Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and the Best Attachments

What is a neutral grip lat pulldown?

The neutral grip lat pulldown is a lat pulldown done with your palms facing each other instead of facing away. You hold a neutral-grip attachment, such as a close-grip handle or a neutral lat bar, and pull it from a high pulley down toward your chest.

It trains the same muscles as a regular lat pulldown, but many lifters find it easier on their shoulders, elbows and wrists. It also puts your arms in a strong position, so you can usually pull more weight than with a wide overhand grip.

The quick version: grab a neutral-grip attachment on a high pulley, sit or kneel tall, and pull your elbows down toward your sides until the handles reach your upper chest. Control the weight back up until your arms are straight and your lats are fully stretched.

Below, you'll find the muscles it works, step-by-step form, the best neutral grip lat pulldown attachments, and how it compares with a wide grip.

Neutral grip lat pulldown muscles worked

The main target is your latissimus dorsi, the broad muscle that runs from your upper arm down to your lower back. Your teres major, the muscles between your shoulder blades (rhomboids and middle and lower traps) and your rear delts all help.

Your arms work too. With your palms facing each other, your arms pull from a strong position, with the brachialis and brachioradialis working alongside your biceps. That's a big reason the neutral grip lets you handle more weight.

Because your elbows travel down close to your body, you also get a long range of motion and a deep stretch in the lats at the top of every rep. We explain why that matters for growth in Why Range of Motion Matters for Muscle Growth and Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy by Stretching Under Tension.

How to do a neutral grip lat pulldown

1. Set up the pulley. Clip a neutral-grip attachment to a high pulley. On a functional trainer, move the carriage to the top, or both carriages if your bar connects to two cables.
2. Get in position. Sit at a pulldown station with your thighs under the pad. On a functional trainer, kneel facing the machine or sit on a bench.
3. Take your grip. Hold the handles with your palms facing each other and your arms straight overhead. Let the weight stretch your lats for a moment.
4. Set your torso. Lift your chest, lean back slightly and brace your core.
5. Pull. Drive your elbows down toward your hips until the handles reach your upper chest. With an open-design bar like the Andreoni Bar, keep driving your elbows down as the bar travels around your body.
6. Squeeze. Pause for a second with your elbows at your sides and your shoulder blades pulled down.
7. Return under control. Let the handles rise over two to three seconds until your arms are straight and your lats are fully stretched.

Breathe out as you pull and in as the weight goes back up. If you have to swing your torso to finish a rep, the weight is too heavy.

The best neutral grip lat pulldown attachments

Any neutral grip cable attachment that turns your palms toward each other will work. What changes between them is your hand width and whether the bar's frame gets in your way at the bottom of the rep.

Attachment	Hand width	Best for	Watch out for
Close-grip handle (V-handle)	Narrow	Heavy sets and the longest range of motion	Only one width
Neutral grip lat bar	Shoulder width or wider	Wide neutral grip lat pulldowns	The straight frame can stop against your head or chest
Multi-grip bar	Several widths on one bar	Variety without swapping attachments	Same frame problem as a neutral lat bar
Two single handles on two cables	Your choice	Letting each arm find its own path	Less stable with heavy weights
Open-design neutral bar	Several neutral positions	Full range with no frame in the way	Designed for dual-pulley functional trainers

If you train at a commercial gym, a close-grip handle and a few lat pulldown handles are usually already there. At home, a wide neutral grip lat pulldown bar is the piece many functional trainers don't come with.

The Andreoni Bar was designed to solve the frame problem. Its open, cambered shape lets the bar travel around your body instead of stopping against your head or chest, so your elbows keep driving down while your hands stay neutral. It connects to both cables of a functional trainer, and the same bar works for rows, presses and cable pullovers.

You can watch it in action, including demos from Home Gym Hacks and Reviews and GarageGymHomie, in our lat pulldown exercise guide. For more on why it suits home setups, read Why the Andreoni Bar Is Ideal for Home Gyms.

Neutral grip vs. wide grip lat pulldown

Neither grip wins across the board. A wide overhand grip shortens the range of motion and gives your biceps less help, while a neutral grip gives you a longer range, a stronger arm position and, for most lifters, more comfortable shoulders.

Choose neutral if wide-grip pulldowns bother your shoulders, elbows or wrists. We explain why in Neutral Grip Training Is Easier and Safer on Your Joints and Why Shoulder Impingement Is So Common in Weight Lifters. If a movement causes real pain rather than effort, have it checked before you push through it.

Use both if your joints handle each grip well. A neutral grip for heavier sets and a wide grip for lighter, higher-rep work cover each other's gaps. For more lat exercises to pair with them, see 3 Best Cable Exercises for Lats.

Common neutral grip lat pulldown mistakes

• Leaning back too far. A big lean turns the pulldown into a row and takes tension off your lats. Keep your torso close to upright with only a slight lean.
• Pulling with your arms. If your biceps tire before your back does, lead with your elbows and let your hands simply hold on.
• Shrugging as you pull. Your shoulders creep up toward your ears when the weight is too heavy. Pull your shoulders down first, then bend your elbows.
• Cutting the stretch short. Stopping before your arms are straight skips the part of the rep that stretches your lats the most. Let the handles rise all the way on every rep.
• Using momentum. Jerking the weight down or letting it fly back up wastes the work. Pull with control and take two to three seconds on the way up.

Sets, reps and where to put neutral grip pulldowns

Because the neutral grip loads so well, it makes a great main vertical pull. Put it early in your back or pull day for 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps, resting about two minutes between sets.

As an accessory later in the workout, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps with 60 to 90 seconds of rest works well. Either way, stop one or two reps short of failure, and add weight once you hit the top of your rep range on every set.

On many home functional trainers, the pulleys halve the load you feel, so the number on the stack won't match a gym machine. Track your progress on your own setup rather than comparing numbers.

Try this pairing: 3 sets of neutral grip lat pulldowns for 8 reps, followed by 3 sets of cable pullovers for 12 to 15 reps.

Neutral grip pulldown FAQ

Is the neutral grip lat pulldown better than the wide grip? For joint comfort and the weight you can use, it often is. For building your lats, both work well, and many lifters use each for different sets.

What muscles does the neutral grip lat pulldown work? Mainly your lats, helped by your teres major, rhomboids, middle and lower traps and rear delts. Your biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis work too.

What attachment do I need for a neutral grip lat pulldown? Any neutral grip attachment: a close-grip V-handle, a neutral grip lat bar, a multi-grip bar or two single handles. On a home functional trainer, a wide neutral bar or an open-design bar covers most needs.

How is a wide neutral grip lat pulldown different from a close one? A wider neutral grip slightly shortens the range and feels closer to a regular wide pulldown. A close neutral grip gives you the longest range and usually the heaviest weights.

Can I do neutral grip pulldowns without a lat pulldown machine? Yes. Kneel or sit on a bench facing a functional trainer's high pulley, or anchor a resistance band overhead and use the same form.