What Is a Good Lat Pulldown? Honest Numbers by Bodyweight

A good lat pulldown for most men is roughly their own bodyweight for 5 to 8 clean reps, which marks solid intermediate strength. Beginners typically start around half bodyweight, and pulling 1.5 times bodyweight puts you in advanced territory.

These numbers are rough guides, not laws. Cable machines vary a lot between gyms, so treat the table below as a range. If you train in a place that lets you pull heavy, you are probably already doing the work in a heavyweight tee like the Varsity Heavyweight Tee, which doesn't ride up when your arms are overhead.

Lat Pulldown Standards for Men (Approximate)

Standards below are approximate working weights for a set of about 5 to 8 reps, expressed as a multiple of bodyweight and rounded to the nearest 5 lb. They are modeled on commonly used strength-standard tables, not a single official source.

For women, a rough rule is to take about 60 to 65 percent of the multiples above. Many gym stacks top out well before the elite column, so don't treat a maxed-out stack as a failure of effort.

Why the Cable Stack Lies

A pulldown number is only as honest as the machine. Pulley ratios, cable friction and stack labeling differ between brands. A plate-loaded unit at one gym can feel 30 to 40 pounds easier than a selectorized stack at another. Bodyweight and grip also change the lift: a wider grip shortens the range, and leaning back turns the movement into a half row. Compare yourself against your own history on the same machine rather than a number from a table.

The Better Benchmark: Pull-Ups

If you can't tell whether your pulldown is honest, check it against the pull-up. Most lifters who pull down their bodyweight for clean sets can do roughly 5 to 8 strict pull-ups, though body proportions and training history shift that. The pull-up is the better test because there is no stack to argue with. Our guide on what is a good pull-up has the numbers. For the rest of your back work, see what is a good barbell row.

How to Move Up a Level

1. Pull to the upper chest, not the neck. Drive elbows down and back. Stop the jerking.
2. Control the way up. A two to three second return builds more than dropping the stack.
3. Use straps for heavy sets. If your grip gives out before your lats do, straps let the target muscle work.
4. Add reps before weight. Earn 10 clean reps, then add the next pin.
5. Train pull-ups too. Pulldowns and pull-ups feed each other. Alternate heavy days.
6. Keep your torso nearly upright. A slight lean is fine. Rocking back to move more weight is cheating the number.

Common Questions About Where You Stand

If your pulldown is far ahead of your pull-up, the machine is probably easier than it looks, or you are leaning back. If your pull-up is stronger than your pulldown, you are likely undertraining the pulldown and will progress fast once you push it. Neither means you are weak. They mean you know what to fix.

Back strength also carries over to the big lifts. A strong upper back stabilizes the bar in the squat and keeps your deadlift lockout tight. If you are chasing totals, pair this with strength standards for the squat, bench, deadlift and press.

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