Cable Straight Arm Pulldown
A cable lat exercise where you pull a straight bar from shoulder height down to your thighs with mostly straight arms.
Secondary muscles
How to do it
- Attach a straight bar to a high cable pulley and face the machine.
- Grab the bar with an overhand grip, step back slightly, and hinge forward a little at the hips.
- Start with your arms straight in front of you at shoulder height and your torso braced.
- Pull the bar down in a wide arc toward your thighs without bending your elbows.
- Squeeze your lats at the bottom with the bar close to your hips.
- Raise the bar back up slowly to shoulder height while keeping your arms long and your torso still.
Form cues
- Arms long, elbows soft
- Pull with your lats
- Ribs down, core tight
- Stop at your thighs
Common mistakes
- Bending the elbows and turning it into a triceps pressdown
- Leaning back and using body swing to move the bar
- Shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears
- Letting the bar drift away from the body at the bottom
Breathing
Inhale as the bar rises to the start, and exhale as you pull it down toward your thighs.
