💥 BEHIND THE NECK LAT PULLDOWN

✅ Many swear by the behind the neck lat pulldown (BLP) as being the best way to activate the lats, and they’re absolutely wrong. For many reasons actually but we’ll focus on the key ones why you should avoid this exercise.

[wp_ad_camp_2]

✅ First thing; (BLP) elicits the same muscle activity as the regular lat pulldown, it however results in less of a pec activation but more of a bicep and posterior deltoid active activation(SANDRO SPERANDEI et al 2009). For that reason you probably feel the exercise as being “harder”. Again guys remember harder doesn’t always mean better. So instead of doing less weight with something potentially dangerous, choosing more weight with a regular lat pulldown and being able to focus on more of a eccentric loading of the lats will probably yield you a better benefit in the long run.

✅ Now the bigger reason why you should avoid it, doesn’t matter who you are whatever you say, you cannot change your bones structural anatomy to make this exercise less susceptible to injury. When doing behind the neck exercises, the shoulder joint is put in what’s called a high- 5 position which is >90 degrees of external rotation and abduction of the shoulder. This puts stress on the rotator cuff through an impingement mechanism because of how the subacromial space is structured. It is also possible to injure the cervical region because of the force head tilt to make room for the bar. (Martin Fees et al 1998).This happening to you will be unlikely but over time it can cause some lasting damage, It just takes one wrong move.

[wp_ad_camp_5]

[wp_ad_camp_3]

🚨 So combining the fact that the behind the neck lat pull down does not yield greater lat activation and actually predisposes us to a greater risk of injury should make you think about whether it’s worth it next time. What are your thoughts on the behind the neck lat pulldown now?