Lat Pulldown

The lat pulldown is the machine most people learn the pulling pattern on, and for good reason: you sit down, grab a bar a little wider than your shoulders, and pull it to your chest while a cable resists the whole way. The lats do the bulk of the work, drawing your arms down and back, while the biceps and forearms pitch in to finish each rep. Its biggest advantage is that the load is fully adjustable, so a complete beginner and a strong lifter can both train the same movement at a weight that fits — which makes it the natural stepping stone toward a real pull-up. Sit tall, lock your thighs under the pad, and pull with your back rather than yanking with your arms; leaning way back or heaving the bar shifts the work off the target and can nag at the shoulders. It builds fewer total pounds of back than a heavy row, but as a controllable, easy-to-scale way to develop the lats and groove the pull, it's hard to beat.