The 9 Best Lat Pulldown Machines of 2024

Looking to add to your home or commercial gym? Pay attention to the lat pulldown machine! This essential training equipment focuses on strengthening your back, specifically the largest muscle in your back — the latissimus dorsi. This machine can also help train your biceps, rear delts, traps, and rhomboids. Want to build that V-taper? The lat pulldown machine is your go-to option. Check out our list of our highest rated lat pulldown machines to find the perfect fit for you and start sculpting your dream physique today.

There are many types of lat pulldown machines available with different specifications. You could even find a lat pulldown attachment to a power rack. We’ve created this comprehensive guide on the nine best lat pulldown machines in 2023. It features the best overall brand this year and great options for your home gym. We discuss what to look for in a lat pulldown machine and how to find which works best for you.

The Best Lat Pulldown Machines of 2024

1. Overall Best Lat Pulldown Machine: Body-Solid Pro Clubline SLM300G
2. Best Commercial Lat Pulldown: York STS Lat Pulldown
3. Best Commercial Plate Load Lat Pulldown: Steelflex PLLA Lat Pulldown
4. Best Plate Loaded Lat Pulldown for Home Gyms: Body-Solid GLM83 Pro Lat Machine
5. Best Budget Lat Pulldown: Powerline PLM180X Lat Machine
6. BodyKore GR638 Lat Pulldown Low Row
7. TKO Strength Achieve Lat Pulldown Mid Row
8. Muscle D MDD-1004 Lat Pulldown Low Row
9. York FTS Lat Pulldown Low Row

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Best Overall Lat Pulldown Machine

Body-Solid Pro Clubline SLM300G Lat Pull Mid Row

The Body-Solid Pro Clubline SLM300G is our overall best lat pulldown machine. We also consider this machine the best-selectorized lat pulldown machine for home gyms.

The Body-Solid Pro Clubline SLM300G offers a combination design that lets you quickly switch between lat pulldowns and seated rows without changing the cables. It comes with adjustable hold-down pads that stabilize you for lifting heavier weights.

Moreover, it offers a lifetime in-home warranty, commercial warranty, nylon self-lubricating cables, and a double-coat powder finish that protects against scratching. 

Weight Stack: 210lb Stack (10lb increments) or 310lb Stack (15lb increments)

Product Rating: Full Commercial

Footprint: 64" L x 46" W x 83" H

Attachments Included: Lat pulldown bar, mid row triangle

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2. Best Commercial Lat Pulldown Machine: York STS Lat Pulldown

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3. Best Commercial Plate Loaded Pulldown: Steelflex PLLA Lat Pulldown

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4. Best Lat Pulldown for Home Gyms: Body-Solid GLM83 Pro Lat Machine

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5. Best Budget Lat Pulldown: Powerline PLM180X Lat Machine

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6. BodyKore GR638 Lat Pulldown Low Row

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7. TKO Strength Achieve Lat Pulldown Mid Row

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8. Muscle D MDD-1004 Lat Pulldown Low Row

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 9. York FTS Lat Pulldown Low Row

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What Is a Lat Pulldown Machine?

A lat pulldown machine is a piece of equipment that bodybuilders, weightlifters, and fitness enthusiasts use to build their backs and strengthen their lat muscles. As its name indicates, this machine focuses on the latissimus dorsi, which covers most of the back and is the largest muscle in the upper body. You can use the lat pulldown machine to do exercises like the lat pulldown, considered one of the most effective routines for developing your lats. Because of their popularity, you'll see them in all commercial gyms and smart home gym owners prioritze space for this type of machine.

Benefits of Lat Pulldowns

Lat pulldowns have multiple variations that you can do by easily changing the handle you’re using. For example, a close grip handle will target your biceps and inner back muscles more, while the long bar attachment will engage the outer back muscles more. In addition, this study found pulldowns to activate your abs more than pull-ups (1). Lat pulldowns are also great for athletes who do sports requiring pulling motion similar to this exercise, including wrestling, swimming, and gymnastics. 

BioMechanics of Lat Pulldowns

These are the two primary joint actions that happen during lat pull downs:

The Concentric Phase

The concentric phase in a lat pulldown happens when you pull the bar toward your chest and causes a concentric muscle contraction. During these contractions, your muscle exerts force when shortening. The concentric phase of the lat pulldown causes shoulder adduction, elbow flexion, shoulder horizontal abduction, downward rotation of the scapulae, and scapulae retraction. 

