Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown

A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.

Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown — Starting position Starting position
Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown — End position End position
Difficulty Beginner
Type Strength
Equipment Cable Machine
Primary Muscle Upper Back
AI Rep Counting Log manually

How to Do Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown

  1. Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
  2. Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip. Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than your shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
  3. As you have both arms extended in front of you - while holding the bar at the chosen grip width - bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
  4. As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary (only the arms should move). The forearms should do no other work except for holding the bar; therefore do not try to pull the bar down using the forearms.
  5. After a second in the contracted position, while squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement.
  6. 6. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

Muscles Worked

Front
Back

Primary

Where Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown does most of its work.

Secondary

Assisting and stabilising muscles.

Alternatives to Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown

10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.

  1. 1 Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

    Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  2. 2 One Arm Lat Pulldown

    One Arm Lat Pulldown

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  3. 3 Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown

    Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown

    An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.

    intermediate Cable Machine
  4. 4 Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown

    Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown

    A beginner isolation strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  5. 5 Straight-Arm Pulldown

    Straight-Arm Pulldown

    A beginner isolation strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  6. 6 Bent Over Barbell Row

    Bent Over Barbell Row

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a barbell.

    beginner Barbell
  7. 7 Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row

    Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using dumbbells.

    beginner Dumbbells
  8. 8 Dumbbell Incline Row

    Dumbbell Incline Row

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using dumbbells.

    beginner Dumbbells
  9. 9 One-Arm Dumbbell Row

    One-Arm Dumbbell Row

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using dumbbells.

    beginner Dumbbells
  10. 10 Smith Machine Bent Over Row

    Smith Machine Bent Over Row

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a machine.

    beginner Machines

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles do close-grip front lat pulldown work?

Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown primarily works the upper back. The biceps and shoulders assist as secondary muscles.

What equipment do I need for close-grip front lat pulldown?

Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown uses cable machine.

Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown: is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown is rated beginner. Movements you can learn in a session, with a low skill floor and a forgiving failure mode.

What can I do instead of close-grip front lat pulldown?

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown, One Arm Lat Pulldown, Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown train the same primary muscles and are listed with 7 more alternatives above.

Can Fitnit count my close-grip front lat pulldown reps automatically?

Not automatically yet. Fitnit's AI rep counting covers push-ups, squats, dumbbell curls, crunches and pull-ups today; close-grip front lat pulldown can be logged manually in the app, and tracked movements are added over time.

Photographs and step-by-step instructions from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. Muscle mapping and alternatives by Fitnit.

Track Your Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown with AI

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