There is a new way to do lat pulldowns that might be superior to the standard machine, in my opinion.  Lat machines are a standard in most healthclubs and gyms.

They let you work your back, arms, shoulders, and grip at the same time.  While pullups and chinups are a great exercise, not many have adequate strength to do this demanding exercise.

I was talking to my father recently about his cardiac maintenance program.  About a month ago he graduated from his 12 week cardiac rehab program, after undergoing a quadruple bypass.  Anyway, he mentioned the different exercises he was doing and that some of the people were also doing strength training.

He was trying to describe the lat pulldown exercise – not knowing what it was called – and his description got my attention.  I thought he said something about pulling the bar down behind your head and I wanted to make sure, as this is an exercise that has significant risk of shoulder injury when done in this manner, especially for those over 45.

I then let him know that if he ever did this exercise that you want to pull the bar down in front of your head. I then told the story of an acquaintance of his who injured his shoulder a couple years ago while pulling the bar behind his head.

Due to postural changes and lack of use, many lose their shoulder flexibility over time.  A new alternative to the lat pulldown addresses this issue very nicely.  A seated rope climber called the VLT allows you to do the this exercise with one arm at a time, which has some added benefits.

This allows those with limited range of motion in their shoulders to only reach as high as they can without any pain.  By pulling down with one hand and then the other, similar to climbing a rope, you allow the user to control how high they reach – without fear of losing their grip on the bar.

Not long ago they were featured by trainer Gunnar Peterson in a Muscle and Fitness article……”Using these rope machines is very different from doing lat pulldowns and pullups because the hand-over-hand motion breaks the kinetic chain, forcing you to re-grip each time.”

I got to try them out a a fitness trade show last year and loved it.  Its definitely on the wish list for my studio.  It has 7 different resistance settings and can be used to train strength, cardio and grip all at the same time.  For those like my father who need increased shoulder flexibility and upper body strength, it is a perfect solution – his once powerful hands have become severely atrophied, due to disuse.

I have also seen it used on TV in the training of MMA athletes, including Quentin “Rampage” Jackson.  Pulling hand over hand at an all out pace is an intense and “fun” workout.  It can be included in a fat loss circuit, as well.

Brian Morgan

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