Lat Pulldown Supinated

Exercise technique:

Sitting on the machine with high pulley, knees and feet firmly fixed, hands in supination grip (i.e. palms of hands up), it is a question of pulling the bar more or less low (towards collarbones) from a position where the arms are practically extended.

Practically, because by stretching out your arms, you would place the triceps, its long portion, in a “weak” position. The risk of tearing would then be increased.

In addition, it also helps protect the shoulders from stretching “too hard”, which can lead to injuries in the longer or shorter term.

Finally, it is good to note, that like with all back exercises, your rib cage should be “out”. You should never shoot with a “round” back.

Muscles worked:

Main: dorsal, teres major, trapezius, biceps, triceps (long portion)
Secondary: shoulders, forearms

The supine grip accentuates the work of the biceps, the “internal” part of the latissimus dorsi and the middle and lower portions of the trapezius.

Interest of Lat Pulldown Supinated:

This is a great exercise to use as a replacement for supine chin-ups if you are lacking strength or are looking for more isolation. This exercise will allow you to gain strength quite quickly.

Variants of the Lat Pulldown Supinated:

The exercise can be done with an EZ bar if you have an elbow valgus:

If you don’t have an EZ bar, you can simply “flip” an angled bar and put your hands on the ends.

Danger / contraindication:

You will have to be careful not to stretch your arms too far during the return phase (eccentric phase), but also remember to preserve the posture of the back by not rounding it in any way.