Straight-Arm Cable Pulldown with the Andreoni Bar
In this video, the lat prayer exercise is performed with the Andreoni Bar on a cable machine or functional trainer. The cambered shape of the bar creates additional clearance around the body, allowing the arms to travel farther through the movement and making it easier to achieve a deep stretch at the top and a strong lat contraction at the bottom.
How to Do a Straight-Arm Cable Pulldown
Set the cable high and stand facing the machine. Begin with your arms extended in front of you and overhead, keeping a slight bend in the elbows. Hinge slightly at the hips and allow the lats to stretch as your arms move toward the cable.
Keeping your arms relatively straight, pull the attachment downward in an arc toward your thighs. Focus on driving the movement through the lats rather than bending the elbows or turning the exercise into a triceps pushdown. At the bottom of the movement, squeeze the lats before slowly returning to the stretched starting position.
Greater Range of Motion With the Andreoni Bar
The shape of the Andreoni Bar allows the attachment to move around the body instead of stopping against it. This can extend the path of the straight-arm pulldown, allowing the arms to travel farther behind the torso at the bottom of the movement.
That additional travel can create a longer working range, moving from a deep overhead stretch into a stronger shortened position. Adjusting your distance from the cable machine and the height of the pulley also makes it easy to fine-tune the movement to your body and preferred range of motion.
Lat Prayer Muscles Worked
The straight-arm cable pulldown primarily targets the latissimus dorsi, or lats. The teres major and other muscles around the upper back and shoulder also assist, while the core helps keep the torso stable throughout the exercise.
Because the elbows stay relatively straight, the movement places more emphasis on shoulder extension and the lats rather than the elbow flexion used in exercises such as traditional pulldowns and rows.
Lat Prayer, Cable Pullover or Straight-Arm Pulldown?
The terms lat prayer, straight-arm cable pulldown, straight-arm lat pulldown and cable pullover are often used to describe very similar cable exercises. The exact body angle and movement path can vary, but each version focuses on using the lats to pull the arms downward while keeping elbow movement to a minimum.
Whether you perform the exercise on a functional trainer or traditional cable machine, focus on a controlled stretch, a smooth pulling path and a strong contraction through the lats rather than simply increasing the weight.