Instructions
- Attach a V-grip (close-grip) handle to the lat pulldown machine, and adjust the thigh pad so that it locks your legs in place and prevents your butt from rising off the seat when pulling the handle down.
- Grab the handle with your palms facing each other, and sit down, letting your body weight pull the handle down with you, and then wedge your legs underneath the thigh pad.
- Sit slightly behind the cable rather than directly under it, with your chest proud and a slight arch in your lower back.
- Relax your arms and shoulders, letting the weight pull your arms straight and your shoulders as high as possible (they should be almost touching your ears).
- Staring straight ahead, pull your shoulder blades down as far as you can, without bending your elbows.
- Once your shoulder blades are pulled down as far as they’ll go, bend your elbows and pull the handle down until it touches your torso—usually at the top of your breastbone.
- Pause briefly, then reverse the movement to return to the starting position: straighten your arms and let the weight pull your shoulder blades as high as they’ll go.
Expert Tips
- If you struggle with pulling your shoulder blades down, practice that movement a few times during your warm-up (this is called a “shrug-down”). This may feel strange at first, but it’s the best way to ensure the lat pulldown effectively trains your traps.
- If your grip gives out before your lats do, use lifting straps. This prevents you from having to end your sets prematurely due to your grip giving out, allowing you to train your back, traps, and biceps more thoroughly.
- Avoid swinging your torso back and forth to finish your reps. It’s fine to lean back a little to help engage your lats and bring your chest closer to the handle, but avoid using momentum to make the exercise easier.
- Once you reach the point where you can’t pull the handle under your chin, don’t be afraid to do a few partial reps. These generally aren’t as effective for building muscle as full reps, but they’re better than cutting the set short, provided the reps stay controlled.
- If you can’t feel your lats working, don’t worry. Many people report the same thing. If you follow the steps above, your lats, traps, and biceps are all going to be thoroughly trained by this exercise.
Workout Programming
Start with 2–3 sets of 6–8 reps, resting 2–3 minutes between sets and finishing each set with 1–2 reps left. You can also use 4–6 reps if you prefer.
In a pull workout, I typically like to do any hip-hinge exercises and horizontal rows before the close-grip lat pulldown. For example, I’d start with deadlifts and a chest-supported machine row, then do pulldowns. This is because these exercises tend to be more physically and technically challenging, so it’s better to put them earlier in your workouts.
Mike’s Take
The close-grip lat pulldown is my favorite pulldown variation for training your lats, biceps, and traps. Many people find it more comfortable and feel like it allows them to use a slightly longer range of motion.
Does that make it better than a wide-grip pulldown? A study conducted by researchers at the University of Miami found more lat muscle activity with a wide grip in front of the head than with a close grip.
But a study conducted by researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found no difference in lat muscle activity between V-bar, front-of-the-neck, and behind-the-neck pulldowns.
Both studies measured muscle activity, not muscle growth. Neither establishes which grip builds more muscle over time.
The close-grip pulldown requires less technique than other “vertical pulling exercises” like pull-ups or chin-ups. Since it’s a machine exercise, it’s also more stable, doesn’t demand much coordination or balance, and lets you start with lighter weights and build strength gradually, making it ideal for beginners.
One drawback is the weight stack. Many cable lat pulldown machines force you to add weight in larger increments (often 10–20 pounds), whereas with a plate-loaded lat pulldown machine, you can add weight in much smaller increments (typically 2.5–5 pounds).
With the V-handle, your hands are close together and your palms face each other. With a wide overhand grip, your hands are farther apart and your palms face away from you. Choose a grip that feels comfortable and lets you perform controlled reps.
The V-handle version is also called the V-grip, V-bar, or narrow-grip lat pulldown. An underhand close-grip pulldown is a different variation: you hold a bar with your palms facing you instead of facing each other.
“Pronated” means your palms face away from you.
Personally, I prefer the medium-grip pronated cable lat pulldown, the machine lat pulldown (also with a medium-width grip), and the V-grip lat pulldown, and I like to rotate between these exercises every 8 weeks or so.
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown Alternatives
- Lat Pulldown. The same basic exercise, but performed with a bar and an overhand grip. Use a grip around shoulder-width or slightly wider.
- Single-Arm Lat Pulldown. This is a great variation of the regular lat pulldown that many people find more comfortable. It allows you to lift slightly more weight in total, but it also forces you to make larger relative jumps in weight, can feel awkward with heavier weights, and takes twice as long to finish each set.
- Neutral-Grip Pull-Up. Neutral-grip pull-ups are an excellent alternative to the close-grip lat pulldown, targeting the same muscles but without the need for a lat pulldown machine. You can perform this variation using a set of parallel bars or a neutral-grip pull-up bar.
- Lat Pulldown Machine. With a plate-loaded lat pulldown machine, you can add weight in much smaller increments (typically 2.5–5 pounds) than on many cable machines.
3 Close-Grip Lat Pulldown Workouts
Here are three sample workouts that show you how to program the close-grip lat pulldown.
Back Workout with the Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
Chest-Supported Machine Row: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Machine Rear Delt Fly: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Barbell Shrug: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Pull Day Workout with the Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
Barbell Deadlift: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Chest-Supported Machine Row: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
EZ-Bar Curl: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Upper-Body Workout with the Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Chest-Supported Machine Row: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
To progress these workouts, use double progression: use a weight that allows you to work within the given rep range, take each set 1–2 reps shy of failure, and once you hit the top of the range for your first set, add weight.
Muscles Worked by the Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
The close-grip lat pulldown primarily trains your latissimus dorsi (lats). Your biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis help bend your elbows, while your lower traps help pull your shoulder blades down.
Your rear delts and other upper-back muscles also contribute.
More Back Exercises
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