Are there any difference in the two?
The lat pulldown machine I use has me seated back a bit, with a pully directly above my head.
It looks the same as Pull ups but my biceps get alot more work during pull ups.
Anyone know?
BTW: Any difference between pull ups and chin ups?
Here’s a helpful article for you:
I like Pull downs Pull-ups are to hard.
yo grif, don’t even listen to zeb. he’s pretty much the weakest guy on the board. he probably even had to backspace a lot just to be sure he spelled “pull-ups” correctly.
I thought ZEB was joking… Pull ups win easy.
[quote]harhar wrote:
I thought ZEB was joking… Pull ups win easy.[/quote]
who’s zeb?
Yeah - ZEB do a pull-up? bwahahahahaha!!! 
Does it really matter? It’s easier to lay a 50lb dumbell on top of the stack than to strap 75lbs to my waist.
I think if I only did pull-up all year round I would go crazy. DO em both.
[quote]Cowboy92 wrote:
I think if I only did pull-up all year round I would go crazy. DO em both.[/quote]
I Second that!
Zeb’s dead, baby. Zeb’s dead.
Wide grip, close grip, mixed grip, pronated, supinated, semi supinated, one armed, etc…
There are tons of chinup variations. If youre doing pulldowns for more than 3 of the 12 months of the year instead of chinups (as opposed to in addition to) you’re most likely not getting the most out of your back workouts.
Chinup strength transfers over to pulldown strength. The reverse is not always true.
Just my opinion, along with some facts.
“Does it really matter? It’s easier to lay a 50lb dumbell on top of the stack than to strap 75lbs to my waist.”
I’ve seen plenty of people using the lat pulldown with weight well in excess of their BW. Seen those same people battle to bust a couple of reps of pull-ups.
Pull-ups are much better/harder. IMHO machines take away alot of the real world value of exercise.
[quote]tim290280 wrote:
“Does it really matter? It’s easier to lay a 50lb dumbell on top of the stack than to strap 75lbs to my waist.”
I’ve seen plenty of people using the lat pulldown with weight well in excess of their BW. Seen those same people battle to bust a couple of reps of pull-ups.
[/quote]
Really?
Ive heard of this but have never seen it (not in anyone with good pulldown form anyway…)
Still though I agree pullups/chinups are superior…
Thanks! Lots of love here 
I think this is partially a myth. Maybe at high reps there is a difference as you have to stop your body from swinging all over the place. But if you are going heavy I really don’t think it matters.
[quote]T-Nation Admin wrote:
Here’s a helpful article for you:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459572
[/quote]
From that article: [quote]Why are pulldowns a dork exercises? Simple. In pulldowns, you move a free-moving object (the bar) around you. It’s easier to use your lower back and momentum to pull the weight. “Easier” is never the best way to build strength and musculature. With chins, you have to move your body around a fixed object (the bar), insuring an overload on the back and the muscles of the upper arms. This movement is more realistic and has a much better transference to sports performance. As a bonus, the close-grip chin will also add size to your biceps.[/quote]
In other words pulldowns are just as good unless you try to use your lower back to jerk the weight down. I personally find that leaning back just makes it harder when you are doing 315 for 5. So pulldowns are fine for me.
And even if someone did lean back, so what? They can add a little more weight to the bar and provided they aren’t messing up their lower back, they are getting more of a workout.
I can understand how a barbell or dumbell bench is better than using a machine because you have all kinds of stabilizers that come into play. But that isn’t a concern when you are pulling something towards you.
This is a myth. There’s nothing wrong with pulldowns. Just some trainer running out of things to talk about.
Real world value of the exercise?
Could you expand? What situations are you in where you need to be able to do multiple pullups?
Not a flame, I am serious.
[quote]Cowboy92 wrote:
Real world value of the exercise?
Could you expand? What situations are you in where you need to be able to do multiple pullups?
Not a flame, I am serious.[/quote]
Rock climbing.
Cop chasing a criminal and needing to climb a wall to do so.
[quote]Cowboy92 wrote:
Real world value of the exercise?
Could you expand? What situations are you in where you need to be able to do multiple pullups?
Not a flame, I am serious.[/quote]
There are numerous examples but really its better to turn the question on its head. Where in the real world is a pulldown usefull? Ans; when doing pulldowns.
Its just my opinion, and I don’t particularly like pulldowns due to the cheat factor and how it is more usefull to do chins/pullups. I think most of the sports and conditioning coaches have commented along these lines. I might be looking for more sport/everyday strength to use than the primarily BB types here.