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Exercises

Machine exercises for back: pulldowns, rows and the Roman chair

Published October 29, 2026

The best machine exercises for back are the lat pulldown, assisted pull-up and straight-arm pulldown for width through your lats; the machine row, seated cable row and single-arm high row for thickness through your mid back; the reverse pec deck for your rear delts and upper back; and the 45-degree back extension on a Roman chair for your lower back. Each back session needs one vertical pull and one row, 3 to 4 sets each of 8 to 15 reps, stopping 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Machines hold your body in place, so the set ends when your back is done, not your balance.

  1. Lat Pulldown Lats
  2. Machine Row Upper Back, Lats
  3. Seated Cable Row Upper Back, Lats
  4. Assisted Pull-Up Lats
  5. Single-Arm High Row Upper Back, Lats
  6. Straight-Arm Pulldown Lats
  7. Reverse Pec Deck Shoulders
  8. 45-Degree Back Extension Glutes, Hamstrings

Pulldown machines for lat width

Pulling from overhead trains your lats through their longest range, which is what widens your back. The standard lat pulldown is your main lift; the neutral grip lets most people pull heavier with less strain on the shoulders, and the assisted pull-up machine is how you build toward bodyweight pull-ups with a counterweight that you lower over the weeks.

Lats, vertical pull

Lat Pulldown

Lats

The lat pulldown is the machine version of a pull-up you can load from very light to very heavy in small steps. Pulling a wide bar to your upper chest trains the lats through a full stretch overhead, which is where most of your back width comes from.

How to do it

  1. Set the thigh pad so your legs are locked under it, then stand up and take the bar a little wider than your shoulders, palms forward.
  2. Sit down with your arms fully stretched overhead and lean back only slightly.
  3. Pull the bar to your upper chest by driving your elbows down toward your hips.
  4. Let the bar rise until your arms are straight and your shoulders lift toward your ears, then pull again.

Cues

  • Elbows to your back pockets
  • Bar to the top of the chest
  • Let the stack lift you at the top

Common mistakes

  • Leaning far back and rowing the bar to your stomach: stay nearly upright so it remains a vertical pull.
  • Stopping with the arms still bent at the top: the stretch overhead is half of what makes the pulldown work.

Swap for: Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown, Assisted Pull-Up, Single-Arm Lat Pulldown

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Lats, vertical pull with palms facing

Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown

Lats

With your palms facing each other, your elbows travel down close to your sides, so your lats do more of the pulling and most people move more weight than on the wide bar. It is also the easier grip on the shoulders and elbows when the wide bar bothers them.

How to do it

  1. Lock your thighs under the pads and hold the attachment with your hands inside shoulder width.
  2. Start with arms fully straight and your torso tipped back a few degrees.
  3. Pull the handle down to your upper chest, elbows pointing at the floor.
  4. Return it under control until the arms are straight again.

Cues

  • Elbows point at the floor
  • Pull to the collarbone
  • Two seconds up

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging your shoulders up at the bottom of the pull: push them down before the elbows bend.
  • Cutting the top of the rep short: let the weight lift your arms all the way.

Swap for: Lat Pulldown, V-Bar Lat Pulldown, Assisted Pull-Up

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Lats and upper back, assisted vertical pull

Assisted Pull-Up

Lats

The counterweight takes off part of your bodyweight, so you train a real pull-up, hanging and moving your own body, before you can do one unassisted. Each time you reduce the assistance by a plate you can see the progress toward a full pull-up.

How to do it

  1. Set the machine's assistance, kneel on the pad, and take the handles overhead with your palms facing away.
  2. Hang with your arms straight and your shoulders pulled slightly down.
  3. Pull your chest toward the handles until your chin passes them, driving your elbows down to your sides.
  4. Lower all the way back to straight arms under control, then repeat.

Cues

  • Shoulders down before you pull
  • Chin over the handles
  • All the way down each rep

Common mistakes

  • Choosing so much assistance that you could do 20 easy reps: set it so 6 to 10 reps leaves 1 to 2 in reserve.
  • Stopping with bent arms at the bottom: a full hang between reps is what builds the strength for a real pull-up.

Swap for: Lat Pulldown, Chin-Up, TRX Row

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Row machines for a thicker mid back

Rows pull your arms back toward your torso, so they load the rhomboids, mid traps and lower lats that give your back depth from the side. The chest pad on a row machine takes your lower back out of the lift, the cable row lets your shoulder blades reach forward for a longer stretch, and the plate-loaded high row pulls on a downward angle between a pulldown and a row.

