How to Do a Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
A close-grip lat pulldown is a cable pulldown with your hands at or inside shoulder width, most often on a V-handle. Drive your elbows down close to your body and pull the handle to your upper chest. It trains the lats, with the biceps and mid back helping. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps.
- 1Start. V-handle on the high pulley, thighs locked under the pad. Arms straight overhead, sitting tall with a slight lean back.
- 2Pull. Drive your elbows down close to your body until the handle reaches your upper chest. Keep the same lean.
Watch 3 video demonstrations
Find more video demonstrations in the Gravitus app
How to do a close-grip lat pulldown
- Clip a V-handle to the high pulley, or use a straight bar. Set the thigh pad so it locks your legs down.
- Grab the handle with your hands at or inside shoulder width. Sit tall and lean back 10 to 15 degrees from the hips, so the handle can pass your chin.
- Start with your arms straight overhead, then pull your shoulders down, away from your ears.
- Drive your elbows down and slightly back, close to your body, until the handle touches your upper chest and your elbows are beside your ribs.
- Let the handle rise over 2 to 3 seconds until your arms are straight and your lats are stretched.
V-handle, overhand or underhand?
All three close grips train the lats about the same. The largest study tested a shoulder-width overhand grip, an underhand grip and a close palms-facing grip in 40 trained men at 70% of their max. Lat, biceps, middle trap and lower trap activity did not differ between them (Buonsenso 2025). Pick the grip that feels best on your wrists and elbows, and log each handle as its own lift, since the weights will not match.
What a close grip changes
A close grip changes the path of your arms more than the muscles that work. With your hands close, your elbows travel down in front of your body, which is shoulder extension. On a wide bar, your elbows sweep down and out to the sides, which is shoulder adduction. The lats do both jobs, which is why lat activity matched across grips in the largest study (Buonsenso 2025).
Finish each rep with your elbows beside your ribs and the handle at your upper chest. Lean back only as far as you need for the handle to clear your chin.
A close grip is often said to give a longer range of motion. No pulldown study has measured it. With your arms straight up, your hands start slightly higher than on a wide bar, and both grips finish at your chest, so the difference is small. The part of the range that matters most is the top: let your arms go fully straight so the lats stretch on every rep.
Think about driving your elbows down to your front pockets. Keep the lean the same from the first rep to the last.
How much weight should you use for close-grip lat pulldowns?
On Gravitus, the median man lifts 140 lb (62.5 kg) for 10 reps on the close-grip lat pulldown, and the median woman 75 lb (35 kg).
- Most lift
- 115 to 165 lb
- Top 10% lift
- 190 lb or more
- Starting out
- under 115 lb
- Most lift
- 60 to 90 lb
- Top 10% lift
- 110 lb or more
- Starting out
- under 60 lb
- Most lift
- 52.5 to 75 kg
- Top 10% lift
- 87.5 kg or more
- Starting out
- under 52.5 kg
- Most lift
- 27.5 to 40 kg
- Top 10% lift
- 50 kg or more
- Starting out
- under 27.5 kg
Close grip myths the research does not support
"Close grip builds thickness, wide grip builds width." No study has compared grip widths for back growth. Lat activity was similar with an overhand grip at 1, 1.5 and 2 times shoulder width (Andersen 2014), and across seven grips including three close ones (Buonsenso 2025).
"Close grip works the lower lats." No pulldown study has measured upper vs lower lat activity by grip width.
"Close grip works the biceps more." Not in the research. While pulling down, a grip 1.5 times shoulder width drew more biceps activity than a shoulder-width grip (Andersen 2014). Biceps activity was the same overhand and underhand (Lusk 2010), and across seven grips (Buonsenso 2025).
"Close grip lets you go much heavier." A shoulder-width overhand grip moved the same 6-rep max as a grip 1.5 times wider, about 175 lb (80 kg) in 15 men (Andersen 2014). Only the widest grip moved less.