The Eccentric Phase

A lat pulldown's eccentric phase happens when you return to the start position, causing eccentric body muscle action. During this action, your muscles exert force when lengthening and returning to a position of natural rest. It’s also called the “negative” in resistance training. During the lat pulldown's eccentric phase, you experience shoulder abduction, elbow extension, horizontal shoulder adduction, upward rotation of the scapulae, and scapulae protraction.  

Muscles Worked in Lat Pulldown

One of the reasons why the lat pulldown is so important is that it works multiple important muscles in the upper body. Here’s a look at the muscle groups you can recruit with this overhead pulling motion. 

About Latissimus Dorsi

When you look at people with well-defined backs, the wing-like muscles you see are known as the lats. The lats originate from the spine, pelvis, lower ribs, and scapula, then inserted on the front of your upper arm bone (the humerus). These muscles are expansive and assist with respiration. Your lats also contribute to the extension and lateral flexion of your lumbar spine.

The latissimus dorsi is the largest muscle in your back and the main beneficiary of this exercise. Your lats are responsible for your arm's adduction, extension, horizontal abduction, and internal rotation. You carry out these actions during the concentric phase of a lat pulldown. 

Other Muscles Worked

Since the lat is a compound exercise, many other muscles work alongside the lats during the routine. They include the brachialis, brachioradialis, biceps brachii, lower and middle traps, abs, wrist and hand flexors, and the infraspinatus. This study highlights how these muscles are involved in lat pulldowns (2). 

Lat Pulldown Technique

Here are some important things to note for performing the lat pulldown effectively and safely. 

What to Do

• Keep your back straight while pulling down since arching or rounding could increase your risk of an injury — if you find this hard to do, you are using too much weight, so you should lower that.

• Maintain control throughout your reps.

• Avoid leaning back too far as you bring the bar down. 

• Squeeze your shoulder blades and hold for a few seconds before returning to the start position to maximize gains. 

• Don’t shrug at the top of your movement.

What Not to Do

• Proper form is important, so don’t arch or round your back.

• Don’t pull with your forearms; pull from your armpits to work the lats properly. 

• You’ll get the best results using a grip close to shoulder width. (We'll talk more about grip width later.)

• Avoid pulling the bar too far because you could put too much stress on your shoulders. 

• Don’t pull too fast, which means you use momentum instead of muscle power. 

The Lat Pulldown Machine Buyers' Guide 

There are many factors to consider if you want to buy a lat pulldown machine you’re happy with. Here are the main features to look out for when making your purchase.

Weight Stack or Plate Loaded

Do you need a weight stack or a plate-loaded lat pulldown machine? If you have a serious gym at home with weights ready for use, a plate-loaded machine might be what you need. That way, you don’t need to buy anything extra; they’re cheaper and lighter.

A weight stack machine might be best for those just getting started and needing these weights or space. Weights can often be changed quickly with this, as all you need to do is pull the pin out and put it back at your selected range. This saves you time, and your workouts can happen faster. While more expensive, these machines are heavier and thus more stable.

Weight Capacity

While this might mean little to beginners, your current strength level and goal affect your desired machine. If you're already quite strong, go for something with a higher weight capacity. Muscle hypertrophy requires a machine with a maximum weight capacity.

Bottom Pulley / Row Options

Some lat pulldown machines come with additional low pulley stations or mid-pulley stations that you can use for other exercises. This makes your machine more versatile and allows you to do other exercises like a cable row, curls, seated rows, resisted hip abductions, and more. 

Adjustable Seat

The best lat pulldown machines come with an adjustable seat and thigh pads that you can move the seat height into a secure but comfortable position; this plays a key role in your technique and form. Your machine should offer thigh support that comes right over the top of your thighs with a bit of pressure to stop your legs from lifting as you pull down. 

Warranty

It’s important to get a durable lat pulldown machine that will last long. The warranty coming with your machine often speaks to how durable the equipment is and the brand’s confidence. Some lat pulldown machines have only a year warranty, while others offer a lifetime frame warranty. 

Common Lat Machine Exercises

Lat machines are versatile and not confined to lat pulldowns. They can activate almost all upper body muscles that a cable machine targets. Below are the different lat pulldown variations you can do with a lat machine and other exercises. 

