Underhand Lat Pulldown

How to do it

1. Set a straight bar on a lat pulldown machine and adjust the thigh pads.
2. Take the bar with an underhand grip about shoulder-width apart and sit down.
3. Start with the arms straight overhead and the shoulders relaxed upward.
4. Set the shoulders down, lean back slightly, and hold that angle.
5. Pull the bar to your upper chest, keeping the elbows close to your sides.
6. Let the bar rise under control to straight arms before the next repetition.

Common mistakes

• Gripping wider than the shoulders. An underhand grip that is wide puts the forearm and elbow into an awkward twist for the whole set; the grip that suits it is about shoulder-width.
• Rowing it into the stomach by leaning well back. The underhand grip already brings the elbows close to the body, and adding a big lean turns the movement into a seated row done standing up.
• Letting the biceps take it. The underhand grip puts them in their strongest position, which is exactly why this variant needs the shoulder blade to move first — otherwise the arms finish long before the back does.
• Choosing it as the lower-lat version. The grip changes where the elbow travels and how much the biceps help; the latissimus dorsi shortens the same way whichever way the hands face.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Lats

Secondary

• Biceps
• Rhomboids
• Middle TrapeziusTraps
• Shoulders