The Reclining Lat Pulldown from Above

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Most lat exercises have you sitting upright like a well-behaved student. The Cable Incline Pushdown says, "Nah, lie back and relax — just kidding, this is going to burn." It's the laid-back cousin of the pulldown family, and it targets your lats from an angle that'll have you feeling muscles you didn't know existed.

Set up an incline bench facing AWAY from a high cable machine with a straight bar attached. Lie back on the bench and grab the bar overhead with an overhand grip at about shoulder height. Extend your arms out in front of you so the bar hovers just above your thighs. This is where the fun begins.

Keeping your upper arms motionless, raise the bar back overhead in a smooth semicircular arc. Inhale during this upward phase and feel the stretch spread across your lats like butter on warm toast. Then, using your lats, pull the bar back down to the starting position over your thighs. Exhale on the pull and really squeeze those back muscles at the bottom. Hold that contraction for a beat before going again.

The inclined position changes the angle of pull dramatically compared to a standard pulldown, hitting the lower lats especially hard. It also eliminates the temptation to lean back and use momentum, since the bench keeps you honest. If you want a back that looks like it was carved from a slab of granite, this exercise belongs in your rotation. Just don't fall asleep on that incline bench — it's comfortable but the weights won't wait.