Band Kneeling Pulldown
A kneeling pulldown using an overhead band anchor — a home-friendly alternative to the cable lat pulldown.
- Works
- Back
- Also works
- Biceps
- Equipment
- Band
How to
- 1Anchor a band high overhead — over a door, a beam, or a pull-up bar — and grab both ends.
- 2Kneel down far enough that the band has tension at full arm extension, with arms reaching up and out.
- 3Pull both elbows down and slightly back toward your ribs, leading with the elbows rather than the hands.
- 4Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together at the bottom, feeling the lats fully contract.
- 5Slowly return to the starting position over 2 to 3 seconds, fighting the band the whole way up.
- 6Repeat for 10 to 15 reps, prioritizing a strong lat squeeze at the bottom of every rep.
Common mistakes
- Pulling with the biceps and bending the wrists, which leaves the lats understimulated.
- Leaning back excessively to use bodyweight, which turns the move into a row instead of a pulldown.
- Letting the shoulders shrug up to the ears at the top, losing the lat-pull pattern entirely.
- Snapping the band back up on the eccentric and missing the most muscle-building part of the rep.