This is the one that everyone thinks of when it comes to the lat pulldown. Unfortunately, the other thought associated with the wide grip lat pulldown is the image of someone jerking the weight down and rocking their body for the sole purpose of moving the pinned weight on the stack.
The close grip pulldown is one that you should choose if you want to focus more on isolating the lats. The closer grip will keep the arms more vertical which puts them in the best position when it comes to pulling with the lats only.
This one will hit the entire back but it will hit more of the upper portion of the lats when performed correctly. The handle has grips that are about shoulder-width apart and will have your hands in a hammer-type grip so the palms face each other.
The reverse grip lat pulldown does work the biceps and there is no real way to avoid that. You can minimize it by using straps if you like. The great benefit to this one is how it will blast the lower portion of your lats.
So all of these movements call for you to be seated. So what is the kneeling lat pulldown? It would be any version of the above exercises you want to do – except that you would be kneeling behind the seat or kneeling in front of an independent cable pulley.
Single arm cable or machine work provides similar benefits to working with dumbbells because the side you’re working gets no help from the other side of your body. It is actually better to work one side at a time with cables than with dumbbells because the cables provide constant tension from start to finish. That means they get no break which increases your chances of results.
Not all pulldowns have to be in a seated or kneeling position. The standing lat pulldown can make a great substitute for the dumbbell pullover or pullover machine. The movement has a similar effect on the lats.
Using a straight handle will help you move more weight and incorporate more of the traps. However, the range of motion can be limited because once you reach your body with the handle, that’s as far as you can go.
