Just The Tip Tuesday: Stop Doing Your Lat Pulldowns Like This

Hi, welcome to another one of my tips! Today we’re going to talk about this one move that I’ve been told by numerous personal trainers *NOT* to do: lat pulldowns, when you’re pulling the bar down behind your neck.

Why are you even doing them like this in the first place? Because you saw someone else do them that way? Doesn’t matter. STOP. For a couple of reasons that my not-a-personal-or-certified-trainer brain can think of:

  1. You’re placing all the emphasis on your shoulders/rotator cuff (I may or may not be calling out the right wrongfully-used muscle…reminder: not a doctor)
  2. Your back muscles run more horizontal-ish than vertical-ish, so when you’re doing a lat pulldown you want to be able to squeeze those muscles and draw the bar down, not have to use your forearm and shoulders to pull.
  3. When are you ever going to mimic that motion in real life? Is that how you pull a heavy box down off a shelf? Exactly. Knock it off.

That’s it. See Google for anymore questions you may have and stop believing hot people on Instagram because anyone can add “trainer” to their bio.

Cheers,

Amy

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