Lat Pulldown With Pronated Grip: Muscles Worked & Technique

Muscles Worked in Lat Pulldowns

Primary muscles worked:

• Lats

Secondary muscles worked:

• Biceps
• Rear Deltoids
• Forearm Flexors
• Rotator Cuffs

How to Do Lat Pulldowns

1. Grip the bar with a pronated grip (palms facing away from you), slightly wider than shoulder width.
2. Sit down with your thighs under the leg support, keep your chest up, and look up at the bar.
3. Inhale and pull the bar towards you.
4. Pull the bar down until it is below your chin or touches your upper chest.
5. Exhale and slowly return the bar until your arms are fully extended.

Commentary

Lat pulldowns train both your lats and arm flexors effectively. By using a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, you get a good range of motion as well as high muscle activation in all the working muscles.

Common variations of this exercise includes gripping the bar with a supinated (underhand) grip, which makes it possible to put more focus on your arm flexors. Another common variation is to use a one-handed grip and train one side at a time, which enables you to focus more on each sides muscles in turn.

Lat pulldown is a good exercise to strengthen the muscles necessary to do a pull-up.