Bodybuilding Coach Joe Bennett Explains Proper Lat Pulldown Form

Unilateral movements may help balance aesthetics and supply strength gains.

Last updated on May twenty fourth, 2024

One of bodybuilding’s premiere trainers, the “Hypertrophy Coach” Joe Bennett, recently trained IFBB Pro John Ballard through an intense back workout that included proper execution of the chest-supported T-bar row.

Bennett coached Ballard through a unilateral lat pulldown session to proceed that educational frame.

Single-Arm Machine Pulldown

The single-arm machine pulldown targets the latissimus dorsi, the big muscles spanning a lot of the back. Instead of a typical bilateral lat pulldown (i.e., pulling with each arms), the single-arm pulldown higher isolates each lat to treatment muscle and strength imbalances.

While the first focus is lats, single-arm pulldowns involve the rhomboids, teres major, and traps, which aid within the protraction and retraction of the scapula throughout the exercise. The biceps and brachialis are also engaged during a pulldown, as is typical in pulling exercises. See the training session between Bennett and Ballard below:

Steps For Maximum Lat Building with Single-Arm Pulldown

Bennett shared quite a few cues and directions for correct form throughout a full range of motion to teach Ballard about what a correct single-arm lat pulldown should feel and seem like. The following is a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Seated Neutral Position

Ballard performed warmups on the single-arm pulldown machine. Bennett allows his trainees to coach the movements and proper them as needed.

The knee pads were locked onto Ballard’s quads. His knees were bent 90 degrees, and his feet were firmly planted on the ground. This machine didn’t provide back support. His pulling hand-held a neutral grip while the non-pulling hand-held a handlebar.

Bennett’s first correction for Ballard was Ballard’s lean. Ballard leaned toward the side he pulled toward. Bennett guided Ballard to keep up a neutral spine, with a mostly upright torso indirectly under the burden. Bennett referred to this starting position as a “clean slate.”

2. Get A Full Reach With The Arm

Bennett constantly told Ballard to permit the arm to achieve up so the lat could fully lengthen. That included scapula movement allowing the arm and lat to elongate.

The eccentric should remain controlled. Do not let the burden pull the arm quickly. Ensure a slow tempo because the arm, shoulder, and lat allow the burden to return to the starting position.

Ballard was instructed to pause at the highest in order that the burden wouldn’t bounce, thereby creating momentum.

3. Pulling The Weight Down With Your Lat

Bennett demonstrated how most individuals pull the burden back as if performing a row before pulling the arm down. This forces the traps and rear delts to brunt much of the load. Bennett recommends slowly executing the pull downward, not backward, as one fluid motion.

Elevation, smooth depression, and extension of the shoulder concurrently.

4. Squeeze At The Bottom

With the highest of this movement, Bennett instructed Ballard to pause within the fully shortened position. After pausing, slowly lift the burden to the starting position.

This slow, controlled movement keeps the muscles under tension. It prevents form cheating by not allowing the burden to create momentum and pulling the arm into full extension. When training to failure, Bennett recommends having a spotter help perform the movement fluidly.