The Pulldown is an excellent exercise
for working the Latissimus Dorsi
muscles of the back (also known
as the lats). It is a little known
fact but there is a way you can
dramatically improve the effectiveness
of this exercise by performing one
simple movement before each rep.
Many
people have a hard time feeling
their lats working when they do
pulldowns. The biceps may have a
tendency to take over the movement.
Some people just don't feel anything
in their back at all.
This
little movement trick can change
all of that.
The
movement is simply a shoulder drop
and even though it may seem like
a SMALL thing, it can have a HUGE
impact on your back workout.
To
demonstrate this movement, start
by sitting in a pulldown machine
with a moderate weight on the stack.
Take a close grip on the bar with
your palms facing you (known as
a reverse grip). Do a few reps using
your normal technique so you have
a gauge to measure against.
Now
we will add the shoulder drop. Let
your arms go straight and let your
shoulder girdle rise up as though
shrugging. Your shoulders should
be up by your ears. Now drop your
shoulder girdle down in the opposite
movement to the shrug, pulling the
weight down as you do so. The range
of motion is small, being only a
matter of a few inches. Repeat this
drop and raise several times to
get the feel for the movement. You
should feel your entire shoulder
girdle moving up and down.
We
will now do a rep with the shoulder
drop movement. Start in the stretched
position with your shoulders up
by your ears. Drop your shoulders
down, lean slightly back then do
a pulldown. Be sure to keep your
lower back arched and your chest
puffed out to meet the bar on the
way down. You should feel your lats
working harder than usual.
Squeeze
hard as though trying to touch your
shoulder blades together as you
come to the bottom then let the
weight back up slowly. You can repeat
the shoulder drop movement at the
start of every rep or you can simply
keep your shoulders down and locked
in that position throughout the
set.
Dropping
your shoulders down like this serves
to lock the lats into the movement
and helps to minimize the biceps
involvement in the pulldown. You
should find that you get a much
more effective lat workout using
this technique.
