Lat-Pull-Down Versus Pull-Ups… The Ultimate Showdown

Lat-pull-downs and pull-ups have constantly been compared and contrasted to conclude which is the better workout. Yet, there is no distinct answer. Now, this isn’t from a lack of investigation; instead, it’s because each exercise is better suited for different fitness goals.

They are as good as each other, in their own environment. While they both train the upper back, you can progressively overload a lat-pull-down workout, making it optimal for bodybuilders. Whereas, pull-ups have greater core engagement, so they better suit a calisthenics workout.

The mistake beginners make is trying to figure out which is the best exercise out of the two. What you need to do is establish whether lat-pull-downs or pull-ups better fit your personal training program. Don’t forget – you may even find out you need both!

This article will help you do exactly that. We go into extreme detail on the benefits, drawbacks, differences, and similarities between the two so that you have a clear differentiation.

Do Lat-Pull-Downs Or Pull-Ups Build More Muscle

Our most asked question is, which exercise gets you a wider back – and the answer is quite straightforward.

Lat pull-downs are far more efficient in building a wider back than pull-ups since they isolate the latissimus dorsi. This means they have a much heavier workload, and are put under significantly more tension – making it the best exercise for hypertrophy in the lats.

As opposed to pull-ups, which are a compound exercise. In this case, the load of your body weight is spread across multiple muscle groups (e.g. your forearms, shoulders, upper back, core), essentially reducing total muscle activation in your lats.

And you see this every day… all bodybuilders jump straight onto the lat-pull-down machine. It’s rare to see any bodybuilder start repping pull-ups. And, think about how wide their backs are; in fact, take a look at this photo:

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But, there’s something for you to consider.

Isolation exercises, specifically lat-pull down, have their perks where you can target individual muscles. And, while it sounds fantastic – there is a huge downfall to this. It’s the risk of muscle imbalances.

If you exclusively use the lat-pull-down machine, you won’t have a wide back. Yes, your lats will be huge; but, every other muscle group will be the same size as you started (since it’s an isolation exercise). You’ll end up with a disproportionate body frame. Not ideal.

This is where pull-ups come in. As it’s a compound exercise, you work all major muscle groups. So, you don’t have to be concerned about your shoulders, traps, or biceps being asymmetrical as they’re all conditioned in a single rep. While it’s harder to overload each muscle, it’s better than not training them.

The solution? Train both! Use the lat pull-down machine to focus on building wide lats, but also incorporate pull-ups to ensure a healthy physique.

Do Lat-Pull-Downs Or Pull-Ups Make You Stronger

The test of strength… let’s make it interesting by thinking of a competition. Imagine an arm wrestle between an athlete who does pull-ups vs an athlete who uses the lat-pull-down machine. Who wins?

Since you can adjust the resistance on a lat-pull-down machine, it’s far easier to overload your muscles for tear and repair. Because of this, the lat-pull-down machine makes your latissimus dorsi stronger compared to just doing pull-ups.

On average, the lat-pull-down machine comes with 220 pounds (100kg) worth of resistance; but, in theory, it can be an unlimited amount. So, no matter how strong your lats become, you can constantly add more weight to condition them even harder and repeatedly achieve hypertrophy.

It’s a different story with pull-ups. As soon as you’re conditioned to lift your own body weight, you can’t overload your muscles anymore. It’s essentially a fixed mass. Unless you ate and ate and ate, you cap your resistance, and therefore the ability to become stronger.

But wait… We’ve been talking about absolute strength, what about relative strength?

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Where absolute strength is the total amount you can lift, pull, or push (which is what most consider as “strength”) relative strength is the total amount you can lift, pull, or push divided by your body weight.

Pull-ups are your go-to for functional strength. They enable you to build significant strength, without putting on a load of heavy muscle mass. This makes them supreme for building relative strength, far better than lat-pull-downs.

The main reason for this goes back to the fact it’s a compound exercise. And, there are two chains of thought, which are:

• As compound exercises use multiple muscle groups, they require more energy, and burn more calories. So, while you are building muscle from the exercise, you also burn fat which is the perfect recipe for high relative strength.
  
  
• Pull-ups use your core, shoulders, upper back, and forearms, to perform the movement. In doing so, each muscle group builds strength without putting on major size and weight. Once again, ideal for increasing relative strength.

So, when planning your workout, consider your fitness goals. Build relative strength with pull-ups and absolute strength with the lat-pull-down machine.

Which Is Better Pull-Ups Or Lat-Pull-Downs

Trace back your memory to when we said one exercise isn’t better than the other. Rather, they each have a time and a place that suits them – this is still true. So, we have covered every scenario and coupled it with the most appropriate upper back exercise.

