Exercise Library
Cable One Arm Lat Pulldown
Attach a single handle to a high cable pulley and sit or stand facing the machine. Grip the handle with one arm and start with your arm fully extended overhead. Pull the handle down toward your side by driving your elbow toward your hip while keeping your chest up and core engaged. Squeeze your lat at the bottom, then slowly return to the starting position with control. Perform all repetitions on one side before switching, focusing on controlled movement and minimizing torso sway.
Primary muscle
Latissimus dorsi (lats)
Secondary muscles
upper back (rhomboids, trapezius), rear deltoids, biceps, core stabilizers
Equipment
Cable
Category
Back
How to Do the Cable One Arm Lat Pulldown
- Attach a single handle to a high cable pulley and sit or kneel facing the machine.
- Grip the handle with one hand, arm fully extended overhead.
- Brace your core and keep your chest lifted.
- Pull the handle down and toward your hip by driving your elbow down and back.
- Squeeze your lat firmly at the bottom of the movement.
- Slowly extend your arm back to the starting position, controlling the return.
- Complete all reps on one side before switching arms.
Common Mistakes
- Leaning back to help pull: Using body lean instead of the lat to move the weight down reduces muscle engagement. Keep your torso upright and let your arm and back do the work.
- Pulling with the shoulder shrugged: Letting the shoulder ride up toward the ear engages the traps instead of the lats. Keep the shoulder pulled down and back.
- Using too much weight for one arm: Overloading forces you to twist your torso to generate momentum. Drop the load until you can keep your torso square to the machine.
- Cutting the top range short: Not fully extending the arm overhead at the start reduces the stretch on the lat. Extend fully before initiating each pull.
Track This Exercise in the App
Log your cable one arm lat pulldown sets in 1RM.fit and watch your estimated 1RM update automatically as you get stronger.