Description
The Workout:
Main Muscle: Lats
1. Sit down on a pull-down machine with a V-Bar attached to the top pulley.
2. Adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
3. Grab the V-bar with the palms facing each other (a neutral grip). Stick your chest out and lean yourself back slightly (around 30-degrees) in order to better engage the lats. This will be your starting position.
4. Using your lats pull the bar down as you squeeze your shoulder blades. Continue until your chest nearly touches the V-bar. Exhale as you execute this motion. Tip: Keep the torso stationary throughout the movement.
5. After a second hold on the contracted position slowly bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe in.
6. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.
Caution: Avoid the temptation to use a weight so big that you need to start swinging your torso in order to perform the exercise.
Courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com
Benefits:
The Lat Pull down is a classic go-to when it comes to building muscle width and muscle thickness in your back because they do a great job of hitting all the key areas. The V-Handle Pull Down is a versatile way to hit your lats from a different angle.
The constant tension on your back can really develop your lats increasing width and also thickness in the middle of your back. This is also a great movement no matter your experience level and is perfect for a beginner.
Be sure not to swing or jerk the weight back to complete the rep. Do not rock the weight back and take the focus off the lats. There should be constant tension and a constant stretch on the lats throughout the movement and that is negated if the rep is completed with a swinging motion.
When using very heavy weight there can be a very slight swing to get the weight m
