Underhand Cable Pulldowns
The underhand cable pulldown uses a palms-up grip on the lat pulldown bar, which lets your elbows travel closer to your body and brings the biceps more directly into the pull. It still trains the lats as the main mover, with help from the middle back and shoulders, but the grip change makes it feel different from a standard overhand pulldown. It suits anyone who wants a lat exercise that also loads the biceps a bit harder.
Why it works
Turning your palms up changes the path of the pull: your elbows stay closer to your sides, and the biceps take on more of the work than they would with an overhand grip. The lats remain the primary mover, pulling your upper arm down and back, while the middle back and shoulders help stabilize your shoulder blades. The result is a lat exercise that also gives your biceps a real workout, without turning into a curl. Because the cable keeps steady tension on the muscle through the whole range, there's no dead spot at the top or bottom the way a free-weight exercise sometimes has, which makes it a dependable way to build volume on your lats and biceps in the same set.
Set up
- Sit at the pulldown station and secure your thighs under the pads.
- Grab the bar with an underhand, palms-up grip, hands just inside shoulder width.
- Lean back slightly and let the bar pull your arms fully overhead before the first rep.
How to do it
- Pull your elbows down and back, driving them toward your hips.
- Bring the bar down to your upper chest, keeping your torso mostly still.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the bottom of the pull.
- Extend your arms back up with control until they're fully stretched overhead.
- Keep your chest up throughout; don't let your shoulders round forward.
Form cues
- Elbows lead the pull, not your hands.
- Drive elbows down toward your hips.
- Chest up, shoulders back at the bottom.
- Control the stretch on the way up.
Breathing: Exhale as you pull the bar down, inhale as you let it rise back up.
Common mistakes
Leaning back too far and using body weight to yank the bar down.
Fix: Keep your torso close to vertical and let your arms and back do the pulling.
Letting the elbows flare out to the sides.
Fix: Keep your elbows tracking down and slightly in front of your torso, not out wide.
Stopping the movement at chin height instead of pulling all the way to the upper chest.
Fix: Finish the pull by bringing the bar to chest height and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Choosing a grip so wide that the exercise stops feeling like an underhand pulldown at all.
Fix: Keep your hands roughly shoulder width; going much wider shifts the exercise back toward a standard wide-grip pattern and undercuts the point of the grip change.
How to program it
- Three or four sets of 8 to 12 reps works well as a primary back pull.
- Twice a week is a reasonable frequency for most people, since the cable keeps tension moderate rather than maxing out your grip and biceps the way heavier free-weight pulls do.
- Pair it with a horizontal row, like a seated cable row, so your back trains both pulling angles in the same week.
- If your gym offers both a straight bar and a closer underhand handle, rotating between them every few weeks keeps the stimulus fresh without changing the basic movement.
Safety notes
- Stop the descent at your upper chest. Pulling the bar behind your neck puts unnecessary stress on the shoulders.
- If your biceps or elbows ache rather than just feel worked, lighten the load before adding more reps.
- Warm up with a couple of light-resistance sets before loading the exercise heavier, since the underhand grip asks more of the elbows and wrists than an overhand grip does.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Compound
- Category
- Strength
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between underhand and overhand lat pulldowns?
The underhand, palms-up grip shifts more work to your biceps while your lats stay the main mover. An overhand grip keeps the biceps more out of the picture and leans harder on the lats and middle back.
Is the underhand cable pulldown good for biceps?
It gives your biceps real work, more than an overhand pulldown does, but it's not a substitute for a dedicated bicep exercise since the lats are still doing most of the pulling.
How many sets of underhand pulldowns should I do?
Three or four sets of 8 to 12 reps is a solid range for building both back and bicep strength.
Can I do underhand pulldowns without a cable machine?
A resistance band anchored overhead can mimic the same underhand pulling pattern if you don't have access to a pulldown station.
Should I do underhand pulldowns before or after a dedicated bicep exercise?
Either order works. Do it first if your lats are the priority for the day, or after a bicep exercise if you want your arms already warmed up before pulling.