Lat pull downs?
 

Ok, I love love love this move, but I have a question as I am getting conflicting info on doing this correctly now.
I feel more when the bar goes behind my head/neck but have read many articles and books that say NOT to do that, but lean back and pull the bar in front of you to chest level. I never feel it this way, even when I have had a trainer with me, I never felt it.
The reason given to not pull behind the head is b/c it stresses the shoulder rotator or cuff creating an imbalance and setting up for injury in the future.
So which way is correct? I certainly do not want to do anything that can cause imbalace or injury, but I also want to feel the work put into the muscle as well.

I do dumbell lat rows as well, but I really like the machine, so any hel is appreciated.
TIA!

The gals here and a physiotherapist told me to pull in front. I love these too. Makes me feel taller and slender when I'm done :)
Let's see if the others have some scientific answer.

I agree that you never want to do any behind the neck move, whether it's military press or lat pulldowns or whatever. The reason that I was taught is because it's impossible to keep your head, neck, and spine in a neutral position when you are coming behind your head (you're forced to jut your head forward) and the potential is there for serious injury, not just to your rotator cuffs.

The correct way to do a lat pulldown is to lean back very slightly and be sure that the only part of you that is moving is your arms. Your upper body should not move at all (no rocking back like it's an ab exercise!) Think about using your back muscles to pull the bar down - mind/muscle connection - and squeeeeze your shoulder blades together and down. Pretend that you have jeans on and you're trying to pull your shoulder blades down into your back pockets.

When you say that you don't 'feel' it, is it that you don't get sore the next day? Or that you don't feel like you're working to muscle exhaustion or failure? Or that you just don't feel the muscle group being worked? For me, my back rarely gets sore from a back workout, even when I work totally to failure. Some muscle groups get sore, some don't ... :?:

a really good lat exercise i use that does burn. get a smith machine (or a bar if you can get it low enough) place a bench under it sideways about 4feet out. then you hold the bar with your hands and hang under it with your feet on the bench for support. you then do pull ups (laying almost horizontally) using the bar. works the same muscles and you can really feel it

When you do lat pull downs behind your neck, you are most likely feeling them in your shoulders (the tiny rotator cuff muscles), rather than your lats. Meg explained very well how to do them correctly.

I don't get sore from lat pull downs either, even if I do them to muscle failure. Try supersetting them with assisted pullups or real pullups if you can do them, or negatives if your gym doesn't have an assisted pullup machine. Doing a pullup from a horizontal position as slimmingsi suggested is a great exercise, but targets midback more than lats.

Another good lat exercise is a dumbbell or barbell pullover.

Mel

I used to do barbell pullovers for triceps and upper abs, but I was doing them flat on the floor. A little thing like laying on a bench and dropping your hands past the bench makes a whole new exercise! I love that about weights and lifting.
I think I read the difference in the Body Sculpting Bible for Women.

When doing it with arms in front, I never get sore the next day, even when using 60/70 lbs for the move. Even when using the machine, I do not feel the muscle being worked, it feels like my arms are doing the work and that can even be with 50 lbs being used (the machines I have access to do not allow this to go under 50 lbs.)
When I do lat row with free weights though, I feel the muscle working and I don;t necesaruly feel it the next day, depending upon how much weight used, reps and variations(pulses/static holds, 4 count etc) done.

when you do it next actually focus on the movement of your shoulder blades. make sure they come right back and hold it for 2 seconds then go back up. if that doesn't burn then i'm out of suggestions

What has helped me in feeling the lat pulldown more is the make sure your elbows are pointing down and to really squeeze when you feel your triceps hitting your lats on the side. It also helps to position your hands at different spots on the bar, wide, medium and narrow ...

And make sure that your thumbs are on top of the bar with the rest of your fingers, not wrapped around the bar. Wrapping fires your biceps so that you don't have to use your lats as much. Try different grips and bars- changing to a very narrow grip will change how you feel it, as will using a very wide bar. Generally, the narrower, the heavier you will be able to pull.

Mel

Thanks, firmgirl, for starting this thread. There's been some good information in it. That suggestion of Mel's (just above) about not 'wrapping' the thumb is interesting. I'll definitely try not to do that.