The Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown is a beginner-friendly cable strength exercise that targets the lats and middle back, with the shoulders, traps and abdominals working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesLats, Middle Back
Secondary musclesShoulders, Traps, Abs
EquipmentCable
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown
Attach a straight bar or rope to a high pulley and stand a step back from the stack.
Take an overhand grip at shoulder width and hinge forward slightly at the hips.
Set a small bend in your elbows and hold that angle for the whole set.
Depress your shoulder blades and sweep the handle down toward your thighs.
Squeeze the lats at the bottom without folding the trunk forward.
Let the handle rise back overhead under control and repeat.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Isolates the lats without elbow flexion, so the biceps do not limit the set.
Keeps constant cable tension across a long shoulder extension arc.
Low load and low skill, so it fits early in a program or as a finisher.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Bending and straightening the elbows, which turns the lift into a triceps pressdown.
Arching the lower back as the handle rises, which leaks range and loads the spine.
Loading so heavy that the hips finish the rep, which takes the lats off tension.
Locking the shoulder blades in place, which blocks the scapular travel this exercise trains.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
