Cable Arm Pulldown

Grip the cable bar about shoulder-width apart and hinge slightly at the hips. Keep your arms nearly straight and pull your shoulders away from your ears so your lats, not your arms, start the movement.

Without deeply bending your elbows, pull the bar toward your thighs as if squeezing below your armpits. Think of your arms tracing a large arc rather than pressing with your hands to keep your lats working and limit triceps involvement.

Briefly squeeze your lats at the bottom, then slowly let the cable rise while keeping your arms long. If you rush the return, the movement can turn into momentum, so control the way up as carefully as the way down.

Focus on the sides of your back and the line below your armpits lengthening and shortening. When you feel the back of your side folding rather than your arms doing the work, you are finding the target.

Pulling with deeply bent elbows like a lat pulldown shifts work toward your arms and triceps. Avoid leaning back and pressing with momentum; keep your torso angle nearly unchanged throughout.

Exhale as you pull the bar down, then inhale slowly through your nose as your lats lengthen on the way up. Steady breathing makes the contraction and release easier to feel.

Lightly press through your pinky side to reduce forearm involvement and connect with your back. Before adding weight, make sure you can pause for 1 second at the top and control the lowering phase for 2 seconds.