LatsCable machineBeginner

How to Do the Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

ยท Updated Sep 30, 2026

A neutral grip lat pulldown is a cable pulldown with your palms facing each other, on a V-bar or a bar with parallel handles. Drive your elbows down and pull the handles 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.

Sets x reps 3-4 x 8-12
Median 10-rep weight 15067.5 lbkg men 8037.5 lbkg women
Muscles Lats, biceps, mid back
Setup High pulley, V-bar or parallel-grip bar
Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown start and pull positions
  1. 1Start. Palms facing each other and arms fully extended overhead, sitting tall with a slight lean back.
  2. 2Pull. Drive your elbows down to your sides and pull the handles to your upper chest.
Watch 3 video demonstrations
Video 1 of 3

Find more video demonstrations in the Gravitus app

Technique

How to do a neutral grip lat pulldown

  1. Clip a V-bar or a parallel-grip bar to the high pulley. Set the knee pad so it locks your thighs down.
  2. Grab the handles with your palms facing each other. Sit tall and lean back 10 to 15 degrees from the hips.
  3. Start with your arms straight, then pull your shoulders down, away from your ears.
  4. Drive your elbows down to your sides and pull the handles to your upper chest. Keep the same lean the whole rep.
  5. Let the handles rise over 2 to 3 seconds until your arms are straight and your lats are stretched.
Grip and handle

Grip width and handle, what changes

Palms facing, closeV-barThe most common neutral grip. It is easy on the wrists and elbows, and lat work matched the other grips.
Palms facing, wideWide neutral barParallel handles outside your shoulders. It gave the same lat work as the V-bar and a wide overhand bar.
Palms forwardWide overhand barThe standard lat pulldown. It beat underhand for the lats in two small studies and tied with it in the largest.
Palms toward youUnderhandBiceps activity did not rise with this grip in either study that measured it.

The largest study so far tested seven pulldown grips in 40 trained men at 70% of their max. Lat activity did not differ between any of them, and neither did biceps, middle trap or lower trap activity (Buonsenso 2025). A V-bar also matched a wide overhand bar for the lats in 24 trained men (Sperandei 2009). Two smaller studies found wide overhand beat underhand, and one also beat a close grip (Lusk 2010, Signorile 2002). No study has compared grips for muscle growth over weeks.

Compare

Neutral vs wide overhand vs underhand

NeutralWide overhandUnderhand
Lat activitySame in the two largest studiesSame, or higher in two small studiesSame, or lower in two small studies
Biceps activitySame, or a little higherSameSame
Best forSore wrists or elbows, heavy setsPrograms that list the standard pulldownA change of grip
Verdict

Pick the grip that feels best on your shoulders and elbows and that you can keep adding weight to. The lats do about the same work in all of them.

Myths

Grip myths the research does not support

"A wide grip builds a wider back." With an overhand grip at 1, 1.5 and 2 times shoulder width, lat activity was similar, and the widest grip moved about 4% less weight for 6 reps (Andersen 2014). No study has compared grip widths for lat growth.

"Neutral grip hits the lower lats." No pulldown study has measured upper vs lower lat activity by grip. The one study that tested narrow and wide neutral grips found both equal to overhand and underhand for the lats (Buonsenso 2025).

"Neutral grip takes the biceps out" or "underhand turns it into a curl." Biceps activity was the same overhand and underhand (Lusk 2010), and across seven grips including neutral (Buonsenso 2025). One study found a little more biceps work with a V-bar than a wide bar (Sperandei 2009). Every pulldown bends the elbow, so the biceps always help.

"Behind the neck works the lats harder." Pulling to the front gave more lat activity than behind the neck in one study (Signorile 2002) and the same in another, where behind the neck added rear delt and biceps work (Sperandei 2009). Pull to the front.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you use on a neutral grip lat pulldown?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 150 lb (67.5 kg) for 10 reps on the neutral grip lat pulldown, and the median woman 80 lb (37.5 kg).