When You Should Use The Lat-Pull-Down Machine

1. During Muscle Recovery
   You can lift as heavy as you want with a lat-pull-down machine, but can also lift as light as you want. This is essential for athletes recovering from injury, as it allows them to ease back into training without harming themselves further.
   
   
2. Bodybuilding/ Mass Building
   On the other hand, lat-pull-down is a staple for bodybuilders. Due to its pin-point isolation, and ability to easily overload, the lat-pull-down is ideal for athletes wanting to widen their back. You don’t even have to compete – it’s great for anyone wanting to sculpt their bodies.
   
   
3. Running A Calorie Surplus
   Lat-pull-downs are great for anyone on a bulk. Since you stay seated, and only one major muscle group is involved, the exercise burns few calories. Of course, the total amount you burn depends on the intensity you train; but, it’s always lower compared to pull-ups.
   
   
4. Upper Back Day
   However you split your workouts, the lat-pull-down is a great exercise when it’s in a sequence of other weight training exercises. By itself, it’s inefficient; but, if you were to include it with rows, deadlifts, and shoulder shrugs then it suddenly becomes significantly more effective.

When You Should Do Pull-Ups

1. Decompress The Spine
   Pull-ups use your body weight against gravity to stretch out your spine and relax the surrounding muscles. In doing so, it feels awesome – but more importantly, it improves posture and reduces tightness. You can’t do this with lat-pull-down as the weight acts in the opposite direction.
   
   
2. Athletic Related Activities
   Pull-ups give you a considerable amount of upper body strength, without putting on a lot of mass. This is a win-win for sportsmen/sportswomen who need agility, power, and explosiveness in their game. For example soccer, basketball, and badminton.
   
   
3. Functional Strength
   Do you want to feel stronger when you go about your day-to-day tasks? If so, pull-ups are your best friend. Playing with children, car maintenance, stacking shelves, all these real-life situations, become effortless because of your added upper back and core strength.
   
   
4. Circuit Training
   Pull-ups work great in circuit training. They’re intense, require minimal equipment, and can seamlessly be incorporated. They’re commonly used in a bodyweight circuit, for example, push-ups, followed by tricep-dips, followed by pull-ups, followed by the plank until failure.
   
   
5. Weight Loss
   Athletes enter their anaerobic threshold when repping pull-ups – due to the intensity. This is when you burn glucose to fuel your exercise. In other words, you burn calories and reduce fat stores. All-in-all making it a great exercise to trim your waist.

Something Worth Mentioning

Throughout this comparison, we have discussed pull-ups and lat-pull-downs at a foundational level. Yet, there is something so critical that can completely flip the script we must talk about…

Weighted pull-ups completely change exercise intention and result. Unlike traditional ones, they allow you to overload your muscles; so, your back grows far wider in a shorter period. What’s more, weighted pull-ups double up on the benefits ordinary ones have too!

This can be done using a weighted vest, ankle weights, strapping a weighted plate to your hips, and many more creative ways. In essence, any way you can increase the resistance is considered a weighted pull-up.

The reason they’re so game-changing is you’re no longer restricted to your body weight. As soon as your muscles are comfortable lifting yourself, you can add more and more weight to put your muscles under more tension. This encourages muscle hypertrophy – helping you put on size and strength!

This completely discards the drawbacks of traditional pull-ups and opens the door for athletes wanting to put on muscle mass and increase their absolute strength. Hence, you see lots of bodybuilders and top-heavy athletes incorporating weighted pull-ups in their workout.

…And remember, since pull-ups are a compound exercise, this doesn’t just help your lats. You’ll also have significant gains in your forearms, core, shoulders, and biceps. This gives you a muscular, but very lean body physique. Something similar to the below:

This makes it a much better competitor against the lat-pull-down. In fact, LPDs have arguably dominated this article. But as soon as they’re compared to weighted pull-ups our opinions change. Has it done the same with you?

Should You Exercise Both

In this detailed article, we’ve looked at the two exercises separately. However as it goes, they aren’t replacements for one another.

You should train the lat-pull-down machine and pull-ups in conjunction with one another. Not only does this create a more comprehensive workout; but, it also accelerates your progression and ensures longevity in your training.

This doesn’t mean you need to fully invest in the hybrid training method; rather, use the right exercise at the right time. We specify examples above, but the main rule of thumb is to use lat-pull-downs to isolate and overload your latissimus dorsi and use pull-ups as a more generic, broad exercise.

In doing so, you fully optimize your workout plan. We see the mistake over and over again of beginners using the lat-pull-down and pull-ups interchangeably. And while it’s not “bad” for you, it’s not an efficient way to achieve your fitness goals.

Of course, it’s not necessary to train them at a 50/50 split. Calisthenics athletes spend a lot more time on the pull-up bar, and bodybuilders use the machines more frequently, (call it an average 85/15 split). And, this is perfectly healthy – as long as they aren’t restricting themselves to one exercise.

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