Cable Forearm Pulldown

The straight arm rope pulldown isolates the latissimus dorsi by keeping the elbows locked, which removes the biceps from the movement entirely. In every other back exercise the arm flexors assist, and on a heavy set they often fail before the lat does; here the arms are simply levers, so the lat drives the upper arm down and back through a long sweeping arc with nothing else contributing. Gripping the rope hard through that arc gives the forearms genuine work as well, which is where this variation earns its name. The rope adds a small advantage over a straight bar, since the hands can separate at the bottom and let the shoulder blades finish descending. Keep a hinge at the hips so the arc has room, and resist bending the elbows as fatigue arrives.