Which Lat Pull Down variant is right for me?
In recent years, innovations in fitness have been limited. Exercises have stayed pretty much the same and we still train in the traditional ways just like we used to. We as Bizon Fit would like to see this change and are convinced that some exercises can be optimized in order to increase muscle growth.
First I want to start about which muscles are trained with the lat pull down. As mentioned, the lat pull down is an exercise for the upper back. It is mainly the latissimus dorsi (large back muscle) that is trained.
But in addition, the biceps, trapezius, forearms and the rear delts (back shoulders) are also trained. The lat pull down is therefore an exercise in which several muscles contract. From Bizon Fit we offer 5 lat pull down variants, each with their own advantage and effect. In this blog I'm going to explain the differences between our Lat Blasters.
Training the back by means of the lat pull down can be done with a close and wide grip. Which grip suits you best depends on your goal. The wide grip lat pull down targets the latissimus dorsi as you keep your torso at a vertical angle and pull the bar straight down.
As soon as you opt for a close grip lat pull down variant, you focus more on the muscles of the middle and upper back. (trapezius and rhomboids) Because you lean back and pull the elbows back and down to bring the bar to your lower chest. While it may not seem like a huge difference, each grip has a different impact on your muscles.
Wide grip.
The wide grip is the most commonly used variation of the lat pull down exercise. You will place your hands on either end of the bar, your hands will be placed wider than your shoulder width. Research has shown that this exercise is most effective when the bar is pulled down in front of your head. The choice of a wide grip is usually made if the athlete prefers to increase the size and strength of the lats. During this exercise mainly the latissimus dorsi is trained.
To optimally perform the wide grip lat pull down exercise, we recommend the following products as Bison Fit:
https://bizonfit.eu/products/lat-blaster-medium-grip-type-4-latt-pull-down
https://bizonfit.eu/products/lat-blaster-wide-grip-type-5-latt-pull-down
Close grip.
An alternative to the wide grip is the close grip. The close grip lat pull down is a good exercise to strengthen your back muscles. This is a variant where the arms are about shoulder width apart. Because you have a larger range of motion with the close grip variant, you can stimulate the lats more. As a result, more muscle and strength growth can occur.
Many standard close grip bars only have the palms facing options.
At Bizon fit we have 2 variants for this, the subnated and pronated variant. With the subnated variant the palms point towards you and with the pronated they point away from you. With both variants you can stimulate the muscle in a different way and the variation in this can promote muscle growth.
To optimally perform the close grip lat pull down exercise, we recommend the following products as Bison Fit:
https://bizonfit.eu/products/lat-blaster-close-grip-type-1-latt-pull-down
https://bizonfit.eu/products/lat-blaster-close-grip-type-2-latt-pull-down
https://bizonfit.eu/products/lat-blaster-small-grip-type-3-latt-pull-down