Body part: Back · Muscle group: Upper lats, teres major · Equipment: lat pulldown · Time: 7–9 min
Why this exercise
Wide grip creates a longer moment arm at the shoulder joint, shifting the load to the upper lat fibers and teres major. The rear pulldown path emphasizes scapular retraction alongside the vertical pull.
Wide grip = longer shoulder moment arm — the wider hand position increases the perpendicular distance from the shoulder joint to the line of pull, increasing upper lat tension.
Rear pull path — the bar travels behind the head, engaging scapular retractors and upper lat fibers differently from a front pulldown.
Complementary to exercise 1 — the Nautilus pullover isolates lats in shoulder extension; the wide pulldown loads lats through adduction.
Placed second to load upper lat fibers through a different vector than the pullover.