Pullover Machine Guide: Master Lat Isolation
Learn how to use the pullover machine correctly to isolate your lats, improve posture, and build back width with our expert strength guide.
How to Perform
- Adjust the seat height so that your shoulder joints align perfectly with the machine's pivot point.
- Sit firmly against the backrest and place your elbows against the padded arm pads while gripping the overhead bar lightly.
- Engage your core and depress your shoulder blades to create a stable base for the movement.
- Drive your elbows down and back toward your hips in a smooth arc until the bar is near your midsection.
- Pause for a moment at the bottom of the movement to maximize muscular contraction.
- Slowly return the bar to the starting position while maintaining tension in your lats throughout the ascent.
- Avoid letting the weight stack touch between repetitions to keep the target muscles fully engaged.
Common Mistakes
- Rounding the lower back off the pad during the eccentric phase.
- Leading the movement with the hands rather than driving through the elbows.
- Setting the seat height too low, which causes shoulder impingement.
- Using momentum or swinging the torso to move the weight stack.
Muscles Worked
Primary movers
- Lats
Stabilizers
- Triceps
- Posterior Deltoids
- Serratus Anterior
- Teres Major
Related Guides
- 1-Arm Half-Kneeling Lat Pulldown — Back
- Alternating High Cable Row — Back
- Alternative DB Gorilla rows — Back
Lats · Back