The Straight Arm Pulldown exercise is very helpful for people who have much trouble feeling their backs when trying out conventional forms of pulldown exercises. In this article, I will be discussing how you can perform this exercise effectively and a lot more.
Keep reading till the end to find out more information about the same!
About Straight Arm Pulldown Exercise
The cable straight arm pulldown exercise is made of a variation of the classic pulldown of the lat muscles. During this form of exercise, the person has to perform the movement by standing and then keeping the elbows locked for the entire time.
Steps To Do It
If you are wondering how to do straight arm pulldown, then let me answer on the same!
Here is a list of some steps that you need to follow for effectively perform the straight arm pulldown exercise:
Step 1
First, you are going to have to attach a rope handle. It needs to be attached to a high pulley of the cable station. Then grasp the ends in each of your hands and face towards the cable station.
Step 2
In the next step of performing a straight-arm cable pulldown, you are going to have to draw your shoulder blades together and then down. Try and think of it this way – you are trying to put them in your pant’s back pockets.
Step 3
Try and draw your ribs down, and then tuck your tailbone under. After that, you are going to have to brace your muscles (core). When performing this exercise, your torso should be fully tight. You need to bend until your torso stays at a perfect 30° – 40° angle.
Step 4
After that, you can step back from the station a bit so that you can feel the tension – all the while your arms should fully remain extended.
You will notice that you are being able to feel a bit of a stretch on the lats. Plant your feet at a shoulder’s width.
Step 5
Next, you need to slowly drive your arms back to your sides in a motion that is similar to arcing – all the while your elbows remain locked out. Your hands should be in alignment with your hips or just slightly behind.
Step 6
Lastly, reverse the motion that you did in order to extend your arms back again.
Best Times Of Using This Exercise
Here is a list of some of the best times to do this exercise:
1. Perform Before Other Back Exercises
You can perform this exercise before performing the other back exercises or before doing deadlifts to make yourself ready for the lats. This is going to positively enhance the recruitment of muscle.
2. Try At The End Of Workouts
You can try this exercise at the end of your workouts in the form of two to three sets of ten to fifteen repetitions. This is going to pump a massive amount of blood into the region. This in itself can be a mechanism for growth of muscles.
3. Better Alternative
You can use it in place of pulldowns or rows if you are a person who has an injury on the lower back. This form of movement is isolated to the extension and flexion of the shoulders. Hence, it is going to prevent any form of unwanted stress or motion in the region of the lower back.
Keep reading till the end of the article to find out more about straight arm pulldown!
Benefits Of Doing This Exercise
Here is a list of some benefits of adding this exercise to your daily workout routine:
Better Than Standard Pulldowns
This particular exercise has a much greater motion range as compared to standard pulldowns.
Greater Stabilization
Performing this exercise is also going to strengthen the lats in a similar way to how the muscles work while deadlifting. The ability to be able to keep the bar in contact with the body while performing a deadlift is going to create a more stable and stronger movement while still reducing any risk of injury.
Improved Connection Of Mind-Muscle
The exercise is very ideal for people who cannot feel their last while working on the more traditional form of pulldown exercises. By keeping the arms straight, like in this exercise, you are actively going to prevent the biceps and mid-back from taking dominance over the whole of the movement. This would make it easier for the person to focus more on the lat muscles, which they are trying to work out directly in the first place.
Alternatives To The Straight Arm Pulldown Exercise
If you happen to not have a band or cable station at your disposal then you can make use of the following substituents to get a similar effect of training as that of a straight-arm pulldown.
Gironda Pulldown
This particular row/pulldown combo works the back muscles hard as well. But just so you know this exercise doesn’t provide the same bit of isolation that the pulldown of straight arm exercises does.
The Kettlebell/Dumbbell Pullover
This can be done by lying down on a bench and then pulling the weights from behind the head and over to the chest. This is going to stretch the lat muscles. The exercise also involves the triceps and chest muscles to a certain degree – which shouldn’t be ideal if your goal is the development of lat.
To Wrap It Up!
Make sure you know your strengths and skills before pulling off any new exercises. You need to slowly surpass the limits and not overdo yourself all at once. Thank you for reading till the end of the article.
I hope you found the information regarding “straight arm pulldown” useful.
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