Beginner

Underhand Lat Pulldown

Flipping to a supinated grip tucks the elbows in close to the torso and puts the biceps in a strong pulling position, much like a chin-up but with adjustable load. The tight elbow path drives a strong lower-lat contraction, and the extra biceps involvement lets many people load it well. It is a great scalable stand-in for the chin-up and a friendly way to feel the lats work.

Equipment
Cables
Body part
Back, Lats
Type
Strength
Browse by muscle
Latissimus Dorsi
Browse by movement
Vertical Pull
Muscles worked
Target
Latissimus Dorsi
Secondary
Biceps Brachii Long Head, Biceps Brachii Short Head, Brachioradialis, Trapezius Lower, Trapezius Middle
Tertiary
Infraspinatus

How to do it

  1. 1

    Take a shoulder-width underhand grip on a straight bar, palms facing you.

  2. 2

    Lock your thighs under the pad and sit tall with a slight lean back.

  3. 3

    Pull the bar down to your upper chest by driving the elbows straight down and back.

  4. 4

    Bring the bar to chest level while keeping the elbows tucked close to the body.

  5. 5

    Let the bar rise slowly until the arms are straight and the lats stretch.

  6. 6

    Exhale on the pull and inhale on the return without swinging the torso.

Tips

  • Keep the elbows glued to your sides so the pull stays on the lats and lower lats.
  • Do not let the wrists curl, keep them straight and stacked over the bar.
  • Lean back only slightly and hold that angle rather than rocking through reps.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Hands set as wide as they would be on a pronated bar hold the forearms in a strained supinated position, and the strain lands on the inside of the elbow; keep the grip about shoulder width.
  • The bar gets curled: the elbows bend first and the shoulder blades never move, so the biceps run out well before the lats have done much work.
  • Lifters with sore elbows from curling often find this the pulldown that keeps them sore, because the supinated grip loads the same tissue; if the inside of the elbow complains, use a neutral handle for a few weeks.
  • Because it is the closest thing to a chin-up on a stack, people load it like their overhand pulldown and the arms give out at rep six; run it a plate lighter and a couple of reps longer.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the underhand lat pulldown should a beginner do?
Run it a plate lighter and a couple of reps longer than your overhand work: 3 sets of 10 to 12 is a good bracket, because the biceps and the tissue around the elbow take a share of the load and get sore before the lats do. Twice a week at most, and not on the same day as heavy curls. Add weight when the last set reaches 12 with the elbows still tucked and the bar touching the upper chest, and back off if the inside of the elbow starts talking to you between sessions.
What can I do instead of the underhand lat pulldown if I have no cable machine?
A chin-up is the same grip and elbow path with your bodyweight as the load, and a band under one knee scales it down. With only a band, anchor it high and pull the two ends down with the palms facing you. A supinated inverted row under a low bar trains the same tucked-elbow pull horizontally and gets lighter as you walk the feet in. In a gym with no pulldown, a supinated cable row or a Yates row covers the same bias.
What is the underhand lat pulldown good for, and when is it a poor choice?
The supinated grip tucks the elbows in and puts the biceps in a strong position, which makes it a scalable stand-in for the chin-up and a reliable way to feel the lower lat working. It suits beginners building toward chin-ups and anyone who wants a second vertical pull with a different elbow path. It is a poor choice if the inside of your elbow or your biceps tendon already complains, since a straight bar holds the forearm in full supination for the whole set and a neutral handle takes that strain away. It is also not the grip for back width, where a wider pronated bar does more.

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