Cutting Edge Fitness - Trainer Tutorial

Pull Down Machine (Pd)

Setup video

1. If necessary, install the pull-down bar (see Switching Accessories on the Pull Down Machine).
2. Set the weight pin.
3. Set the cam height according to the client's arm length: 1 = short, 2 = medium, 3 = long. Note that this setting sometimes is not recorded on the client log. (Enter that setting now, if that is the case.)
4. Set the thigh pad height. For a new client:
   1. Lift the thigh pad to its highest setting.
   2. Seat the client such that the thigh pad will touch mid-thigh when lowered.
   3. Lower the thigh pad so it is snug but not constricting. The function of the thigh pad is to prevent the client from being lifted from the seat during the exercise.
   4. The thigh pad settings are not numbered, and the thigh pad setting is not recorded on the log sheet .
5. To seat the client for the exercise:
   1. Have the client stand behind the thigh pads (which have already been adjusted), with one leg on either side of the seat.
   2. Have the client take hold of the pull-down bar using an underhand grip (palms up), with the hands as wide apart as possible.
   3. Tell the client to keep a tight grip on the bar, sit down and lean back to about a 45-degree angle. (We are looking for about a 30-degree angle, but most people are confused by that so tell them 45-degrees and tell them to move up or down until they are at about 30. Leaning too far back will use too much body weight, and leaning too far forward will load the biceps and forearms more than the upper back muscles.
   4. Check that the thigh pad is snug on the client at mid-thigh. Note that the client's feet can be on the footrest or spanning the footrest and the floor if the angle of the footrest is uncomfortable.

Introduction for newer clients

Include any of the following points:

• This exercise works your upper back muscles, primarily the upper lats (latissimus dorsi).
• To perform the exercise, lean back from your hips, angling your back about 45 degrees, but do not arch your back.
• Do not lift your elbows or pull them in close to your sides. At the completion of the pull, your elbows should be at about a 45-degree angle relative to your back.
• Keep your head neutral and stable on your spine, gazing up at the ceiling or closing your eyes.
• Relax your shoulders and keep your shoulder blades flat on your back.
• Relax your legs, and do not crunch your legs up into the thigh pad engaging your abs to help pull the weight down. But do use your legs to hold your trunk stable on the seat if the weight is pulling you up and off of it.
• Do not arch your back to complete the pull.
• Use your lats to pull the bar all of the way down to your chest.
• A critical part of the exercise is the last 2 inches of the pull as you bring the bar to your chest, and the first 2-3 inches on the negative phase (as you begin to return the bar to its starting position).
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together with the bar at your chest for a couple of seconds, and then slowly begin the negative phase, resisting with your lats.
• Keep your grip as soft as possible (without letting go of the bar!), and relax your forearms and biceps as much as possible. You do need to use these muscles, but if they are overused they will tire and fail before the targeted muscles (the lats).
• When your lats fatigue and you can no longer move the weight, I will provide extra resistance for ten seconds with the bar close to your chest. Pull against that resistance as hard as you can for the full ten seconds.

Beginning the exercise

After seating the client, move behind the client to have a clear view of their posture and the weights; then count down and begin the exercise: 3, 2, 1, begin, 1, 2 3...

Cues (use the shortest version possible for the client)

Trainer Resistance video

As the client approaches failure, apply trainer resistance, starting from the point of greatest flexion (i.e., with the bar as close to the client's chest as possible). Note that applying additional trainer resistance from this position can be a challenge for two reasons: you will be doing a one-arm overhead press from a slightly awkward position, and the client may still have the strength to lock the bar to his body - so if you expect to move the bar you will need to lift his body weight with one arm.

To apply resistance:

1. Take a split stance facing the machine.
2. Take hold of a vertical frame member with your left hand, and grab the top of the pull-down bar with your right.
3. Tell the client you are beginning to apply additional resistance, and count from 1-10 as the client resists (to failure) as you press the bar up toward the top pulley.

Machine use 1-rep video

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