Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown

How to do the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown

1. Attach a rope to a high pulley and make your weight selection. Stand a couple feet back from the pulley with your feet staggered and take the rope with both hands. Lean forward from the hip, keeping your back straight, with your arms extended up in front of you. This will be your starting position.
2. Keeping your arms straight, extend the shoulder to pull the rope down to your thighs.
3. Pause at the bottom of the motion, squeezing your lats.
4. Return to the starting position without allowing the weight to fully rest on the stack.

Muscles worked

Role	Muscles
Primary	lats
Equipment	cable machine
Difficulty	beginner
Type	isolation

No cable machine? Train the same muscles with these

Ordered by how likely you are to own the 6 options.

Chin-Up Bodyweight Pullups Bodyweight V-Bar Pullup Bodyweight Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up Bodyweight Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover Barbell Leverage Iso Row Machine

Harder than the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown

Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up intermediate · Bodyweight Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck intermediate · Cable Machine Weighted Pull Ups intermediate · Other Equipment

Superset the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown with

Opposing shoulders and chest work — alternate sets without extra rest.

Bent Over Low-Pulley Side Lateral shoulders Cable Crossover chest Cable Iron Cross chest Cable Rear Delt Fly shoulders

Common questions

What muscles does the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown work?

The Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown primarily works the lats. Cable Incline Pushdown, Straight-Arm Pulldown, and Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover train the same muscle, across 7 equipment types.

What equipment do you need for the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown?

A Cable Machine. Without a cable machine, Chin-Up, Pullups, and V-Bar Pullup train the same muscle, and 8 of the catalogue's options for this muscle need no equipment.

Is the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown suitable for beginners?

Yes, the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown is rated beginner. Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up, Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck, and Weighted Pull Ups are the progressions from here.

Where should the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown go in a workout?

Late — the Rope Straight-Arm Pulldown is isolation work, so it follows your compounds. Supersetting it with Bent Over Low-Pulley Side Lateral and Cable Crossover cuts session time without extra rest.

Similar exercises

Cable Incline Pushdown Cable Machine Straight-Arm Pulldown Cable Machine Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover Barbell Chin-Up Bodyweight Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown Cable Machine Elevated Cable Rows Cable Machine