Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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06.11.2009 |
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Best way to do a lat pull-down: bar to your chest, not in your neck
Lat pull-down
Study
The test subjects performed the sets at 80 percent of their 1RM. The researchers attached electrodes to the subjects' upper back muscles, chest muscles, shoulder muscles and their biceps. The figures below show the amount of effort the test subjects exerted with each of their muscles.
V = lat pull-down with V-shaped bar; B = lat pull-down to neck; F = lat pull-down to chest.
All three exercise forms stimulated the latissimi equally, as the graph below shows. The black bars represent the concentric movement, when you pull the weight block upwards. The grey bars represent the eccentric movement, where you lower the weight.
So there's no difference there. But you do notice a difference if you look at the activation of the biceps. A little less with V, but a lot less with F.
When it comes to the shoulder muscles, the stimulus is a little bit more for B than for F. And the activation of the shoulder muscles using V is even less.
Conclusion
If you want to train the upper back muscle specifically, there's everything to be said for pulling the bar to your chest and not to your neck. It's not only safer, but also more effective. And if you don't like doing lat pull-downs to your chest, the V-bar version is a good alternative.
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