Cable Lat Pulldown (Reverse Grip)
What Is the Cable Lat Pulldown (Reverse Grip)?
Cable Lat Pulldown (Reverse Grip) is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back, especially the latissimus dorsi, and also engages the teres major, the biceps and brachialis, and the muscles between the shoulder blades. It is a beginner-level movement performed seated at a lat pulldown station with the thighs locked under the pads, pulling a long bar down to the upper chest with an underhand grip, palms facing you and hands shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower.
Like every pulldown, it trains the vertical pull that builds back width and pulling strength, with a load you can set to any level instead of your whole body weight. That makes it a staple for beginners and a common main vertical pull for anyone who cannot yet do several strict chin-ups. Because the grip matches a Chin-Up, it is one of the most popular stepping stones toward that movement. In a session it usually sits early as the main vertical pull, or after heavier rows and pull-ups as extra back volume.
The underhand, shoulder-width grip lets the elbows travel straight down in front of the body and close to the sides, so the shoulder works mostly through extension rather than the sideways arc of the Cable Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip). How much that changes the work is less clear than gym lore suggests. In a study of 12 healthy men lifting 70% of their one-rep max, the overhand grip produced more lat activity than the underhand grip at both a wide and a shoulder-width spacing, while biceps and middle trapezius activity did not differ between grips. A larger study of 40 trained men at the same load found no significant difference in lat activity across seven pulldown variations, a shoulder-width underhand grip among them. Either way, the lats do most of the work in this grip, and it is best treated as a variation for comfort, variety and chin-up carryover rather than a different exercise.
The exercise suits beginners, lifters working toward their first chin-up, and anyone who finds a wide overhand grip uncomfortable on the shoulders. Lifters who get wrist or inner-elbow discomfort with palms-up grips often do better on the neutral-grip Cable Lat Pulldown (Close Grip). If the arms take over and the back is hard to feel, the Cable Straight Arm Pulldown teaches the lats to pull the arms down without the elbows bending. Once the movement is solid at a heavy load, progress toward the Assisted Pull-Up and then the full chin-up.
Muscles Worked
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Primary
- Biceps Brachii
- High
- Brachialis
- High
- Teres Major
- High
- Brachioradialis
- Medium
- Deltoid
- Medium
- Lower Trapezius
- Medium
- Rhomboid Major
- Medium
- Upper Trapezius
- Medium
Instructions
- Attach a long lat bar to the high pulley and adjust the thigh pad so your thighs fit snugly under it with your feet flat on the floor.
- Stand and grip the bar with an underhand grip, palms facing you and hands shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower on the straight part of the bar.
- Sit down and lock your thighs under the pad, letting your arms extend fully overhead.
- Lean back slightly, lift your chest and brace your core.
- Draw your shoulder blades down, away from your ears, before your elbows bend.
- Pull the bar down toward your upper chest by driving your elbows down and slightly back, keeping them close to your sides.
- Stop when the bar reaches your upper chest, just below your chin, and squeeze your back briefly without leaning further back.
- Let the bar rise under control until your arms are fully extended again, without letting the weight stack touch down.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps, then stand up to return the bar to rest.
Common Mistakes
Leaning back to row the weight
Leaning far back and swinging the torso turns the pulldown into a row and lets momentum move the stack instead of the back.
Curling the bar down
Pulling with the hands and bending the wrists turns the rep into a biceps curl instead of driving the elbows down toward the ribs.
Shrugging toward the ears
Letting the shoulders ride up at the start of the pull or with the bar at the chest shifts the work to the upper trapezius and crowds the shoulder joint.
Letting the bar fly up
Letting the stack yank the arms back overhead skips the lowering half of the rep and jolts the shoulders and elbows.
Cutting the range short
Stopping with the elbows still bent at the top or the bar well above the chin at the bottom trains only part of the movement.
Hands set too wide
Taking the underhand grip far outside shoulder width twists the wrists and elbows into an awkward position under load.
Injuries
Cable Lat Pulldown (Reverse Grip) is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The thigh pads keep the body anchored and the weight stack can be set to any load, so the most common problems come from too much weight or too much volume rather than from the movement itself. The usual strain points are the inner elbow and forearm, which work hard to hold a heavy bar with the palms facing up, the front and top of the shoulder in the overhead position at the start of each rep, and the lower back when the torso is swung back to move the weight.
Warm up with a few light sets, and start every rep by drawing the shoulder blades down instead of letting the shoulders hang from the bar. Keep the wrists straight and grip firmly without crushing the bar, keep the lean back small, and let the bar rise under control rather than letting the stack pull the arms up. Add load gradually, since the elbow tendons adapt more slowly than the muscles.
If the palms-up grip bothers the wrists or elbows, switch to the neutral-grip Cable Lat Pulldown (Close Grip) or the overhand Cable Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip). To progress, slow the return phase, add a pause with the bar at your chest, or move on to the Assisted Pull-Up and Chin-Up.
Stop the set if you feel sharp or pinching pain in the shoulder, pain at the inner elbow or the front of the elbow that lingers after the set, or numbness or tingling down the arm. Have pain that keeps coming back checked by a physical therapist or doctor.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is the reverse grip lat pulldown better for the lats than the overhand version?
Not clearly. The lats are the main mover with either grip, and grip comparisons disagree on whether the overhand grip works them slightly harder, so pick the grip that feels best on your shoulders and elbows and rotate grips over time.
- Q: Does the underhand grip work the biceps more?
It often feels that way, but measured biceps activity has come out similar to the overhand grip in pulldown grip comparisons. If bigger arms are the goal, add direct curl work rather than relying on the grip.
- Q: Will it help me do my first chin-up?
Yes, it trains the same underhand pulling pattern as a Chin-Up with a load you can adjust. A chin-up also asks you to lift and control your whole body while hanging, so add the Assisted Pull-Up or slow lowering-only chin-ups as you get closer.
- Q: How far apart should my hands be?
About shoulder-width, on the straight part of the bar. Going much wider makes the palms-up grip awkward on the wrists and elbows, while very close hands tend to bend the wrists back.
- Q: Why do I feel it in my forearms or inner elbow?
Holding a heavy bar with the palms facing up loads the forearm muscles that attach at the inner elbow. Keep the wrists straight, lead with the elbows rather than squeezing the bar, and if the discomfort persists switch to the neutral-grip Cable Lat Pulldown (Close Grip).