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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Single-Arm Cable Pulldown

Also called Kneeling one-arm pulldown

CableCompoundEasy to learnOne side at a time
Front
Back
Primary Secondary

Works

Upper back & lats

Also biceps

You need

Cable station

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
Thigh pad
1Start
Thigh pad
2Bottom
Main musclesAlso working
  1. 1Kneel or sit facing the pulley
  2. 2Reach high to stretch the lat
  3. 3Pull your elbow down to your hip

Most common mistake

Rotating the torso instead of moving the arm.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Top 10 for climbing
  • Loads the muscle while it’s stretched
  • Easy on the joints and recovery

Compare with

vs Machine High Rowvs Neutral-Grip Pulldownvs Weighted Pull-Up
B
For climbing
#7 of 24
See the full list →
Research
68
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 68
TransferStrong
Injury protectionGood
PracticalityStrong

One-arm pulling strength for lock-offs.

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

  • SHangboard HangOther
  • SPull-UpBodyweight
  • AWeighted Pull-UpBodyweight
  • BCable External RotationCable

Takes

None yet
needed to post
280