The Front Lat Pull-Down

EXECUTION

• Adjust the seat of a lat pull-down machine so that when you are seated the arms are fully extended when you grasp the angled bar. 
• Grasp the bar with a pronated (palm down) grip with the hands placed near the ends of the bar. The arms and trunk should make a wide letter “Y” when ready to begin.
• Inhale and hold your breath as you pull the bar straight down in front of the face to the shoulders level.
• Contract the erector spinae muscles to keep the trunk erect at all times. This ensures that the bar passes very close to the face as you pulldown.
• Concentrate on bringing the elbows down and holding the trunk erect and in place at all times.
• Concentrate on downward rotation of the scapula as you pull the arms downward. The scapula must down rotate to allow for free arm movement downward.
• In the bottom position the elbows should be pointed down with the florearms in the vertical plane and the shoulders back when the bar is shoulder high. Relax the muscles slightly and exhale as you return to the initial position.
• Pause momentarily in the up position and then repeat.
• Begin the pull when the arms are fully extended.

PITFALLS

• Beginning the exercise with bent arms. In this position you do not work the lats in their full range of motion, which is most important for developing a broader upper back.
• Leaning back as you pull down. If you do this you bring in more of the upper back muscles such as the teres minor and infraspinatus with less emphasis on the latissmus dorsi. The upper lats will come into play only when the elbows move behind the level of the back, i.e., at the very end of the exercise. The erect trunk position is critical for maximum development of the upper lats.
• Exhaling on the exertion. When you do this you lose stability of the trunk and eliminate a strong base upon which the muscles can contract. This prevents you from exerting maximum force and may set you up for injury.
• Pulling with the hands rather than concentrating on pulling the elbows down. When you pull down with the hands, the elbows have a tendency to stay up and out and not come down as needed to fully involve the latissmus dorsi. In addition, the range of motion will be limited.
• Not using strict form when doing the exercise. This often occurs when you use more weight than can be handled while maintaining an erect trunk position. Also if the weight is too great the beginning and ending positions may be altered which will change the difficulty of the exercise. This will produce different muscular development.
• Using a narrow grip. When you do this the action in the shoulder joint rather than being adduction will move to extension. Emphasis will then be on the lower latissmus dorsi and not the upper.
• Using a supinated grip rather than a pronated, overhand grip. In this case you will bring in strong use of the biceps and other elbow flexor muscles and change the emphasis to the lower lats rather than the upper. This defeats the purpose of this exercise.
• Not concentrating on downward rotation of the scapula. When scapula movements are not coordinated with the arm movements, jamming in the shoulder joint can occur. By concentrating on the scapula movement you enhance pulling down with the elbows to get maximum development of the upper latissmus dorsi.
• Pulling the bar down too far. When you pull the bar down to the chest or below the elbows invariably move back as the hands come down. This is a potentially dangerous shoulder position. In addition, you are bringing in an additional action in the shoulder joint (medial rotation) which can strain the joint.

MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED

In the shoulder joint, the major muscles are the latissmus dorsi (with emphasis on the upper portion), the lower pectoralis major (sternal portion), and teres major. In the shoulder girdle the rhomboid and pectoralis minor are the main muscles involved. The latissmus dorsi covers a very wide area of the upper sides of the back as well the lower halves of the back. In the upper half of the back, the fibers of the latissmus dorsi are fairly horizontal and are thus best suited for shoulder adduction (pulling the arms down and inward from an overhead position). They also help pull the arm backward. The fibers then run more vertically as they attach to the pelvic girdle in the lower half of the back and are thus more suited for bringing the arm down from a position in front of the body (shoulder joint extension). The pectoralis major is the major muscle of the chest and has two distinct sections. In this exercises only the lower portion, which has its attachment on the sternum of the chest is involved. It is larger and usually stronger than the upper clavicular portion. The teres major is a round muscle located on the upper sides of the back. It works together with the latissmus dorsi in all its actions. The rhomboid muscle of the shoulder girdle lies beneath the middle trapezius. Because of its attachment on the scapula, it is well suited to pull the scapula inward toward the spine and to rotate the scapula downward as you perform the exercise. The pectoralis minor is a small muscle on the front of the upper chest and is covered by the pectoralis major. It works together with the rhomboid to rotate the scapula down. The muscles involved in the front lat pull-down are assisted by the corachobrachialis, subscapularis, short head of the biceps, and long head of the triceps.

MUSCLE AND JOINT ACTION

In the shoulder joint there is adduction in which the arm moves downward and inward while it remains in the side plane of the body, i.e., in line with the sides of the body throughout the pull-down. In the elbow joint there is flexion, but it is mostly a passive action and does not involve strong contraction of the biceps and other elbow flexors. You will however feel these muscles under contraction to help stabilize the elbow joint so that the pull-down is done mainly by movement of the arm in shoulder joint.

SPORTS USES

The act of pulling the arms down sidewards from an overhead position (or raising the body when the arms are secured, as for example, in pull-ups) does not play a major role in most sports. It is probably most important in gymnastics, when raising the body on the rings, horizontal bar, parallel and uneven bars. In addition, a very great value of the front lat pull-down lies in climbing, especially rock and mountain climbing. Wrestlers need this arm action in some holds and it is extremely important for swimmers who swim the breaststroke and butterfly. For bodybuilders the front lat pull-down is most important for development of the upper latissmus dorsi together with the lower pecs and teres major. Development of the upper latissmus dorsi gives a broad appearance to the sides of the upper back (wings) and greater definition of the muscles on the upper sides of the back.