Overhand grip vs. underhand grip pulldowns

An overhand grip is when you hold onto a bar with your palms facing toward your body. This is also called a pronated grip.

On the flip side, an underhand grip means that you grasp the bar from underneath, with your palms facing away from you. An underhand grip is also called a supinated grip or a reverse grip.

In certain exercises, an overhand grip can help you gain grip strength and strengthen your forearm muscles as you work out.

An overhand grip can also help you target specific muscle groups that wouldn’t be activated as much when using an underhand grip. This depends on the specific push-pull exercise you’re performing and your specific weight-training goals.

Compared to the traditional lat pulldown, the supinated lat pulldown does a better job of training your lats. An underhand grip allows you to pull the weight down further than you normally would with an overhand grip. As a result, you maximize the contraction of your lats at the bottom of each rep, which helps to build a thicker, stronger back. A sturdy back is essential for improving your performance in athletics, other compound lifts, and simple day-to-day activities.

Hours of sitting in chairs at work or while driving can cause an underuse of your lats and other back muscles. As a result, this can lead to slouching, pain, and tension in your shoulders and back. The underhand lat pulldown can help to activate these under utilized muscles and reduce back pain or discomfort. With regular exercise, you will be standing upright with proper posture in no time.

While your lats do most of the heavy lifting, the supinated lat pulldown also engages your biceps, this enables you to pull down more weight.