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The Pulldown is an excellent exercise for working the Latissimus Dorsi muscles
of the back (also known as the lats). It is a little known fact but there is a
way you can dramatically improve the effectiveness of this exercise by
performing one simple movement before each rep.
Many people have a hard time feeling their lats working when they do pulldowns.
The biceps may have a tendency to take over the movement. Some people just
don't feel anything in their back at all.
This little movement trick can change all of that.
The movement is simply a shoulder drop and even though it may seem like a SMALL
thing, it can have a HUGE impact on your back workout.
To demonstrate this movement, start by sitting in a pulldown machine with a
moderate weight on the stack. Take a close grip on the bar with your palms
facing you (known as a reverse grip). Do a few reps using your normal technique
so you have a gauge to measure against.
Now we will add the shoulder drop. Let your arms go straight and let your
shoulder girdle rise up as though shrugging. Your shoulders should be up by
your ears. Now drop your shoulder girdle down in the opposite movement to the
shrug, pulling the weight down as you do so. The range of motion is small,
being only a matter of a few inches. Repeat this drop and raise several times
to get the feel for the movement. You should feel your entire shoulder girdle
moving up and down.
We will now do a rep with the shoulder drop movement. Start in the stretched
position with your shoulders up by your ears. Drop your shoulders down, lean
slightly back then do a pulldown. Be sure to keep your lower back arched and
your chest puffed out to meet the bar on the way down. You should feel your
lats working harder than usual.
Squeeze hard as though trying to touch your shoulder blades together as you come
to the bottom then let the weight back up slowly. You can repeat the shoulder
drop movement at the start of every rep or you can simply keep your shoulders
down and locked in that position throughout the set.
Dropping your shoulders down like this serves to lock the lats into the movement
and helps to minimize the biceps involvement in the pulldown. You should find
that you get a much more effective lat workout using this technique.
About The Author
Nick
Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise,
fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook
"The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at http://www.thebestexercises.com
or visit http://www.fitstep.com.
You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com
or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.
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