Muscles worked
Close-grip pulldown vs wide-grip pulldown vs chin-up
| Attribute | Close-grip pulldown | Wide-grip pulldown | Chin-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elbows | Down in front of your ribs | Down and out to the sides | Down in front of your ribs |
| Lat activity | Same as wide in the largest studies | Same, or higher in two small studies | Similar to a pulldown |
| Load | About the same as a standard pulldown | A little less at the widest grip | Your bodyweight, plus or minus |
| Best for | Heavy lat work, if a wide bar feels awkward | Programs that list the standard pulldown | Pulling your own bodyweight |
Use the close or wide grip you can load and feel in your lats, since they train the lats about the same. Chin-ups work the biceps and lower back harder than a pulldown (Doma 2013), so add them once you can do a few.
Sets, reps and progression
Use the close-grip pulldown as your main vertical pull or after pull-ups. Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Muscle grows across a wide range of reps when sets are hard (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range you can keep strict.
Add reps first. When every set reaches 12 with the same lean, move the pin down one plate and drop back to 8.
Common mistakes
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Sitting bolt uprightThe handle hits your chin, or you tip your head back to clear it. Lean back 10 to 15 degrees before the first rep.
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Leaning far back and rockingThe pulldown turns into a row and momentum moves the weight. Hold the same lean all set, and go lighter.
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Letting the elbows flareOn a straight bar the elbows drift out to the sides. Keep them close so they finish beside your ribs.
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Pulling with your handsThink about driving your elbows down. In beginners, a lat-focused cue raised lat activity in the pulldown (Snyder 2009).
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Stopping short at the topStraighten your arms every rep so the lats get a full stretch, and lower over 2 to 3 seconds.
Close-grip lat pulldown variations
Questions people ask
What does close grip lat pulldown work?
The lats most, with the teres major. The biceps, brachialis, rhomboids, mid traps and rear delts help, and the core and forearms hold you in place.
What are close grip lat pulldowns good for?
Heavy lat work if a wide bar feels awkward. They train the lats about as much as other pulldown grips (Buonsenso 2025) and move the same weight as a medium grip (Andersen 2014).
Close grip lat pulldown overhand or underhand?
Either. At shoulder width, overhand drew more lat activity than underhand in 12 men (Lusk 2010), and the two were the same in 40 trained men (Buonsenso 2025). Biceps activity did not differ in either study. Use overhand as your default and underhand for a change.
Is close grip lat pulldown better than wide grip lat pulldown?
Not for the lats. Lat activity was similar at 1, 1.5 and 2 times shoulder width (Andersen 2014) and across seven grips (Buonsenso 2025). A wide overhand bar beat a close grip in one study of 10 men (Signorile 2002). Pick the one you can load and feel.
Close grip lat pulldown v bar or straight bar?
Either. A close palms-facing grip, a close overhand bar and a close underhand bar gave the same lat, biceps and trap activity in 40 trained men (Buonsenso 2025). Use the V-handle if your wrists or elbows prefer palms facing.
How much weight should I use for close grip lat pulldown?
For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 140 lb (62.5 kg) for men and 75 lb (35 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 165 lb (75 kg) and 90 lb (40 kg) or more.
Log every set and see your percentile on every lift, close-grip lat pulldown included.
Get GravitusRelated exercises
- Buonsenso et al. 2025. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol 10(3):345.
- Andersen et al. 2014. J Strength Cond Res 28(4):1135-1142.
- Lusk, Hale and Russell 2010. J Strength Cond Res 24(7):1895-1900.
- Signorile, Zink and Szwed 2002. J Strength Cond Res 16(4):539-546.
- Doma, Deakin and Ness 2013. Sports Biomech 12(3):302-313.
- Snyder and Leech 2009. J Strength Cond Res 23(8):2204-2209.
- Schoenfeld et al. 2021. Sports 9(2):32.