Lat Pulldowns (grip variations)

Mixing up the grip positions during your lat pulldown can change the specifics of the muscle activation. 

• The overhand (pronated) or underhand(supinated) grip lat pulldowns emphasize different muscles. The pronated grip focuses more on the upper lats than the supinated grip. The supinated grip allows you to pull the weight down further, maximizing the contraction at the bottom of each rep. The supinated grip is also known as the reverse grip lat pulldown.

• The shoulder width or close grip lat pulldown emphasizes different muscles. The shoulder width pushes your upper lats more while the close grip better activates the lower lats. 

• The neutral grip lat pulldown puts your hands in a more neutral position, with your palms facing each other. This lets you pull more weight with this grip and activates your biceps more.

• The V-bar lat pulldown uses a V-bar attachment and puts your wrists at a more neutral angle. This leads to significant activation of the brachialis and brachioradialis. 

Straight Arm Pulldowns

Straight arm pulldowns are usually done standing with your elbows extended nearly fully the entire time. This lat pulldown variation activates your triceps and gives you a full range of motion. 

Single Arm Pulldowns

If your lat machine allows you to pull an individual bar, you can try single-arm pulldowns. They’re great for building your mind-muscle connection and working on muscle imbalances.

Standing Seating or Kneeling Lat Pulldowns

Standing, seating, or kneeling lat pulldowns work similar muscles but fire slightly different muscle neurons. Standing requires more core activation, while kneeling will force your lats to pull the weight. 

Tricep Work

You can do overhead extensions or tricep pulldowns on a lat pulldown machine. The attachment to use is a double-ended rope, and both are isolation exercises that target your triceps. In the case of the tricep pulldowns, you can target different heads of the tricep by using either an overhand or underhand grip and a straight bar attachment. 

Bicep Work

Lat pulldown machines can do a high cable bicep curl for those wishing to build bigger biceps. This variation of the standard cable bicep curl is an isolation exercise that uses low resistance and high reps for effectiveness. A single-hand attachment with a variable grip is best for this routine. 

Face Pulls

Face pulls are great for your rear deltoids. You use either a double-handed or single-handed attachment on a lat pulldown machine. You can also use a tricep rope.  

Attachments for Lat Machines

Here are some important attachments that you can use on your machine to add variety:

Straight Lat Bar

You can use this regular straight bar on a lat pulldown machine for your underhand and overhand lat pulldowns. It’s made of steel or aluminum and is sometimes angled off to the sides. Some straight lat bars could come with handles on each end.

Single and Double D Handle

Single or double D handlebars are either made of plastic or metal. The single is used for the single-arm lat pulldowns. Double handlebars are what you use for the neutral grip lat pulldowns and also work for rows. 

Tricep Rope

The tricep rope is a two-ended rope that allows you to hit the different heads of your triceps on tricep extensions. It’s also the attachment to use for face pulls and tricep pulldowns. 

Tricep Bar

A tricep bar is a small bar with a unique pronated grip. You can use this attachment for curls and tricep extensions. 

 

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Best Lat Pulldown Machines Conclusion

A lat pulldown machine is a great investment for building a wide, strong back. You'll surely find an option that fits your goals from our top nine best lat pulldown machines. Factors to consider include durability, weight capacity, warranty, and construction material.

Which One Is the Best Lat Pulldown Machine?

Our best lat pulldown machine pick is Body-Solid Pro Clubline SLM300G. This machine offers design, price, durability, and quality. It’s a customer favorite! 

Which is the Best Lat Pulldown Machine for Home Gyms?

When choosing a lat pulldown machine for your home, it’s important to consider factors like cost, footprint, and even the kind of weight used. You want a lat pulldown machine with a low home gym footprint that doesn't cost too much. Also, if you already have plates, a plate-loaded machine may be better as they'll cost less, and you can use your available plates on them. 

References

1. Doma, K., Deakin, G. B., & Ness, K. F. (2013). Kinematic and electromyographic comparisons between chin-ups and lat-pull down exercises. Sports biomechanics, 12(3), 302–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2012.760204 

2. Ronai, Peter M.S., FACSM, ACSM-CEP, ACSM-EP, EIM Level III, CSCS. The Lat Pulldown. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal 23(2):p 24-30, 3/4 2019. | DOI: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000469