What is a Lat Pull Down

The lat pull down , which we do not have in our movement library unfortunately (due to budgetary restrictions), is where you are sat on a bench, with the knees under neath cushioned blocks and you pull a weight down to your chest. It predominantly used the muscles of the latissimus dorsi muscle, hence why it is called the lat pull down. It is an excellent exercise for developing both the strength and hypertrophy of the lasts.

What is a Pull Up

The pull up, as seen below, is where you hang from a bar and pull yourself up over the bar. Everyone reading this will be aware of what a pull up is as it is an extremely well known exercise even outside of individuals who exercise regularly, unlike the lat pull down.

How Are Lat Pull Downs and Pull Ups Similar

The main similarity between the lat pull down and the pull up is that they both move through the vertical pull movement pattern. This means they essentially work the same primary muscle groups. When exercises are in the same movement category they typically are very very simialr exercises with a few small differences. Obviously there are some exceptions to this rule, but this is not the case with pull ups and the lat pull down.

How Are Lat Pull downs and Pull Ups Different

The main difference between the pull up and the lat pull down is that the pull up requires the core to be tight and engaged. Whereas the lat pull down only focuses on the primary muscle group. This doesn’t by any means mean that the pull up is better than the lat pull down, sometimes it is better to not have to engage the core and focus on technique. The second difference, which is very important and often why they are used in different training situations is that one required you to use your bodyweight and the other requires you to lift a selected weight.

The main difference between the pull up and the lat pull down is training culture. The pull up is often be done on trees by hipsters who resistance train and the lat pull down is often done by bodybuilder who arn’t just eating protein lets say. This has put a lot of people off using machines like the lat pull down. This difference in culture obviously shouldn’t actually matter when trying to write the most effective training programme for an individual.

Which is Better: Lat Pull Down or Pull Up

As mentioned above, neither is better, they both have different use cases. The lat pull down is more effective for a number of reasons.

Where The Lat Pull Down Is More Effective

Hypertrophy

The main training goal that lat pull downs are more effective at is hypertrophy (muscle growth). This is because it is much easier to perform high amounts of volume with the lat pull down as weights can be easily selected. This is not the case with pull ups, we are stuck with are bodyweight.

Beginners

The second situation where lat pull downs are more effective than pull ups is for beginners. A lot of people cannot perform an active hang (where you hang from a bar) let alone perform a pull up. This means that it is extremely hard to effectively work the vertical pull movement pattern for the vast majority of beginners through using pull ups. This is where the lat pull down is an extremely effective exercise, for beginners taking their first steps towards a pull up.

Progressive Overload

Through having the ability to manipulate the weight in small quantities it will be much easier to make small adjustments and slowly progress the difficulty of the exercise over time. Pull ups are only based on bodyweight, making them hard to manipulate, making it hard to write programmes with small incremental changes.

Overweight Individual / Bodybuilders

People who are very heavy be it through excess fat or muscle, can find lifting their bodyweight either impossible of impractical for multiple sets and high volume of repetitions. This is where lat pull downs can be extremely effective.

Where Pull Ups are More Effective

Complete Exercise

Pull ups do not isolate the lats like the lat pull down, making them a more complete and therefore more challenging exercise. This is sometimes hard to see the difference, but we use a lot of stabilising muscles in the shoulders and muscles of the core to perform pull ups with good technique. This is why pulls ups are such a great exercise and are the gold standard for the vertical pull movement pattern.

Complex Gymnastics

If you are looking to perform complex gymnastics, like strict ring muscle ups, bar muscles ups etc then you are going to need to be performing pull ups as they are a specific part of the progression towards these exercises. If you have seen bodybuilders try and perform these exercises it is clear that lap pull downs are not enough, you need the core engagement and the entirety of the should joint to be well trained for these complex gymnastic exercises.

Why Every Gym Should Have A Lat Pull Down

Pull ups are hard. I have clients that have been working towards pull ups for years, especially female clients. If you resistance train once or twice a week this is a long, long journey to this exercise and many individuals will never hit this goal. This can be extremely frustrating. However the lat pull down can show just how much progress you have made over time. Imagine that at the beginning of your training journey you can pull down 10kg for 5 reps and you manage to get this to 30kg, thats amazing progress. This sort of progress should be a cause of celebration not frustration and the lat pull down is the difference between this framing.

Using The Lat Pull Down To Progress Pull Ups

The pull up begins with the lat pull down for the majority of the population. Very athletic 20 year olds can probably miss this step. However the vast majority of the general population is so far from performing a pull up that the best place for them to start would be the lat pull down.

Final Note

Neither exercise is better, but different exercises are better in different scenarios. This is the case for all of resistance training.