Lat pull downs

[muscelove]

I read that they should be performed while on your knees because your glutes are somehow involved and when you perform the exercise seated you dont get the full effect.

 

[blut wump]

If you want the full effect then do pullups rather than pull-downs.

Aside from that, I like to have my legs secured so that I can pull to maximum effect with my lats. Doing them from the floor would lift me off the floor. Don't like that idea.

 

[Dial_tone]

If you want the full effect then do pullups rather than pull-downs.

Aside from that, I like to have my legs secured so that I can pull to maximum effect with my lats. Doing them from the floor would lift me off the floor. Don't like that idea.

I would not do pullups unless you're strong enough to get in 3 sets of at least 6 reps. Otherwise do seated pulldowns to the front.

 

[Tadow]

If you want the full effect then do pullups rather than pull-downs.

Aside from that, I like to have my legs secured so that I can pull to maximum effect with my lats. Doing them from the floor would lift me off the floor. Don't like that idea.

Yup - pullups all the way. Even if you can't do very many. One of the few good things that I took from Arnold's Encyclopedia was to pick a total target number of pullups, and do as many sets as you need to do to hit that number. Your lats will thank you.

 

[JKurz1]

what does your back rotuine look like?

 

[blut wump]

I'm with Dial Tone on this. I like to do pullups but I'm not strong enough to do many at my weight so I finish off on the pulldown which probably does more for me. If I'm short of time or energy, I'll just stick to seated pulldowns since they give me a lot more to play with.

 

[rbtrout]

With shoulder problems, I have trouble doing pullups, unless underhand grip, so I'm really using more biceps. I've been doing them on the 5X5 and getting a bit better, but it still hurts the shoulder. I typically prefer doing pull downs with a butt-load of weight. I have to secure myself under the machine (some have leg supports) so I can pull a lot more than my body weight.

 

[e6er]

When grasping the bar, should you use a wide grip, narrow grip, or both?

 

[Jim Ouini]

My wife currently wants to do 10 pullups; she can do about 5 on her own and then for awhile she was using that assisted pullup machine which I don't care for.

So now she's doing pullups but I looped a mini band around the bar and she had her knee in there to assist - she said it felt a lot more natural and really only helps her at the bottom.

 

[Guinness5.0]

When grasping the bar, should you use a wide grip, narrow grip, or both?

A personal trainer at my gym whom I respect greatly told me to do them with a grip that keeps your forearms perpendicular to the ground through as much of the movement as possible for the sake of shoulder health.