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Cable Single Hand Lat Pull Down

The single-arm cable lat pull-down isolates one lat at a time — kneeling or seated under a high pulley, driving one elbow down toward your hip. Working each side alone exposes the strength gap that two-handed bars hide, and lets you feel the lat working in a way beginners often cannot on the wide bar. Coached by Maddy (NASM-CPT) — these are the exact form cues he gives on every client's first week.

Muscles worked

Lats · latissimus dorsi Biceps · biceps brachii Mid back · rhomboids Lower traps · lower trapezius

Sets & reps by goal

Goal	Sets × Reps	Rest
Strength	4 × 4–6 per arm	90 s–2 min
Muscle	3–4 × 9–12 per arm	60–90 s
Endurance	2 × 18–27 per arm	45–60 s

Rep ranges per Helms 2014 · Schoenfeld 2016.

Level — Beginner

Beginner-friendly in load, intermediate in the discipline of staying square.

Proper form — 5 cues

Grip a single handle overhead, arm long, and feel the lat stretch before you pull.
Drive the elbow down and slightly in, aiming it at your back pocket.
Keep the torso tall and square — no side-bending to meet the handle.
Squeeze at the bottom with the shoulder blade pulled down for a full second.
Let the handle rise with control until the arm and lat reach full stretch again.

Breathing: Exhale driving the elbow down, inhale as the arm returns overhead.

The 3 mistakes Maddy corrects most

Side-crunching toward the working arm. The oblique lean shortens the distance for you, stealing range from the lat on every rep. Fix: Stay tall as a fence post; if the torso must bend to finish the rep, drop the stack.

Curling the handle down with the biceps. The elbow bends first and the arm does the pulling while the lat contributes a token effort. Fix: Think 'elbow to hip', keeping the wrist as a passive hook the whole way.

Cutting the top stretch short. The overhead stretch position is the lat's most valuable range — hurrying it wastes the single-arm setup. Fix: Let the arm lengthen fully and pause one beat at the top of every rep.

Common questions

Why do single-arm pull-downs instead of the regular bar?

Three reasons: each lat works without help from its stronger partner, the free handle allows a longer arc than a fixed bar, and the mind-muscle connection is far easier to find with all attention on one side. It will not replace heavy two-arm pulling, but as a second lat movement it covers what the bar misses.

Kneeling or seated for single-arm pull-downs?

Both work. The half-kneeling position (knee down on the working side's opposite leg) adds a trunk-stability element and is easy to set up anywhere on a cable tower; a bench or the lat machine seat offers more stability for heavier stacks. Choose kneeling for control and feel, seated for pushing load.

My weaker side fatigues way earlier — what do I do?

Let it lead: start every set on the weaker arm, and cap the stronger arm at whatever rep count the weaker side achieved. Over weeks the gap narrows without any special protocol. Never add makeup sets to the strong side — that maintains the imbalance you are trying to close.

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