Exercise guide · evidence-graded

Straight Arm Lat Pulldown

The straight-arm pulldown is a standing cable exercise in which you sweep a bar from overhead down to your thighs with your arms kept long, so the movement happens only at the shoulder. It works the lats, with the teres major and the long head of the triceps assisting, and is used as a lat isolation alongside rows and pulldowns.

Also called: Straight Arm Pulldown, Stiff Arm Pulldown, Cable Straight Arm Pulldown, Cable Pullover (standing) · Equipment: cable · Pattern: pull

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How to do it

Step by step

Attach a straight bar or rope to a high pulley. Take an overhand grip about shoulder-width apart and step back one or two paces so the cable is taut with your arms reaching up and forward.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and knees soft, then hinge forward slightly at the hips. Brace your trunk and keep your chest up.
Set a small bend in your elbows and keep that exact angle for the whole set.
Pull the bar down in an arc by driving your upper arms towards your hips. Keep your torso still so the movement comes only from the shoulders.
Finish with the bar at the front of your thighs and hold for a moment, with your shoulders down away from your ears.
Let the bar travel back up the same arc under control until your arms reach forward and up and you feel a stretch along the sides of your back.
After the last rep, let the bar rise to the start position and step forward to unload the stack before letting go.

Coaching cues

Long arms, elbow angle fixed for every rep
Drive your upper arms down to your hips
Sweep the bar in an arc to your thighs
Reach up and feel the stretch at the top
Ribs down, torso still

In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.

Muscles worked

What it trains

Muscle	Role	Evidence
Latissimus dorsi	Prime mover	B
Teres major	Secondary	C
Triceps brachii: long head	Secondary	C
Posterior deltoid: posterior	Secondary	C
Pectoralis major: abdominal (lower)	Secondary	C
Rectus abdominis	Stabiliser	C
Forearm flexors	Stabiliser	D

Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.

Common faults

What goes wrong, and the fix

Elbows bending during the pull

Fix: Set a small elbow bend at the start and keep that exact angle to the thighs.

Torso swinging to move the bar

Fix: Brace your trunk, hold the hinge and move only at the shoulders.

Short range at the top

Fix: Let the bar rise until your arms reach forward and up before each rep.

Snapping the elbows straight

Fix: Keep a soft bend in both elbows for the whole set.

Shoulders shrugging up to the ears

Fix: Keep your shoulders down away from your ears as the bar reaches your thighs.

Stack pulling the arms up fast

Fix: Let the bar rise slowly along the same arc it came down.

Programming

What the research says

Muscle growthRehab & prehabGeneral fitnessEndurance

Muscle activity — An EMG study comparing this exercise with the barbell pullover found the lats and triceps most active in the straight-arm pulldown, while the chest, front shoulders and abdominals were more active in the pullover. This describes activation, not growth.
Grip width — In the same study, a bar grip at shoulder width or one and a half times shoulder width gave a similar pattern, and research on the lat pulldown finds grip changes shift lat activity only slightly.
Load and effort — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets finish close to failure, and true failure adds only a small extra return. Many lifters use moderate-to-higher rep sets on this exercise because the load needed is light.
Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns, and training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
Range of motion — A knee-extension trial found training at long muscle lengths gave growth equal to or greater than full range and more than short-range partials. There is no direct research on range of motion in this exercise.
Tempo — Studies find growth is similar across rep durations from about half a second to eight seconds when sets are hard, so a controlled pace is a matter of technique more than of growth.

Alternatives · VALDA FLEX

Swap it mid-workout

With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.

Log the straight arm lat pulldown in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.

General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.