Straight-Arm Pulldown

How to do it

1. Stand facing a high pulley with a bar or rope, arms straight and a slight forward hinge.
2. Keeping the elbows locked, sweep the bar down in an arc to your thighs.
3. Let the bar rise back overhead until you feel a deep lat stretch.

Cues that matter

• The only joint moving is the shoulder.
• Think of pushing the bar around a beach ball.

Common mistakes

• Bending the elbows and turning it into a pushdown.
• Standing bolt upright, which shortens the range.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Back (Lats & Mid-Back)
• Lats

Also works

• Triceps (long head)
• Core

Sets and reps

What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Straight-Arm Pulldown in a session, with 75 seconds between sets.

Strength

6–8 reps

Build muscle

10–15 reps

Endurance

15–25 reps

Same muscle, different kit

Movements that train the same part of the back with different equipment — for a day the cable is taken, or a gym that does not have one.

• Inverted RowBodyweight · Beginner · Compound
• One-Arm Dumbbell RowDumbbell · Beginner · Compound
• Barbell RowBarbell · Intermediate · Compound
• Machine PulloverMachine · Intermediate · Isolation
• Band Lat PulldownResistance band · Beginner · Compound
• Kettlebell Single-Arm RowKettlebell · Beginner · Compound

Every back exercise · More cable exercises