Lat Pull downs question

[HulkRow]

ive been pulling the bar down behind my head and stopping just short of my shoulders...i was told this was wrong, but i can really feel it working...they say to pull the bar down in front of me just below my chin, is that correct ? it feels totally different and doesnt feel as good...Am i dont something wrong?

 

[aurelius]

My research tells me(and experience) that pulling it behind your head stresses the shoulder greatly. How wide is your grip? Regular pull ups are better than the pull down machine. Can you do them? I can´t right now because my gym doesn´t have a belt to hang the weight I need from my waist.

 

[XXX-Ray]

No you are doing them just right.
But you can also do them to the front towards the upper chest area.
I think you should listen to your body if you feel that the exercise is working for you just do it.
Only listen to people that know what they are doing and not to all those "exepert".

 

[aurelius]

I think you should listen to your body if you feel that the exercise is working for you just do it.

Yeah, I did this with upright rows until I fucked up my shoulder doing them. They were great one second, the next I was in serious pain. Then I got smart and did research on the physiology of the exercise. If I had done that first, I might have saved myself the trouble.

 

[Vortexx]

It's imperative that you let the bar TOUCH the upper chest, very briefly hold the bar there and do some extra hard lat contraction.

As you were used to behind necl pulldown , it * might * be that you have to position yourself sitting slightly further away from the pully so that the bar travels more in front of you.

First four reps keep the torso steady , only add minimal momentum / torso swinging to complete the last reps

A nice twist is to do 8 hard reps and immediately change grip to close reverse grip and crank out another 6 reps!!!

 

[LongBall]

You can do the lat pulldowns either way. As a few of the guys had said doing it behind the head adds stress to the shoulder. By doing pulldowns to the front it stresses the center part of the lats, it also puts emphasis on the trap(middle and lower). It is great for adding thickness to the back. By doing pulldowns to the back it works the traps but particularly the lower, This is great for adding width to the back. As was also stated doing pull-ups or chip-ups is better.


LongBall

 

[HulkRow]

thanks guys...i listen to myself next time.

 

[bignate73]

listen to those who know....not those who tell you to do what you want.

basically, if you value your cervical spine, its support structure and your rotator cuff, you will learn to do them the correct way, the front.

if you need something to read on this, im sure i can dig up plenty from more prominent people than those with "screen names", actually they have letters behind their name. the "so called experts" have done the background work or anatomical study to at least be able to cite why and where they got their info.

aurelius knows what hes talking about, and he learned the hard way.

 

[bignate73]

as a matter of fact here is one.

http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=10

 

[vinylgroover]

Doing pulldowns behind the neck will ruin your shoulders