Today, we’re going over how to do the neutral grip pulldown. Muscles worked, form guides, and how to use it to build muscle. This exercise targets your upper back muscles, primarily your lats.
The neutral grip pulldown is a exercise machine exercise that primarily targets the lats (the primary muscle) as well as the biceps and shoulders (secondary muscles).
The only neutral grip pulldown equipment that you really need is a lat pulldown machine. Be sure and use the correct bar though. Do not use a classic lat pulldown bar.
Keep in mind there is a great variety of neutral grip pulldown variations that you can try out that may require different types of neutral grip pulldown equipment.
Learning proper neutral grip pulldown form is easy with the step by step neutral grip pulldown instructions, tips, and the technique video linked right below.
How to do Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown:
- Step 1: Attach a lat bar with handles onto a lat pulldown machine.
- Step 2: Grasp the handles on the end of the lat bar so that your palms are facing each other.
- Step 3: Sit down on the provided bench and position your thighs under the provided pads so that the weight does not pull your body up.
- Step 4: Allow your arms to fully extend upward so that you feel a slight stretch in your lats. This is the starting position.
- Step 5: Begin exercise by contracting your lats while pulling the weight down to your upper chest.
- Step 6: Your shoulder blades should be pinched together, elbows back, and lat bar against your chest at the end of the movement.
- Step 7: Slowly reverse movement back up to the starting position. This completes one rep.
How To Build A Big Back With The Neutral Grip Pulldown
Back density and width are achieved with the neutral grip pulldown by primarily two things. The proper diet and proper workout.
We will go over the diet right now.
No one ever eats enough when they want to gain muscle. If you look at what most mainstream sites recommend, they say “don’t eat over 2,000 calories a day it’s unhealthy.”
Nope- most mainstream fitness advice is BS. If you want to get big, you’ve got to eat like you’re already big. You must eat more calories than you burn.
The MAIN REASON WHY MOST PEOPLE FAIL TO GAIN MUSCLE IS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT EATING PROPERLY. Seriously, when I was a freshman in high school, I recall eating around 1,000 calories each day and wondering why I couldn’t gain muscle. Eating a lot is HOW YOU BULK UP.
If you want to gain weight, you must consume a lot of calories… And it’ll almost certainly be a lot more food than you anticipated. That’s the kind of meal I’m referring to here.
Step 1: Calculate Your Caloric Intake (Basal Metabolic Rate) –
The first and most crucial stage in muscle growth is to calculate your calorie intake. It’s impossible to make any kind of significant progress if you don’t know how much you should be consuming to gain muscle.
An easy way to find your BMR is to take your weight and multiply it by 15. That will give you a rough estimate of what you should be eating.
The second more accurate way is to use the app macros. It will give you an exact estimate of how many calories you should consume each day. Always strive to consume this number of calories from now on.
Step 2: Use a Calorie Counting App
A Calorie Counting App can be downloaded for free. I use Macros, although there are many others available on the App Store. From now on, keep a note of everything you eat. Whatever it is, if it contains calories, it must be recorded. This will ensure that you keep track of how much you eat accurately.
Step 3: Eat LOTS of Protein
Calculate Your Ideal Protein Intake — Despite the fact that many of these calorie counting applications are precise, they are typically inept when it comes to macronutrient targets.
You won’t gain muscle if you don’t eat enough protein, so here’s what you should do. To figure out your ideal protein consumption, multiply your ideal lean bodyweight in pounds by 1.0 to get your ideal protein intake. So, if you want to be 200 pounds lean (with abs), you should attempt to eat 200+ grams of protein every day.
Neutral Grip Pulldown Workout
The best way to build muscle with the neutral grip pulldown workout is with 5 sets of 8-12 reps.
This is known as the 8-12 method and is great for hypertrophy. Of course, this isn’t the only back exercise you should be doing. I like starting off with wide grip pull ups and barbell rows.
This exercise is a finisher. It’s almost completely isolation and one you should use at the end of your back day.
5x 8-12 reps
Or-
If you really wanted to spice things up and shock the muscle, you can do a drop set/shocking method.
The shocking method is where you start at a weight you can get for 10-12 reps and immediately move down once you hit the required reps. No rest whatsoever.
When you get to lighter reps and can get more than 12, do upwards of 20-30.
Neutral Grip Pulldown Benefits
The greatest benefits from the neutral grip pulldown is that it develops density and thickness to your lats. The cables keep constant tension and stress on your muscles. This exercise is also easier on your wrists and forearms compared to classic lat pulldowns.
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