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Cable Standing Lat Pushdown (rope equipment)

The cable standing lat pushdown with a rope is an isolation exercise designed to target the latissimus dorsi through pure shoulder extension without biceps assistance. It works well as a pre-exhaustion movement before heavy compound pulling or as a finisher at the end of a back workout.

Muscles: Back
Equipment: Cable machine
Type: Strength
Animation: Men

How to do it

Stand facing a cable machine with a rope attachment set at the highest position.
Grab the rope with both hands, palms facing each other.
Keep your elbows slightly bent and close to your body.
Push the rope down by extending at the shoulders, bringing your hands towards your thighs.
Return to the starting position with control.

Common mistakes

Bending and straightening the elbows turns the exercise into a triceps extension, removing tension from the lats.
Swinging the torso backward and forward relies on momentum rather than controlled muscular contraction.
Allowing the arms to rise too high at the top places unnecessary stress on the shoulder joints and breaks core stability.

Tips

Spread the ends of the rope past your hips at the bottom to maximize the range of motion and peak contraction.
Maintain a slight, fixed forward lean with an engaged core to protect the lower back and keep tension on the lats.
Focus on pulling your elbows down and back toward your pockets rather than pushing down with your hands.

Sets and reps

Perform 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 controlled reps to focus on the mind-muscle connection and lat hypertrophy. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets.

Muscles worked

Cable Standing Lat Pushdown (rope equipment): back

Your coach guides every set

Turn on the coach in Gloox: it asks how you feel, picks the weight from your history and cues technique and rest. Rate each set and the next one is tuned to you.

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On a computer? Point your phone's camera here to get the app.

Questions

Why choose a rope over a straight bar for this movement?

A rope allows your hands to travel past the hips at the bottom of the rep, providing a longer range of motion and a deeper lat squeeze than a fixed bar.

Can lat pushdowns be done without a cable machine?

You can anchor a resistance band overhead to mimic the movement pattern, or perform dumbbell pullovers on a flat bench as a free-weight alternative.

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