lats pull down
 

hello i was wondering,

are you supposed to hold down your shoulders during the entire exercise or should you reach up as far as you can when the arms are up straight?

It's a compound movement. Shoulder and elbow is recruited. Extend arms vertically and pull the bar to the top of the chest.

I'd recommend you perform pullup's instead since ithe movement forces the core into play to stabilize your hanging body.

Yes that is how the lat pulldown is performed. Basically the same as a pullup, but without using your body weight as resistance. Just make sure you are keeping your back straight when doing the lat pulldown and all other exercises. I see many people with their entire body reclined backwards while heaving the entire stack.

I would like to point out, that the lat pulldown is similar to pullups but not 'basically the same'. The pulldown is not a good preparation for pullups. You get guys who have no problem with a 300 pound stack but can barely do a bodyweight pullup. Just a warning.

what I meant by 'basically the same' is the movement of these two exercises. Yes, pullups are more difficult than pulldowns but both should be incorporated into a program.

I wasn't saying you were completly wrong I was just pointing out a big difference so that someone who wanted to get good at pullups wouldn't start thinking they could effectively prepare using pulldowns. As for both of them "should" be incorporated...name me some good reasons why a person doing pullups "should" also do pulldowns, in general. Not to say that there is anything wrong with pulldowns but it's just the should part that is throwing me.

Well you asked so I guess I'll tell ya. I suck at pullups. I am still in the conditioning process of my training so I start out my routine using pullups but I can only do like 7 or 8. So, I finish up that move by doing pulldowns. This isn't bad, is it?

i could do just 6-8 pull-ups, it this like okay for a person who doesnt work out??? or you must me able to do more than that, even though you aint working out?? how is 7 pull ups on a guy who doesnt work out??? average or no good:weights:

No it isn't bad but you didn't really say why someone must do pulldowns :). You could probably find a way to develop your pullups...

For instance if you are just doing 7 to 8 pullups whether it is in a set or a few sets, instead of doing that you could concentrate on doing as many pullups as you can. Do multiple sets of low reps with rest periods to see if you can do more pullups. Then shorten the rest periods. There are all sorts of way you can improve rather than just trying to add reps to whatever you are doing. 7 to 8 ain't bad, btw. You've got a leg up.

LOL you got me Eric