Men, typical 150 lb for 10 reps
Most lift
120 to 175 lb
Top 10% lift
200 lb or more
Starting out
under 120 lb
Women, typical 80 lb for 10 reps
Most lift
65 to 95 lb
Top 10% lift
115 lb or more
Starting out
under 65 lb
Men, typical 67.5 kg for 10 reps
Most lift
55 to 80 kg
Top 10% lift
90 kg or more
Starting out
under 55 kg
Women, typical 37.5 kg for 10 reps
Most lift
30 to 42.5 kg
Top 10% lift
50 kg or more
Starting out
under 30 kg
PercentileMenWomen
25th160 / 120 lb90 / 65 lb
Median200 / 150 lb110 / 80 lb
75th235 / 175 lb130 / 95 lb
90th265 / 200 lb150 / 115 lb
 One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 5,029 men and 846 women who log the neutral grip lat pulldown on Gravitus, computed Oct 14, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
PercentileMenWomen
25th72.5 / 55 kg40 / 30 kg
Median90 / 67.5 kg50 / 37.5 kg
75th107.5 / 80 kg57.5 / 42.5 kg
90th120 / 90 kg67.5 / 50 kg
 One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 5,029 men and 846 women who log the neutral grip lat pulldown on Gravitus, computed Oct 14, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Stack numbers are not comparable between machines. Pulley ratios and cams differ, so the same pin can feel much heavier in one gym than another. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine.
Anatomy

Muscles worked

Lats and teres majorPull your upper arms down and back to your sides.
Primary
BicepsBend the elbow. Grip changes their work little, if at all.
Secondary
Brachialis and brachioradialisBend the elbow alongside the biceps.
Secondary
Rhomboids and mid trapsPull your shoulder blades down and together at the bottom.
Secondary
Rear deltsHelp pull the arms back. Worked harder with a 30 degree lean on a wide overhand bar (Buonsenso 2025).
Secondary
CoreHolds your torso at the same lean.
Stabilizer
ForearmsHold the handles.
Stabilizer
Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3-4Sets
8-12Reps
0-2Reps left

Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range you can keep strict.

Add reps first. When every set reaches the top of your range, move the pin down one plate and drop back to the bottom of the range.

Form

Common mistakes

Variations

Neutral grip lat pulldown variations

V-bar lat pulldownClose handles a few inches apart. The most common neutral grip setup.
Wide neutral grip lat pulldownParallel handles outside the shoulders, on a multi-grip or MAG-style bar.
Lat pulldownOverhand on a straight bar. The standard version.
Close-grip lat pulldownOverhand, hands about shoulder width apart.
Underhand lat pulldownPalms toward you, hands about shoulder width apart.
Single-arm lat pulldownOne D handle, one side at a time.
Neutral grip pull-upThe bodyweight version, on parallel handles.
FAQ

Questions people ask

What does neutral grip lat pulldown work?

The lats most, with the teres major. The biceps, brachialis, rear delts, rhomboids and mid traps help, and the core and forearms hold you in place.

Is neutral grip lat pulldown better?

Not for the lats. In 40 trained men, lat activity was the same with neutral, wide overhand and underhand grips (Buonsenso 2025). It is better if it feels easier on your wrists, elbows or shoulders and lets you train harder.

Does neutral grip lat pulldown work lower lats?

No study shows that. No pulldown study has measured upper vs lower lat activity by grip, and the studies that measured the lats found every grip about equal (Buonsenso 2025).

What is a neutral grip?

Palms facing each other with your thumbs on top, the way you hold a hammer. On a pulldown you get it from a V-bar or a bar with parallel handles.

How much weight should I lat pulldown with a neutral grip?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 150 lb (67.5 kg) for men and 80 lb (37.5 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 175 lb (80 kg) and 95 lb (42.5 kg) or more.

Gravitus See where your neutral grip lat pulldown ranks

Log every set and see your percentile on every lift, neutral grip lat pulldown included.

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References
  1. Buonsenso et al. 2025. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol 10(3):345.
  2. Andersen et al. 2014. J Strength Cond Res 28(4):1135-1142.
  3. Lusk, Hale and Russell 2010. J Strength Cond Res 24(7):1895-1900.
  4. Signorile, Zink and Szwed 2002. J Strength Cond Res 16(4):539-546.
  5. Sperandei et al. 2009. J Strength Cond Res 23(7):2033-2038.
  6. Snyder and Leech 2009. J Strength Cond Res 23(8):2204-2209.
  7. Schoenfeld et al. 2021. Sports 9(2):32.