Seated One-Arm Pulldown
A single-arm cable pulldown done seated under the high pulley: you pull one handle down to your side with your palm facing in, working one lat at a time.
- Primary muscles
- Lats
- Secondary
- Upper back, Biceps, Obliques
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
Working one side at a time lets you reach further at the top and drive your elbow further down at the bottom than a two-handed bar allows, so you get a long, full lat contraction. It also shows whether one side is weaker and gives that side its own work. Compared with the half-kneeling version, the seat and knee pad lock your hips in place, so you can usually load it a little heavier and focus on the arm path alone.
How to do it
Attach a single handle to the high pulley and set the knee pad snug against your thighs.
Sit facing the machine and take the handle in one hand with your palm facing in, arm extended overhead.
Pull the handle down to your side, driving your elbow past your ribs until your hand is level with your thigh.
Let it rise slowly to a full stretch. Working one side at a time gives you more range at the top than a two-handed pulldown.
Common mistakes
Twisting your torso to finish
A slight turn is natural, but rotating your whole upper body toward the handle replaces the lat with your trunk. Stay square to the machine and pull with your elbow.
Pulling with the hand, not the elbow
If you lead with your hand, the biceps does most of the work. Drive your elbow down past your ribs and let your hand just hold on.
Skipping the reach at the top
The extra stretch is the reason to train one arm at a time. Let the handle pull your arm up and your shoulder blade rise before each rep.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
