Reverse Grip Plate Loaded Machine Lat Pulldown
In SetGrip: Machine Lat Pulldown (Reverse Grip, Plate Loaded)
An underhand grip on a plate-loaded lever machine shifts extra work to the biceps while the fixed arc keeps the pull consistent rep to rep. Compared with the selectorized version, swapping plates is slower between sets but lets you load in small jumps, so it suits straight heavy sets more than drop sets.
How to do the Reverse Grip Plate Loaded Machine Lat Pulldown
- Adjust the seat height and position yourself on the machine with your knees under the pads and your feet flat on the ground.
- Grasp the handles with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Sit upright with your chest out and shoulders back, maintaining a slight arch in your lower back.
- Pull the handles down towards your chest, leading with your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Pause for a moment at the bottom of the movement, then slowly release the handles back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tip: Pull the elbows toward your hips, not the bar toward your chin.
Muscles worked
Primary
Lats · Back
The lats pull the upper arm down and in, and you should feel a stretch at the top of the rep and a squeeze at the bottom along the sides of the back.
Common mistakes
- Rowing the bar — a slight lean is fine but if the torso swings past 30 degrees you are rowing, not pulling down; sit tall and let the elbows travel straight down.
- Pulling behind the neck by accident — unless you are deliberately training the behind-the-neck version light with good shoulder mobility, bring the bar to the top of the chest and no further.
- Starting with the arms — initiate by pulling the shoulders down away from the ears, then let the elbows follow.
- Stack slamming on the return — control the bar all the way back up until the arms are straight and the lats are stretched.
Where it fits in a workout
Pulldowns go after pull-ups or as the main vertical pull if you cannot do pull-ups yet. Superset with a straight arm pulldown or cable row on the same stack.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
Without machine
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
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Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.