Reverse grip pulldowns are often incorporated into a training program for your back. It is performed on a cable apparatus with a straight bar. Grip the bar about shoulder-width apart with your palms facing your body. Sit down and pull the bar down under your chin. Slowly raise the bar until your arms are straight above you for one complete repetition. This exercise works your latissimus dorsi, biceps, middle back muscles and the rear part of your deltoid.
Latissimus Dorsi
Your latissimus dorsi, or lats, are the largest muscles in your back. They are fan-shaped, wide near your spine and coming together on your upper arm. The lats originate along the vertebrae starting in the middle of your back all the way down to your sacrum, and on the lower three ribs. The muscle then attaches onto your humerus. The lats are responsible for extending your arm as you pull the bar down, and also medially rotating your upper arm.
Biceps
Your biceps lie along the front of your upper arm. The main action of the biceps is elbow flexion, or bending the elbow as you pull the bar down toward you in the reverse pulldown. It crosses both the shoulder and elbow joints, originating on the scapula and inserting over the elbow on the radius in your forearm. Secondary movements include flexion of the shoulder, or raising your arm in front of your body, and rotating the forearm.
Middle Back Muscles
Your rhomboids and middle fibers of the trapezius are located in the middle of your back and aid in reverse pulldowns. These muscles start on the spine and insert on the scapula. In this exercise as your arms are extended your scapula are flared away from your spine. When you start to pull down, the rhomboids and traps contract, pulling the scapula down and in toward your spine.
Posterior Deltoid
Your deltoids have three sections: anterior, medial and posterior. The muscle fans over the top of the shoulder joint and comes together onto your humerus. The posterior fibers originate on the spine of the scapula. This section of your deltoid is responsible for extension, transverse extension and abduction as well as lateral rotation. It aids the lats in pulling the bar down in a reverse pulldown.
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