Sometimes called Reverse Pulldowns, Underhand Pulldowns may not be the most common lat exercise in the gym. Even so, it was a favorite of 6-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. That, of course, makes it worth the time it takes to check it out! It has the advantage of bringing the biceps into play, and really hitting the lower lats. Will it work for you? Keep reading and find out more!
What Are Underhand Pulldowns?
Underhand pulldowns are pulldowns done with a close, underhand grip. This approach may be superior to the standard wide grip approach because the wide grip does the following:
- It Puts Your Biceps In A Weak Position
- It Decreases The Range Of Motion
- It Doesn’t Fully Activate The Lats (1, 2)
On the other hand, Underhand Pulldowns compensate for all of the above shortcomings. Certainly, a complete range of motion and full lat activation are huge. Yet not everyone may want more biceps involvement. One of the inherent problems of back work is that many lifters tend to feel their biceps doing the work, not their back. Therefore, an exercise like this may be best used by those lifters that have learned how to feel the back working without the biceps taking over.
Muscles Worked
Underhand Pulldowns target the lats. Synergists include the biceps, forearms, rear delts, traps, and pecs. Stabilizers include the biceps and long head of the triceps. (3)
The Yates Connection
Underhand Pulldowns were one of Dorian Yates core back exercises. He did this throughout his career. That’s because he felt the close underhand grip was superior to the more standard wide grip. He felt he got a better stretch with this grip. Plus it brought the biceps in to assist.
Performance Tips
Generally speaking, research does not cite one type of pulldown as necessarily being superior over another. That means that your best approach is to do all types of pulldowns: wide grip, V-grip, and underhand. This way, your lats are getting the best of all possible worlds. (1)
In terms of performance tips, always begin the pull with the lats, not the arms. Perform your reps slow and controlled, taking longer to return the weight than to pull it down. Tempo should be 2 seconds down, 4 seconds back with a 3-5 second pause in the fully stretched position, just before lockout. On your last rep, you can hang in that stretch for as long as possible.
Use It In Your Routine
Here’s two example routines. The first targets lat width while the second is more balanced.
Example # 1 – Lat Width Emphasis
(After warm-ups)
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns – 3 sets – 12, 10, 8 reps
Close Grip Pulldowns – 3 sets – 12, 10, 8 reps
Underhand Pulldowns – 3 sets – 12, 10, 8 reps
Seated Cable Rows – 4 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
Bentover Rows – 4 sets – 12 reps
Example # 2 – Balanced Emphasis
(After warm-ups)
Deadlifts – 5 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6, 6 reps
T-Bar Rows – 3-5 sets – 8-10 reps
Underhand Pulldowns 3-5 sets – 8-10 reps
In both of these routines, use a weight that allows you to fail within the prescribed rep range. Whether you train with the heaviest possible weight or use more moderate poundages is up to you. I advocate going moderately heavy, training to failure, and not being afraid to use rest-pause to push past failure. Rep performance is the same as noted above.
Observations
A few points I want to make, and this comes after watching people work out at the gym. First, use a full range of motion. None of this quarter-rep stuff. Next, don’t rush it, If you do, you’re just letting momentum do the work for you. Finally, if you can do more, don’t just stop because you hit your rep goal. I see guys all the time pound out 8-10 easy reps, hardly fatigued, and then just stop. It shouldn’t be easy. If you can easily do more reps, add more weight. Finally, put the phone away and take realistic rest periods. I advocate 30-60 seconds between sets, with no more than 2 minutes for the really tough sets.
Add These Supplements!
Besides protein, get the most out of your workouts by using a good pre-workout, such as Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode. Take your pumps and your endurance to new dimensions by adding Gorilla Mode Liquid Glycerol. Do you use an intra-workout? There’s only one choice: 5% Nutrition All Day You May. This product humbles the competition. I advocate a post-workout shake, and suggest 5% Nutrition Real Carbs (it uses real food sources) mixed with Hi-Tech Precision Protein. This protein optimizes leucine release, and as we know, leucine stimulates protein synthesis, which is a direct trigger of muscle growth.
In Summary
In case you’ve never tried Underhand Pulldowns, I’ve given you a reason to give them a shot, and provided 2 routines along with supplement suggestions. There’s no reason to wait, destroy those lats today!
References:
- Signorile, J. F., Zink, A. J., & Szwed, S. P. (2002). A comparative electromyographical investigation of muscle utilization patterns using various hand positions during the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 16(4), 539–546.
- Lusk, S. J., Hale, B. D., & Russell, D. M. (2010). Grip width and forearm orientation effects on muscle activity during the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(7), 1895–1900. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181ddb0ab
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/CBUnderhandPulldown