The straight arm pulldown is to the back, what the flye is to the chest. It eliminates (practically) the involvement of the arms and so focuses more work on your lats and somewhat, the mid back too. The price? Less weight. The gain? More focused work on the target muscle. Good for bringing out the lats with respect to the rest of the musculature of the back.

- Keep your body upright, knees flexed, core braced (keep a slight contraction in your abs).
- Without allowing the elbows to bend significantly, pull the bar down towards your thighs.
- Be aware of what’s going on in your lower back. Keep your core braced to prevent your lumbar spine from arching.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the peak of each rep.