Front Lat Pull-Down

There are many variants of the lat pull-down, that include wide and narrow grips, different trunk positions, and supinated, neutral, and pronated grips. In most variants the arms bend up to 90? as the exercise is done. This changes where the stress is placed on the muscles as well as the type of development possible. In the front lat pull-down, since the arms remain relatively straight, greater stress is placed on the muscles in the upper range of action. As a result the movement and muscular involvement brings about greater development and is more specific to many different sports skills.

MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED

In the shoulder joint the major muscles are the latissmus dorsi, teres major, and lower pectoralis major. In the shoulder girdle the major muscles involved are the rhomboid and pectoralis minor. The latissmus dorsi covers a very wide area of the lower half and upper sides of the back. In the front lat pull-down the entire muscle is involved with emphasis on the lower half. The teres major, which is a round muscle, works together with the latissmus dorsi and is located on the upper sides of the back. The pectoralis major is the large muscle comprising most of the chest. In this exercise only the lower (sternal) portion is involved. The rhomboid muscle of the shoulder girdle is a fairly large muscle lying directly beneath the trapezius. The pectoralis minor, which is located underneath the pectoralis major along the ribcage, works together with the rhomboid in downward rotation of the scapula. This allows the arm to move downward in the shoulder joint.

MUSCLES AND ACTIONS In this exercise there is shoulder joint extension in which the arms move from a position almost directly above and in front of the body, downward and inward. As the arms move downward the scapula rotate downward (the right scapula rotates clockwise and the left counterclockwise on an axis through their centers when viewed from the rear).EXECUTION

• Stand erect in front of, and almost directly under a high cable pulley. The trunk should be approximately 8-12 inches away from the pulley.
• Grasp a straight bar with a pronated (hands down) grip and the hands shoulder width apart.
• The arms should be angled approximately 15-20? in front of the body and the elbows should be bent slightly. If you are tall, assume a kneeing position so that the arms are relatively straight when overhead.
• Inhale and hold your breath as you pull down with straight arms through the entire range of motion. The breath holding is needed to stabilize the trunk.
• Concentrate on pulling from the shoulders until the bar is hip high.
• Hold the muscle contractions in the bottom position for up to two seconds to maximize muscle tenseness.
• Exhale as you return the bar, under control, to the initial position.
• Pause momentarily in the overhead position and then repeat.
• Hold an erect trunk position as you pull-down. Consciously contract the erectors of the lower back as you hold your breath to maintain this posture.
• Because of the long lever created by the straight arms do not use too much resistance.

• • Starting with the arms only slightly above the level of the shoulders. In this case you work the muscles in the lower range of motion for which the bent-over dumbbell row is more suited.
  • Starting with the arms in a severely bent position. In this case emphasis is on the upper lats and not the lower. This gives you the same effect as the wide-grip lat pull-down.
  • Leaning into the cable as you do the exercise. Doing this may make execution easier but it lessens the amount of stress being placed on the muscles involved and brings into play the abdominals to assist.
  • Using too much weight. When you do this you must bend the elbows to shorten the arm levers to make execution easier, i.e., enable you to handle the greater weight. This changes the portion of the lats being stressed.
  • Starting with the trunk inclined 45? or more. This creates a lower starting position and the pulling action is with less effective resistance. In addition it becomes more difficult to hold the trunk in position and to isolate the arm movement.
  • Exhaling as you pull down. Doing this weakens trunk stability and weakens the pulling action of the latissmus dorsi, lower pec major, and teres major. It may also set you up for injury.

PITFALLS