Gnozzio believes that “fully executed lateral pulldowns are a terrific tool for developing the back.” In addition, since we spend so much of our day pushing or manipulating things with our pecs, “they also serve to provide equilibrium to the body.”
What’s the best way to experiment?
You may experiment with various bars, grips, and tempos to get the most out of lateral pulldowns.
In order to better isolate the biceps, Gnozzio suggests using a V bar or reversing the grip so that the palms face you.
According to Konforti, the upper lats are better worked with a broad grasp, whereas the lower lats are better worked with an underhand grip.
Try changing things up when it comes to speed. A slow return to its starting position will be simpler than the pull-down phase and may be utilised to work on appropriate shoulder posture, according to Gnozzio.