Lateral pulldown dumbbell alternative

The lat pulldown is a machine-based pulling exercise that has earned a place in practically every training program due to its effectiveness at targeting the latissimus and biceps brachii muscle groups.

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Lateral pulldown dumbbell alternative

Updated On: March 08, Lat pulldowns have been the primary weapon of choice to build a bigger back for gym rats and bodybuilders for decades. Anyone with the aim of developing a wide, V-tapered back would turn to make lat pulldowns their first port of call. However, with the rise of at-home training and limited access to gyms people have had to get more creative, thinking outside of the box when it comes to packing on mass. Further, a lot of people understand the benefits of altering exercise selection for the development of their muscles. Unsurprisingly the primary target and mover of lat pulldowns are the latissimus dorsi. However, this compound movement requires a lot of support from surrounding muscles to execute it efficiently. The lower traps depress the shoulder blade as you pull down, while the mid traps and rhomboids retract the shoulder blades, pulling them together. The teres majo r has a supporting role in the pulldown, assisting in adduction pulling the arm in towards the body. While the biceps contribute to the movement by flexing the elbows. Forearm position and grip width influence the degree of involvement of these muscle groups. Narrower grips underhand pulldowns require greater bicep contribution, while wide overhand pulldowns stress the teres major more.

The single-arm machine row is a great alternative to the lat pulldown, provided you have a usable machine in your gym.

The lat pulldown is one of the most staple back exercises most people have in their workout routines. The lat pulldown can increase muscular strength or hypertrophy in the biceps, lats and rear delts , true enough — but there are much better lat pulldown alternatives out there that can hit the lats in a better or different way. With versatility in mind, here are the 10 best lat pulldown alternatives that you can try out instead. The chest-supported pulldown is a better variation to the traditional lat pulldown. You will need to use the combination of a lat pulldown or cable machine as well as a weight bench that can be set up to an upright position. You should use the chest-supported pulldown if you are someone who either cheats in the lat pulldown by swinging your torso, if you overextend your lower back , or even if you have trouble establishing a mind-muscle connection with your upper back. Set an adjustable bench to an upright position and move it in front of a cable attachment, with the column handle fixed just above the height of the top of your bench.

Written by Lee Kirwin. Looking for the best alternatives for lat pulldown? The lat pulldown is one of the best exercises for building a strong, thick upper back. But, if you don't have access to the machine, it can leave you scratching your head trying to figure out alternatives. This article explores the BEST lat pulldown alternatives you can use to work out your back in the comfort of your home gym.

Lateral pulldown dumbbell alternative

Working out in your home gym or elsewhere without access to the costly commercial lat pulldown machine? Don't worry. There are plenty of effective alternative exercises that can help strengthen your lats, develop firm shoulders, and build a broad, sculpted back. Additionally, the best lat pulldown alternatives are easy to workout. Bent-over barbell rows effectively target your lats and back, similar to lat pulldowns but in reverse. Focus on using your lats to lift the bar, ensuring proper muscle activation. It engages the whole back, symmetrically activating large muscles from the upper to lower back [ 1 ], plus core, arms, glutes, and hamstrings as stabilizers.

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Drive your elbows down towards the side of your hips and slowly return the weight back up. This helps prevent you from rotating away from the dumbbell, which limits upper arm extension as you move the body from the weight. How to: Set the seat to the bottom to keep it out of the way and stand with a staggered stance. These are normally set up so that during the initial pull of the movement, the plates are traveling vertically. Select the appropriate weight and hold onto the handle with an underhand grip. Lat pulldowns have been the primary weapon of choice to build a bigger back for gym rats and bodybuilders for decades. Allow a little stretch at the bottom. Make sure to use a full range of motion during each lat pulldown alternative to stimulate a high level of lat activation. Keep your torso angle consistent — this keeps you pulling through the same range of motion each rep, helps keep tension in your lats, and stops you from trying to cheat the movement. They are expensive to purchase and take up a lot of space in the gym. Set the cable up to slightly above head height, with a bar, single rope or dual ropes attached. Related: Best Barbell Back Exercises 7. How to: Start both variations in a dead hang, pulling yourself up to the bar and keeping your chest up. The main difference here, however, is that your entire body weight is supported by a bench, allowing you to isolate your upper back by taking the load off your core. The sole change more advanced lifters may wish to make is a subsequent reduction in deltoid isolation volume, as the high row machine activates the medial and posterior deltoid heads to a greater degree than the lat pulldown.

One of the most common questions we get is how to do lat pulldowns without a lat pulldown machine. We need to replace it with a similar exercise, not an identical one. Lat pulldowns are often programmed in moderate rep ranges of 8—15 reps, but it takes quite a lot of upper-body strength to bust out that many pull-ups, especially when trying to use a full range of motion, bringing our chests all the way up to the bar.

A suitable lat pulldown alternative should possess two characteristics; recruiting the same muscle groups as the lat pulldown itself, and that the alternative must be capable of fulfilling the same role as the lat pulldown within the training program. Pull ups Pull-ups have been commonplace in all kinds of strength training, from bodybuilding to Crossfit to powerlifting. The best barbell and dumbbell alternatives to the lat pulldown are barbell rows, dumbbell rows, and the dumbbell pullover. It targets a range of muscles through your upper back, to your biceps, forearms and core. Togo XOF Fr. If you have any questions about lat pulldowns or alternative exercises, please feel free to leave a comment below and we will reply as soon as we can Lat Programming Guidelines: Consider the below when selecting from the exercises above Grab the vertical handles high up, with the opposite arm than foot forward, resting the non-working arm on the chest pad. Place both hands on the flat part of the inside of one side of the dumbbell, so the handle goes in between your thumbs and index fingers. From here, drive the bar downward toward your thighs without excessively bending your elbows.