#Back cable pullover full

#Back cable pullover full

After all, when we’re doing chin-ups, we’ve got our biceps and other upper-back muscles firing in full force. If you’re not strong enough to do moderate-rep sets of pull-ups, you might be strong enough to do moderate-rep sets of chin-ups. And since our spinal erectors are hit so hard by the deadlift and barbell row, it can be a great exercise for bringing up the rest of our upper-back muscles. It challenges all of the muscles in our upper backs except for our spinal erectors. The chin-up is perhaps the very best upper-body pulling exercise. The only problem with the pull-up, as mentioned above, is that you need to be quite strong, and you’re probably already doing them anyway. It works the lats just as hard, we’re often slightly stronger at it, and it does a great job of engaging our abs. In fact, if you had to pick between the two, the pull-up is the better lift. The pull-up is super similar to the lat pulldown. Still, let’s start with the heavy hitters. That’s why you’ll often see lat pulldowns programmed for those 10–12 rep sets, and that’s why we need to find a substitute that lets you do enough reps. On the note of higher rep ranges, the research shows that it’s quite a bit easier to build muscle when doing sets of 6–20 reps, with the middle of that range often being the most convenient. You’ve already done those, you’re already tired, and the whole point is to add extra exercise variety and to use a higher rep range. So you can’t exactly replace the lat pulldown with chin-ups or pull-ups. Lat pulldowns: 3 sets of 10–12 reps to give your lats some extra love.Chin-ups: 4 sets of 6–8 reps to work the upper back and biceps.Your workout sheet probably looks like this: Plus, lat pulldowns are often used as an assistance lift for the chin-up. The thing is, the minimum weight you can use is your body weight, so it can become hard to venture into higher rep ranges, especially if you’re still relatively new to lifting weights. In fact, if anything, chin-ups and pull-ups are better than lat pulldowns for building muscle in our biceps and upper back. That gives you a near-perfect alternative to the lat pulldown. If you’ve got a barbell home gym, chances are you’ve got a squat rack with a chin-up bar. Lat Pulldown Alternative with a Barbell Home Gym So, ideally, we’d find a substitute that works our arms and upper back, but the main thing we’re looking for is an exercise that works your lats hard through a large range of motion. The strength curve isn’t ideal since the lift is easiest where our lats are strongest (in a deep stretch), but it still works them hard through a full range of motion. It starts with your lats in a deep stretch, works them through a full range of motion, and our strength limits our performance. What that lat pulldown is best at, though, is bulking up your lats. It will even work the long head of your triceps a little bit, since they help to pull your elbows closer to your body. It’s a lat lift, hence the name: the lat pulldown.Įven so, as much as the lat pulldown works our lats, it’s still a compound lift, and it still works a wide variety of other muscles, ranging from your rear delts to your abs to your forearms.

When you use an overhand grip, it prevents your biceps from fully engaging, and when you use a wider grip, it emphasizes your lats over your other upper-back muscles. Lat pulldowns are often done with a wider, overhand grip. More like the grip you’d use when doing pull-ups. The more popular way of doing lat pulldowns is with a wider, overhand grip, though.

It’s a bigger lift that works both your biceps and upper back. If you use an underhand, shoulder-width grip, it’s similar to a chin-up. There are a couple of different ways of doing lat pulldowns. Lat Pulldown Alternative with a Dumbbell Home Gym.Lat Pulldown Alternative with a Barbell Home Gym.What Muscles Does the Lat Pulldown Work?.