Are lat pulldowns a meme? No matter how much I focus on form, I always feel it more in my biceps.
Are lat pulldowns a meme? No matter how much I focus on form, I always feel it more in my biceps.
Are lat pulldowns a meme? No matter how much I focus on form, I always feel it more in my biceps.
I did weighted pull-ups and weightedd chin-ups for about 8 years, never touched a pull-down.
Last week a I decided to do pull-downs for the first time ever, and my god... I felt my back activation far better than it ever has on pullups or chinups, so Idk you must be doing them wrong, because fuuuark Ive never felt my back muscles like that before.
I had the same experience except when I finally started doing pullups. Can't do them anymore though because they never progressed and now bulking I can only do like 4.
you felt your pull ups in your forearms because they were the weak link stopping you from doing more, you should go back to doing them and maybe add some forearm isolation + dead hang for few months, should help
Same, 125lb weighted chins, my lats blew the frick up when I started hitting the pulldowns hard. Close grip is the best.
Opposite experience for me
most gays don't actually activate their lats properly so they never frickin grow. That's why everyone can do lat pulldowns but hardly anyone can do pull ups. If you do pull ups you can likely actually do lat pulldowns properly to make it an isolation. average gymoid simply turns it into a compound
Everyone can do pullups
If you go to any commercial gym on a regular basis you'll see that this is simply not the case. Everyone is capable of doing pull-ups and even pushing the number up quite quickly. But most people don't and therefore can't. I'd say the average lifter in a commercial gym can't do 5 clean pull ups. The dudes you are doing pull ups regularly tend to be the same few people and they likely do weighted
Everyone can do pullups. Everyone I know can do pullups and I could do pullups before ever even stepping into the gym. My sister can do 4 pullups at 80kg and never trained in her life. Even the bloatlords can do pullups. If you can't do pullups you are in the minority at least in any country other than the USA.
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I'm sorry but I wouldnt call those clean pull ups at all. I'm just saying everyone on fit benches 2pl8 for sets of 20 but barely anyone at the gym even benches 2pl8. I'm not saying it's a huge feat I'm saying the average gym goer doesn't have a clue what they're doing
go light weight until you can actually feel it in your lats
Reduce your range of motion, concentrate on moving your elbows, not your hands.
did you try using straps?
no
try it, takes your grip and forearms out of it, and maybe you'll be able to pull differently and target your lat
Unless you're an absolute dyel with no back muscles I'd recommend learning how to properly do a lat spread. A lat pull down should feel like a weighted lat spread.
>lat spread
I've never heard of that, thanks anon.
don’t move your body much, common mistake
Derek Lunsford leans in between reps to get a good stretch. Then he leans back and does the rest of the rep with a constant back angle.
use less weight. always the answer.
That means:
1- your biceps are too weak.
2- you are trying to curl your arms in instead of just pulling your elbows down
3- you aren't properly stretching and contracting your back.
put your thumb over the bar wtf how has no one said this yet
Yes. Use the neutral gip attachment and the narrow grip attachment.
Ok tomorrow I'm going to try pulldowns again tomorrow. Thanks guys.
it took me like 5 years to feel these. You need to build mind muscle connection with your lats or you are just wasting time
Get one of these, if your gym doesn’t have them. I used the standard bar for so long but the first time I used this my god, the lat contraction is insane. Actually had lat soreness for the first time in ages. Since then I bought my own and keep it in my gym bag. I love when people ask me how many more sets I have with it, just to tell them it’s my own personal one and see them walk off in frustration. Well worth the investment.
Lighten weight, and make sure you really squeeze the lats at the bottom
Biceps are always going to assist during a back exercise. Lower the weights, puff out your chest and close your eyes and focus on your lats
Put your thumbs over the handles, use straps if you have them, and pull with your elbows. Having a quite wide grip can help because it puts the biceps in poorer leverage, which means it's less likely you'll try to pull with them
You can also try a neutral grip row machine with your elbows tucked tight to you. That gives the lats great leverage, so you'll certainly use them in the movement, and then you can try to replicate that sensation on the pulldown as you get used to using them
Lat pulldowns fricking SUCK if you're below 5'10 or not a fat piece of shit
>be 5'9
>weigh 160lbs
>can do pullups with added 160 lbs
>literally cant even use the lat pulldown because the max weight which would be my working set means I cant even get into position because it weighs way more than me so I cant use gravity to get down under the leg pads.
stop doing lat pulldowns when you're doing sets more than 20% over your bodyweight.