An exercise that increases the mass in your back muscles, can help you achieve a V-shaped back and is one of the most popular exercises at the gym, Lats pulldown is something you don’t wanna skip if you want to have a back that will make people envious. The lats pulldown exercise works the muscles of your back and in addition to that targets your back in a myriad of ways. However, even though this exercise is quite popular and is an essential part of back day at the gym, it’s performed rather incorrectly more often than not which causes injury. To avoid that and to understand why you should be performing lats pulldown.
How To Do The Lat Pulldowns Right?
- First of all, adjust the lateral pulldown machine as per your comfort.
- Make sure that your knees and hips are at a 90 degree angle with your feet flat and comfortably on the floor keeping them hip width apart.
- Now hold the bar keeping your hands shoulder width apart and pinch in your abdomen.
- Now lean back a bit so that the cable machine and the line of pull of latissimus dorsi are in alignment.
- Keep your spine neutral and don’t arch your lower back.
- Now bring the bar towards your chest and flex your elbows.
- When you feel a stretch in the pectorals then lower the bar.
- Make sure your upper arms are at a 90 degree angle or parallel to the floor.
Benefits Of Lat Pulldowns
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Great Alternative For Pullups
If you don’t like pullups or chinups then lats pulldown is the perfect alternative for the same. This exercise targets the latissimus dorsi or the lats, the muscle extending from your armpits to spreading across and downwards your back. With this exercise you can focus particularly on your back muscles without tiring your shoulders or arms muscles.
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Helps In Stabilizing The Body
Latdowns, especially wide grip lat pulldown helps in stabilizing the body as it not only targets the back muscles but will make you use your hip flexors and abdominals which will help you stabilize your body.
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Improves Your Posture
Latdowns, particularly reverse grip pulldown and front lat pulldown also help in improving the posture and help in making the body more functional, in simple terms, eases everyday movement such as opening doors, swimming and even performing pull ups. If you suffer from back pain then this exercise will also help you get relief with that.
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Safety First
Behind the neck pulldown is usually not recommended for safety reasons because rotating the shoulder joint and/or the spine coming in contact with the bar can cause injuries. Also, before indulging in lat pulldowns, especially in straight arm pulldowns, ensure that it is appropriate for you and if you have any shoulder, back or elbow pain or injuries, then speak to your doctor before you go for it.
We hope this guide to lats pulldown was helpful and we have enlightened you about the pros of this exercise and why you should be doing it. But more importantly, make sure that if you do indulge in this exercise then your posture is correct and you are taking all the necessary caution before getting started. If you would now like to include lats pulldown in your workout regimen and wish to start with your fitness journey then do it with FITPASS- India’s largest fitness network of 5500+ gyms and fitness studios and Get. Set. Sweat.