One-Arm Lat Pulldown

Muscles worked by the One-Arm Lat Pulldown

Primary

LatsLatissimus Dorsi

Secondary

BicepsBiceps BrachiiRear DeltsPosterior DeltoidRhomboidsRhomboid Muscles

Also called: lats, lat, latissimus dorsi, latissimus, back wings.

Equipment

Cable Machine

Also called: cable pulley, functional trainer, cable crossover, cable column, cable station, pulley machine.

How to do the One-Arm Lat Pulldown

1. Attach a single-handle to the cable pulldown station and sit with your thighs secured under the pad.
2. Reach up and grasp the handle with one hand, arm fully extended.
3. Pull the handle down toward your shoulder, driving your elbow toward your hip.
4. Pause briefly at full contraction, then return to the starting position with control.
5. Complete all reps on one side before switching.

Form tips

• Lean slightly away from the cable to increase lat stretch at the top.
• Focus on pulling with your elbow, not your hand, to keep the lat engaged.
• Control the eccentric to maximize lat tension throughout the range.

At a glance

One-Arm Lat Pulldown in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Behind-the-Neck Lat Pulldown
• V-Bar Lat Pulldown
• Archer Pull Ups
• Assisted Pull Ups
• Band Assisted Pull Ups
• Banded Lat Stretch
• Barbell Pullover
• Behind-the-Neck Pull-Up

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "one-arm-lat-pulldown",
  "name_en": "One-Arm Lat Pulldown",
  "name_de": "Einarmiges Lat-Pulldown",
  "name_es": "Jalón al Pecho con Un Brazo",
  "description_en": "A unilateral cable pulldown that targets the latissimus dorsi with a single-arm handle, allowing a greater range of motion and bilateral strength imbalances to be addressed.",
  "description_de": "Ein einseitiges Kabelzugübung für den Latissimus mit einem Einzelgriff, der eine größere Bewegungsweite ermöglicht und Kraftungleichgewichte ausgleicht.",
  "description_es": "Un jalón en cable unilateral con manija individual que trabaja el dorsal ancho permitiendo mayor rango de movimiento y corrección de desequilibrios.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "cable",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "latissimus_dorsi"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "biceps_brachii",
    "posterior_deltoid",
    "rhomboids"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "pull_day",
    "back_focus"
  ],
  "variation_group": "lat-pulldown",
  "is_unilateral": true,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Attach a single-handle to the cable pulldown station and sit with your thighs secured under the pad.",
    "Reach up and grasp the handle with one hand, arm fully extended.",
    "Pull the handle down toward your shoulder, driving your elbow toward your hip.",
    "Pause briefly at full contraction, then return to the starting position with control.",
    "Complete all reps on one side before switching."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Einen Einzelgriff an der Kabelzugmaschine befestigen und mit gesicherten Oberschenkeln hinsetzen.",
    "Den Griff mit einer Hand greifen, Arm vollständig gestreckt.",
    "Den Griff zur Schulter herunterziehen und dabei den Ellbogen zur Hüfte führen.",
    "Kurz in der vollen Kontraktion halten, dann kontrolliert zur Ausgangsposition zurückführen.",
    "Alle Wiederholungen einer Seite ausführen, dann wechseln."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Sujeta una manija individual al jalón de cable y siéntate con los muslos asegurados bajo el soporte.",
    "Agarra la manija con una mano, brazo completamente extendido.",
    "Tira de la manija hacia tu hombro llevando el codo hacia la cadera.",
    "Pausa brevemente en la contracción máxima, luego vuelve con control.",
    "Completa todas las repeticiones en un lado antes de cambiar."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Lean slightly away from the cable to increase lat stretch at the top.",
    "Focus on pulling with your elbow, not your hand, to keep the lat engaged.",
    "Control the eccentric to maximize lat tension throughout the range."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Leicht von der Kabel wegneigen, um die Latissimus-Dehnung oben zu verbessern.",
    "Mit dem Ellbogen, nicht der Hand ziehen, um den Latissimus aktiv zu halten.",
    "Die Abwärtsbewegung kontrollieren, um maximale Latissimus-Spannung zu halten."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Inclínate ligeramente alejándote del cable para maximizar el estiramiento del dorsal arriba.",
    "Tira con el codo, no con la mano, para mantener el dorsal activado.",
    "Controla la fase excéntrica para maximizar la tensión en el dorsal durante todo el rango."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/one-arm-lat-pulldown-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/one-arm-lat-pulldown-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "one-arm-lat-pulldown");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.