Free weight exercise alternatives to popular exercise machines (part 2): lat pull down

I'm not going to give any bad reviews about the lat pull down - in my opinion a free moving cable lat pull down is a good transitional movement on route to the chin up. What I will say is that there are better options available - free weight options. A lot of people simply don't progress or vary from the lat pull down because they are not aware of the benefits or they don't know which exercises are suitable replacements or progressions. Allow me to introduce the body row and chin up. I know I sing the praises of these exercises all the time but for good reason - let me tell you why!

Swap out: lat pull down

The lat pull down develops the muscles of the back and arms (latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, rear deltoids and biceps). The lat pull down serves as a reasonably good option in the absence of proper technique coaching of free weight exercises, for training the back and arm muscles once they are too fatigued to perform body weight movements and for adding extra volume to a back training program. I don't train using machines myself and I believe strongly in a training program that is predominantly (or entirely) free weights but I am open minded enough to see the benefits of the lat pull down and recognise its place in exercise programs.

During the time I spent working in a gym I would estimate that the lat pull down was the most popular of all the machines. While I was writing this article I had a think about what makes the lat pull down so popular, I put it down to 3 things: (1) lack of knowledge about free weight back exercises, (2) an abundance of back exercise machines and (3) perceived difficulty of body weight back exercises.

There is value in including free weight back exercises in your training and the body row and chin up are options with a great deal to offer. Don't be distracted by all the gym machines around you, learning free weight exercise technique is well worth it and it's not as hard as you may think.

Swap in: body row or chin up
If someone told you that you could achieve greater results and more wide spread fitness benefits and it would take you no extra time, in fact it may even save you time waiting around for equipment, what would you say? Yes, of course! This is what I'm telling you. The chin up and the body row work the same muscles as the lat pull down but provide a number of additional benefits that machine exercises can't provide:

• development of strength and power in the muscles of the hips
• greater development of core strength
• greater development of coordination
• unrestricted movement path which reduces the risk of injury and allows for a more natural motion
• greater functional application to sports
• more skill transfer benefits to other more advanced exercises

Often people are deterred from including chin ups in their exercise program due to not being able to lift their own body weight, or thinking they can't. This is something that can be easily worked around by scaling down to body rows instead or using power bands or a 'spot' from a training partner or personal trainer to assist the movement - just enough to make the chin up possible.  Moving on from the lat pull down to the body row or the chin up is definitely a worthwhile change, don't let the fear of lifting your own body weight hold back your fitness and strength development. Next time you plan to give your back a workout skip the lat pull down queue and give the chin up bar some love.

In the next part of this series (part 3) we will look at free weight alternatives for the chest press - Free weight exercise alternatives to popular exercise machines (part 3): chest press.

Related articles:  Free weight exercise alternatives to popular exercise machines (part 1): leg press | David's 5 favourites: exercises | Getting back to what works - free weights

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