Cable exercise

Straight-Arm Pulldown (Cable) form, muscles worked, and workout tracking

The straight-arm pulldown is a cable isolation exercise in which locked arms sweep a bar or rope from overhead down to the thighs, targeting the latissimus dorsi with assistance from the teres major and triceps long head. Lifters use it to build lat hypertrophy and mind-muscle connection without biceps involvement, and as a warm-up that grooves lat engagement before rows and pulldowns.

Straight-Arm Pulldown (Cable) illustration

How to do Straight-Arm Pulldown (Cable)

  1. 1Stand facing a high pulley, grip the bar with straight arms, and hinge slightly forward at the hips with a soft knee bend.
  2. 2Start with your arms extended overhead so you feel a stretch through the lats.
  3. 3Brace your core and exhale as you sweep the bar down in an arc to your thighs, keeping your elbows locked in a slight bend.
  4. 4Avoid bending the arms into a pushdown or rounding your back as the bar descends.
  5. 5Squeeze your lats at the bottom, then inhale as you let the bar rise under control back to the stretched position.

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Track Straight-Arm Pulldown (Cable) in Plates

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