![]() ![]() Set the chest support against your lower chest or set up with a vertical or slightly forward torso lean.Pick a machine or attachment with a grip shoulder width apart or narrower – a neutral or underhand grip is preferable.The more lat engagement, the more specific it will be to a lat pulldown exercise. These keep me stable and consistent with my torso position, making it far easier to focus on executing the movement to target my lats. While any narrow grip row machine can be used, I personally love a chest-supported row as a close grip pulldown alternative. 14 Best Alternative for Lat Pulldown With Machines 1. As a result, you might end up overactivating your lats and reducing the effectiveness of the exercise. Even once you perfect your form, you might struggle to keep your shoulders retracted and depressed to fully activate your lats. The lat pulldown also requires a high level of skill, and it can be difficult for some beginners to get it right first-time. If you’re working out at home, you’ll need to choose a lat pulldown alternative that requires little to no equipment. Lat pulldowns aren’t always suitable because they require some form of equipment, whether it’s a machine, free weights, or resistance bands. Reasons to Choose a Lat Pulldown Alternative When choosing lat pulldown alternatives, you should find exercises that enable you to achieve a deep stretch in the lats. Performing the lat pulldown with a full range of motion, where you get a deep stretch in the muscles during each rep, will maximize your gains. It can also lightly activate the long head of the triceps, as these muscles are required to pull your elbows into the sides of your body. This compound exercise also targets your traps, rhomboids, rear delts, biceps, forearms, and even your core. However, it’s not just the lats that get a good workout when you do lat pulldowns in your workouts. The lat pulldown targets the muscles in the latissimus dorsi muscles (the lats, hence the name ‘lat pulldown’). Related Article: Interested in getting the most out of your back training? Read our article Are Rows & Pull-Ups Enough For Back And Biceps? Muscles Worked in the Lat Pulldown With horizontal pulling movements (where the weight is traveling parallel to the floor), you want to use a narrower grip, and row with your arms close to your side, not pulling beyond the midline on your torso.ĭrive the elbows down and back rather than trying to row the bar.īy performing pulling exercises this way, you increase the pool of exercises you can use to train the lats, and therefore, substitute for lat pulldowns. Wider grip movements may give you more room to do this than narrower grip exercises. There are two types of “pulling movements” that can prioritize the lats to a greater extent: (1) vertical pulling movements, and (2) horizontal pulling movements.ĭuring vertical pulling movements (where the weight is traveling in a straight up and down movement pattern), you should aim to drive the elbows straight down while keeping as upright as possible. Prioritize the latissimus dorsi (lats) as much as possible.Ī good exercise alternative will primarily target the lats or be able to prioritize the lats more through execution and technique changes compared to other back muscles, which is what I’ll discuss next.Target similar muscle groups to the lat pulldown.What Makes A Good Lat Pulldown Alternative?Ī good replacement for a lat pulldown needs to achieve one or both of the following: If you don’t have a lat pulldown machine and you’re working out at home, you can perform the exercise with resistance bands. There are many variations of lat pulldowns, so you can easily find one that suits your needs and preferences. It also targets your biceps and grip strength due to the pulling action required to pull the bar down. It’s a compound exercise that activates and strengthens the lat muscles, traps, rear delts, and rhomboids all at once. Lat pulldowns are one of the most effective exercises for building muscle and strength in your upper back. In this article, I will discuss what makes a good lat pulldown alternative, how to perform each of these movements, and share some tips on how to make them more effective in your program. ![]() The 14 best lat pulldown alternatives are:Įach alternative to the lat pulldown exercise comes from various machines, dumbbells, cables, bands, and at-home variations. Whether you are no longer making progress at a gym without a lat pulldown or are stuck training at home, there are many great lat pulldown substitutes for you. However, if you have had them in your program for a while, then they have gotten boring, or your progress is stalling. ![]() The lat pulldown is one of my favorite machines to train my back. ![]()
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