Liftworthy
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Liftworthy

Every exercise ranked by research, by lifters and by results. Find what’s S-tier for your goal, then train it.

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General training information, not medical advice. If something hurts, stop and see a professional.
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Explore/Back

Lat Pulldown

CableCompoundEasy to learn
Front
Back
Primary Secondary

Works

Upper back & lats

Also biceps, forearms

You need

Lat pulldown

Also works on the cable station

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
Thigh pad
1Start
Thigh pad
2Bottom
Main musclesAlso working
  1. 1Thighs locked under the pad
  2. 2Pull the bar to your upper chest
  3. 3Let it rise until your lats fully stretch

Most common mistake

Leaning back so far it becomes a row.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Ranked #3 for back
  • Loads the muscle while it’s stretched
  • Easy to keep adding weight
  • Easy on the joints and recovery

Compare with

vs Assisted Pull-Upvs Neutral-Grip Pulldownvs Plate-Loaded Pulldown
A
For swimming
#4 of 15
See the full list →
Research
74
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 74
TransferStrong
Injury protectionGood
PracticalityExcellent

Lat strength for the pull phase, easy to load in small steps.

Research behind these criteria

  • Transfer: Seitz et al., 2014 · Markovic, 2007 · Blagrove et al., 2018 · Rønnestad & Mujika, 2014
  • Injury protection: Lauersen et al., 2014 · van Dyk et al., 2019 · Harøy et al., 2019 · Webster & Hewett, 2018
How scores work

Machine taken? Swap to

  • SPull-UpBodyweight
  • AIncline Y-RaiseDumbbell
  • BBroad JumpBodyweight
  • SStraight-Arm PulldownCable

Takes

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needed to post
280