In my last article, I detailed how to do Pulldowns – a compound movement for the lats.
Now, Close Grip Pulldowns will also feature in the new THT program.
What Are Close Grip Pulldowns?
Close Grip Pulldowns are a compound exercise that will work the:
- Lats
- Biceps
Check out the vid I made to demonstrate…
Please ‘like’ this video on YouTube if you found it helpful.
- As the name suggests, your grip should be a lot closer than that adopted for regular pulldowns. About 10 inches apart is good, palms-up NOT overhand.
Use a straight bar as we want to involve the biceps. Most often you’ll see people use the Double D attachment. We DON’T want that as this makes it impossible to bring the biceps into a position of FULL CONTRACTION (remember what I said about the function of the biceps).- Sit directly under the pulley, then lean back a little to allow yourself to be able to bring the bar down to your chest.
- It’s a great tip to arch your lower back a little and puff out your chest as well.
- Lower the bar under control.
- Pause at the bottom of the rep. This is the Peak Contraction Point and BOTH the lats and biceps are in a position of maximum contraction.
- Hold at this point for a second.
- Lower the bar again under control but DON’T lock out at the top. We want to keep the resistance on the lats and biceps right throughout the set.
I’ve got a few more exercise execution articles to publish then the new THT will be ready for you guys – I want to be able to link to each exercise in the book so people aren’t confused about form.
Stay Motivated!
Mark McManus
P.S. MuscleHack was hacked on Saturday 17th April and I just got the site back up and running correctly so that set me back a bit. Everything’s working fine now. Apologies if you came here over the last few days and got redirected to a spyware removal site.
Gotta remember to change the passwords every so often!
Looks great! I’ll add it in Mark.
I’m confused.. You’re adding so many more exercises to those that where in your THT book and you no longer seem to believe in the concept of optimized form… Did all that go out the window?
@Matt. The new exercises are to reflect the research findings on max muscle fiber recruitment that I spoke of in earlier articles (muscle function and resistance at PCP). Optimized form still plays a role but only at the end of a set. The whole program will need to be read as a whole to get a better understanding.
LOL, this is insane. I’ve been doing tons of research and it all seemed to point to this being one of the best bicep builders out there, although the masses will blindly repeat bicep curls as the end all because they read it in the magazines.
One important thing of note is on the negatives, to only let the weight go up as far as you can while still keeping your scapula retracted.
My current bicep routine is working up to a set to failure of these pulldowns, cable preacher curls, and then finish with a set of incline hammer curls to destroy the brachialis. My arms have always been my worst bodypart, but this is quickly changing. 18″ here I come.
Mark
The new THT program, will be looking to get in a few days, week, two week? Im pumped for it! Can’t wait
@Will. I said last week it would be 2 weeks but because of the hacking incident it will be more like 2 weeks starting today. It’s basically written up I just need to finish off the tutorials and polish up the text.
You never explained it too me last time since the site got hacked but what did you mean by keeping the muscle on contracted at the top of the rep and not locking out your arms.
thanks
@Michael. It simply means that on the negative part of the rep, don’t straighten out the arms fully before starting a new rep. Straightening or “locking out” the arms will take the resistance off the lats in regular pulldowns, and off the lats and biceps in these underhand pulldowns.
Thanks mark! It was definitely hard to finish a set doing it that way. thanks
Good post Mark,
Hadn’t realised how effective the pulldowns would be on biceps (thought of them as more compound/back focused)
One question, how would you rate the good old chin-up in relation to this in terms of form for targeting the biceps and (if adequate) at how many reps would you reckon weight needs to be added.
Cheers
Mark,
I recently finished off a THT cycle and have basically come to the end of my 7-10 days off. I was hoping the new program would come out in time for me to start a new 10 week program. But it seems we will be off a week or so. Do you recommend that I just start Total Anabolism 2 again and switch when TA 3 comes out or what? Any suggestions? Thanks!
@Louis. If you can hit 12, it’s time to add some weight.
@Will. It’s fine to switch so go ahead and start the new cycle and make the change when the new book is available for download.