Bending the elbows
Hold a fixed elbow angle; bending and straightening turns it into a tricep pushdown.
Isolation · Cable
Straight Arm Pulldown
The straight arm pulldown has you sweep a bar or rope from overhead down to your thighs with your elbows locked in a slight bend. It trains the lats with almost no biceps involvement, making it useful for learning to feel your lats and as a finisher after rows and pulldowns.
- Primary
- Back
- Starting rep range
- 12–15 reps
- Target effort
- 1 reps in reserve
- Progression
- 2.5 kg / one stack step
Muscles worked
The lats pull the arms down from overhead to the hips (shoulder extension). With the elbows fixed the biceps barely help; the long head of the triceps and the rear delts assist a little.
How to set up
- Attach a straight bar or rope to a high pulley.
- Stand an arm's length or so back, feet hip-width, knees soft.
- Grip the handle with arms extended and a slight, fixed bend at the elbows.
- Hinge forward 20-30 degrees at the hips with a flat back so the cable lines up with your arms.
How to do each rep
- Pull the handle down in an arc by driving your arms toward your thighs.
- Keep the elbow angle fixed the whole rep.
- Squeeze your lats when your hands reach your thighs.
- Let the handle rise over 2-3 seconds until your arms are overhead and the lats are stretched.
Common straight arm pulldown mistakes
Rocking the torso
Keep your hip hinge angle steady so the lats, not body movement, move the weight.
Going too heavy
Use a load you can control through the full arc; this lift works best with moderate weight and a strong squeeze.
Sets, reps, and progression
Surpass starts the straight arm pulldown at 12–15 reps with about 1 reps in reserve. As an isolation exercise it fits well after your main compound lifts.
Use 10-15 reps and add one pin once you can hold the bottom squeeze on every rep. It works well as a lighter primer before heavy back work or a finisher after it.
Know what to lift next time
Surpass shows what you lifted last time beside a target for this set, and adjusts it from your reps and RIR. Free on iPhone, no account needed.
Straight Arm Pulldown alternatives
These train the same main muscles. Swap when the equipment is busy, something hurts, or progress has stalled for several weeks.
Questions
What muscles does the straight arm pulldown work?
It mainly works the lats, with small help from the rear delts and the long head of the triceps. The biceps do very little because the elbows do not bend.
Rope or bar for straight arm pulldowns?
A rope lets your hands come apart and slightly behind your body at the bottom, which some people feel more in the lats. A bar is simpler and more stable. Use whichever you feel better.