Close-Grip Lat Pulldown

oec:close-grip-lat-pulldown

A vertical pulling exercise performed on a cable machine using an overhand grip inside shoulder width to emphasize shoulder extension and latissimus dorsi recruitment.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Cable Close-Grip Lat Pulldown, Close-Grip Pulldown, Narrow-Grip Lat Pulldown, Close-Grip Lat Pull Down

How to do it

Setup

Attach a straight bar or revolving lat bar to the high pulley of a pulldown machine.
Adjust the thigh pad so your legs are firmly secured with feet flat on the floor.
Grasp the bar with an overhand (pronated) grip, spacing hands closer than shoulder-width apart.
Sit down, anchoring your thighs snugly beneath the pad, and allow your arms to extend overhead with a slight backward lean of the torso.

Movement

Depress and retract your scapulae, initiating the pull by drawing your shoulder blades down.
Drive your elbows down and back close to your sides, pulling the bar smoothly toward your upper chest.
Pause briefly as the bar reaches collarbone level, squeezing your back muscles.
Slowly reverse the motion, extending your elbows with control until your arms are fully extended overhead and your lats are stretched.

Breathing

Inhale at the top while arms are extended; exhale smoothly as you pull the bar down to your chest.

Cues

Lead with your elbows, not your hands.
Keep your chest tall and open.
Drive elbows straight down along your ribs.

Common faults

Excessive backward leaning and swinging to use momentum.: Maintain a stationary, slight torso lean throughout the entire set and control the load with your lats.
Pulling the bar down with the arms while keeping shoulders elevated.: Set your shoulder blades down and back before your elbows bend.
Flaring elbows wide.: With a close overhand grip, direct your elbows forward and down in the sagittal plane.

Safety

Avoid letting the weight stack yank your shoulders abruptly at the top of the rep.
Do not pull the bar behind the neck.

Muscles

Latissimus dorsi prime mover
Teres major synergist
Brachialis synergist
Biceps brachii synergist
Brachioradialis synergist
Rhomboids synergist
Lower trapezius synergist
Rear deltoid synergist

Joints

Shoulder: Extension, Adduction
Shoulder blade: Depression, Retraction, Downward rotation
Elbow: Flexion

Details

Movement: Vertical pull, Pull
Modality: Strength, Hypertrophy
Mechanics: compound
Force: pull
Laterality: bilateral
Kinetic chain: open
Level: beginner
Equipment: Cable machine or Selectorized machine or Plate-loaded machine
Record: Repetitions and Load
Load: external, weight stack

variation of Cable Lat Pulldown
substitute for Cable Lat Pulldown
substitute for Cable Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown
substitute for Close-Grip Supinated Lat Pulldown
substitute for V-Bar Lat Pulldown

Sources

wger: Close-grip Lat Pull Down, by tuckerm (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

close-grip-lat-pulldown.json