Mark OttobreFounder, Enterprise Fitness · Results Driven Coaching

9 out of 10 people do lat pulldowns wrong

20 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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In this instructional segment from Mark Ottobre’s YouTube video “9 out of 10 people do lat pulldowns wrong,” the coach demonstrates and verbally cues a trainee, Jamie, on how to properly execute a lat pulldown. Ottobre emphasizes an aggressive initiation, urging Jamie to lift the sternum and chest toward the bar before moving the arms. He repeatedly tells the trainee to “stick your chest up” and to think about pulling the body upward rather than merely pulling the bar down. The focus is on creating a strong, proactive start to the movement, maintaining an upright torso, and using a mental cue that frames the pull as lifting oneself, which aims to improve lat engagement and overall form.

Chapters

Initiate first. Initiate harder, harder, harder, harder, harder. Stick your chest up more. Sternum up more. Sternum up more. Sternum up more. No, before you move your arms, I want you to stick your chest up to the bar. There. Now pull. As you pull, Jamie, I want you to stick your chest up. With the initiation, I really want you to— it's not just— it's not that. Get to that end point, right? Does it make sense? So you're not just— you know, just don't just do it. Do it aggressively. Right, so when I say move aggressively, it's not— see, that's just rolling. Yeah, I want you to initiate. Don't think about pulling the bar down, think about pulling yourself up. Initiate, pull. There you go. Yes, like that.