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Ab Pulldown Form

Scott's favorite ab workout -- How To

seba0039
seba0039 g Pierre Sebastian
34 Post(s)
34 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2014
Posted

Hey guys!

 

Tried the ab pulldown for the first time today. Here's the video I watched to try and pickup the technique:

 

 

HOWEVER, I just flat out could not do the exercise right. I feel like I followed all of the directions properly:

 

- Set the pulley at head height

- Use a grip with your palms facing you

- Bring your forearms against your neck just below your ears

- Arch your back at the top to activate lower abs

 

Here are the problems I encountered:

 

- I am 169 lbs and only used 45 lbs of resistance to practice the form, but I still felt like my knees were being pulled up from the ground

- I simply didn't feel my abs crunching although I feel I was tightening my core

- It was not very fatiguing

 

I realize it may be tough to give me tips without seeing a video of me trying it... but with the problems listed does anything jump out for anyone as a good fix?

 

Thanks!

 

Pierre

- 3rd-year Honors Biomedical Engineering Student and aspiring Orthopedic Surgeon - Relatively new to SHF, 4 years of weight training experience
jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: seba0039

Hey guys!

 

Tried the ab pulldown for the first time today. Here's the video I watched to try and pickup the technique:

 

 

HOWEVER, I just flat out could not do the exercise right. I feel like I followed all of the directions properly:

 

- Set the pulley at head height

- Use a grip with your palms facing you

- Bring your forearms against your neck just below your ears

- Arch your back at the top to activate lower abs

 

Here are the problems I encountered:

 

- I am 169 lbs and only used 45 lbs of resistance to practice the form, but I still felt like my knees were being pulled up from the ground

- I simply didn't feel my abs crunching although I feel I was tightening my core

- It was not very fatiguing

 

I realize it may be tough to give me tips without seeing a video of me trying it... but with the problems listed does anything jump out for anyone as a good fix?

 

Thanks!

 

Pierre

I do these with every ab workout. I love them :-)

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
seba0039
seba0039 g Pierre Sebastian
34 Post(s)
34 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2014
Posted

Hmmm... I wonder what I could be doing incorrectly, because they seem pretty awesome...

- 3rd-year Honors Biomedical Engineering Student and aspiring Orthopedic Surgeon - Relatively new to SHF, 4 years of weight training experience
seba0039
seba0039 g Pierre Sebastian
34 Post(s)
34 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2014
Posted

I tried these again today and figured it out!

 

First of all, I added much more weight and had someone step on my feet. This helped with the problem of not fatiguing enough.

 

Second, this time I didn't focus too much on keeping my core tight during the top of the eccentric (lengthening, negative) contraction. This allowed my back to arch much more than it was before. Then, during the concentric crunch, I tightened my abs with a much fuller range of motion, coming down from the arching position. This activated my lower abs way more than before.

 

With that combination of more resistance, and fuller range of motion, my abs were feeling the burn in no time.

 

Hope this helps someone trying to do this exercise!

- 3rd-year Honors Biomedical Engineering Student and aspiring Orthopedic Surgeon - Relatively new to SHF, 4 years of weight training experience
jafarakos
jafarakos g Evagelos Papoutsis
100 Post(s)
100 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

I am trying the Abs Pulldown exercise lately, I feel pain in the elbows tho...way before I can feel the abs fatigued.

 

  • Does any one guess why would that happen?
  • Another guy in the gym who happened to be near me, suggested I should try the exercise with the rope so my head isn't so low during the exercise in order to avoid a possible nape pane, is this danger possible to happen using the bar?

thanks in advance @scott_herman and the rest hermanites :)

SHF Athlete
jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: jafarakos

I am trying the Abs Pulldown exercise lately, I feel pain in the elbows tho...way before I can feel the abs fatigued.

 

  • Does any one guess why would that happen?
  • Another guy in the gym who happened to be near me, suggested I should try the exercise with the rope so my head isn't so low during the exercise in order to avoid a possible nape pane, is this danger possible to happen using the bar?

thanks in advance @scott_herman and the rest hermanites :)

Your arms are bent when doing this exercise. With a bar, your arms tend to bend more than if you use a rope as people tend to put the bar behind their neck. With a rope, your hands can be placed in front of or to the side of your head limiting neck strain and elboe flexion.

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
jafarakos
jafarakos g Evagelos Papoutsis
100 Post(s)
100 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted
Posted By: jmboiardi

Your arms are bent when doing this exercise. With a bar, your arms tend to bend more than if you use a rope as people tend to put the bar behind their neck. With a rope, your hands can be placed in front of or to the side of your head limiting neck strain and elboe flexion.

 

John

ah so using the rope would be the best choice, right? I was a bit surprised given the fact that I didn't spot that choice in scott's 12-week transformation programm...

SHF Athlete
muscular strength
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