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Straight Arm Pull Down

The straight-arm pulldown sweeps a cable bar from shoulder height to the thighs with elbows nearly locked, isolating the lats without the biceps helping. Maddy uses it to teach clients what their lats actually feel like before rows and pull-ups, and as a finisher for back day. Coached by Maddy (NASM-CPT) — these are the exact form cues he gives on every client's first week.

Muscles worked

Lats · latissimus dorsi Teres major Triceps, long head · triceps brachii, long head

Sets & reps by goal

GoalSets × RepsRest
Strength4 × 5-6 reps2 min
Muscle3 × 9-12 reps60-90 s
Endurance2-3 × 18-27 reps30-45 s

Rep ranges per Helms 2014 · Schoenfeld 2016.

Level — Beginner

Beginner-friendly to load, but the fixed-elbow discipline takes a few sessions to groove.

Proper form — 5 cues

  1. Set a slight, fixed elbow bend and keep it identical for every centimetre of the rep.
  2. Hinge slightly forward at the hips with ribs pulled down and abs on.
  3. Sweep the bar in a wide arc to your thighs — think 'long arms, heavy armpits'.
  4. Squeeze the lats for a beat with the bar at your thighs.
  5. Let the bar travel back up slowly until your arms reach overhead and you feel the lats stretch — without shrugging.

Breathing: Exhale as the bar sweeps to the thighs, inhale as the arms rise back overhead.

The 3 mistakes Maddy corrects most

Bending the elbows as the bar comes down.. Elbow flexion recruits the triceps and turns the movement into a pressdown hybrid, defeating the lat isolation. Fix: Lighten the stack and imagine your arms are one solid piece from shoulder to knuckle.
Rounding the upper back and crunching the trunk to move the weight.. Trunk flexion moves the bar without the shoulder extending, so the abs steal the work from the lats. Fix: Fix your torso angle at set-up and let only the arms travel; if the torso must move, the weight is too heavy.
Letting the shoulders shrug up toward the ears at the top.. The shrug hands the stretch position to the upper traps and comes off the lats exactly where they grow best. Fix: Keep the shoulder blades pulled gently down as the arms rise — reach long, not up.

Common questions

What does the straight-arm pulldown work that a lat pulldown doesn't?

Both train the lats, but the straight-arm version removes the biceps from the equation because the elbow never flexes under load. That makes it a purer shoulder-extension exercise and an excellent teaching tool when clients feel pulldowns only in their arms. The trade-off is load — you will use far less weight, so treat it as an isolation and feel exercise, not a heavy builder.

Rope, bar, or band — what should I use for straight-arm pulldowns?

All three work. A straight bar keeps the path consistent and is easiest to learn. A rope lets the hands finish past the hips for a slightly longer squeeze. A resistance band anchored high replicates the movement at home, though the resistance drops near the stretch where cables shine. Start with the bar, and vary once the lat contraction is something you can find on demand.

Why do I feel straight-arm pulldowns in my triceps?

The long head of the triceps crosses the shoulder and assists shoulder extension, so some triceps sensation is anatomically normal. It becomes a problem only when the elbows visibly bend and straighten, which means the triceps are moving the load rather than assisting. Fix the fixed-elbow rule, lighten the weight, and shift your attention to dragging the upper arms down with the armpits.

Related exercises

Cable Machine RowingLats · Mid back Cable Single Hand Lat Pull DownLats Close Grip Lat Pull DownLats Close Grip Lat Pull Down (Variation 2)Lats Diagonal Grip Lat Pull DownLats

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