Mid back and lats, chest-supported row

Machine Row

Upper Back, Lats

Your chest rests on a pad, so nothing but your back and arms moves the handles. That makes it the easiest row to take close to failure without your lower back tiring first, and the best first row for anyone new to back machines.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so the handles line up with the middle of your chest, and sit with your chest against the pad.
  2. Reach forward and take the handles with your arms straight.
  3. Pull the handles back until your elbows pass your torso, then pinch your shoulder blades for a second.
  4. Let the handles travel forward until your arms are straight and your shoulder blades spread apart.

Cues

  • Chest stays on the pad
  • Squeeze, then release
  • Reach forward between reps

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back off the pad to finish reps: the pad is there to keep you still, so lighten the stack.
  • Pulling with your hands and wrists curled: keep the wrists straight and think about your elbows.

Swap for: Seated Cable Row, Chest-Supported Row, One-Arm Dumbbell Row

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Mid back and lats, horizontal cable row

Seated Cable Row

Upper Back, Lats

The cable keeps tension on your back at both ends of the rep, and letting your shoulder blades reach forward before each pull gives the rhomboids and mid traps a long stretch. It is the row nearly every gym has, so it works as the default in any plan.

How to do it

  1. Sit at the cable row with your feet on the platform and knees slightly bent, holding a close-grip handle with your arms straight.
  2. Sit tall with your chest up and let the cable pull your shoulder blades forward a little.
  3. Row the handle to your lower ribs, driving your elbows back past your torso.
  4. Return it under control until your arms are straight and your shoulders reach forward, then repeat.

Cues

  • Sit tall, no rocking
  • Handle to the belly button
  • Shoulders reach at the front

Common mistakes

  • Rocking back and forth to move the stack: your torso should stay close to upright throughout.
  • Shrugging the handle up toward your neck: pull your shoulders down before the elbows bend.

Swap for: Chest-Supported Row, Single-Arm Cable Row, Barbell Row

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Lats and upper back, plate-loaded high row

Single-Arm High Row

Upper Back, Lats

The handle travels down and back on a fixed arc, so it hits the lower lats like a pulldown and the mid back like a row in one movement. Rowing one arm at a time with your chest on the pad lets you load it heavy and keep both sides honest.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the high row machine with your feet flat and your chest pressed against the pad.
  2. Take both handles with your palms facing forward, arms reaching up and forward.
  3. Pull one handle down and back by driving your elbow toward your hip and squeezing that shoulder blade back, while the other arm stays extended.
  4. Return the handle slowly to full reach, finish all reps on that side, then switch arms.

Cues

  • Chest stays on the pad
  • Elbow to your back pocket
  • Full reach at the top

Common mistakes

  • Twisting your torso to finish the rep: keep both shoulders square to the pad and lighten the load.
  • Stopping short of full reach: let the shoulder blade travel up before each pull.

Swap for: Single-Arm Cable Row, Machine Row, Single-Arm Lat Pulldown

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One-arm cable pulls to fix a weaker side

Two-handed machines let the stronger side do more of the work without you noticing. A one-arm pulldown and a one-arm cable row give each lat its own set, add a few degrees of range at the top and bottom, and show you right away if one side runs out of reps first.

Lats, one-arm vertical pull

Single-Arm Lat Pulldown

Lats

Working one arm at a time lets your shoulder reach higher at the top and your elbow drive further past your torso at the bottom. That extra range and the side-to-side comparison make it the best pulldown to add once the two-handed version is going well.

How to do it

  1. Attach a single handle to the high pulley, sit with your thighs locked under the pads, and hold the handle overhead with one hand.
  2. Let the cable pull your arm up and slightly in front of you until your lat is fully stretched.
  3. Drive your elbow down toward your hip, finishing with the handle beside your shoulder.
  4. Let the handle rise back to the stretch slowly, finish your reps, and switch sides.

Cues

  • Reach long at the top
  • Elbow to the hip
  • Torso stays square

Common mistakes

  • Rotating your torso to finish the rep: keep your chest facing the stack.
  • Rushing the lowering: the stretched top is where this exercise earns its place.

Swap for: Lat Pulldown, Single-Arm Cable Row

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Mid back and lats, one-arm cable row

Single-Arm Cable Row

Upper Back, Lats

A single handle lets your torso rotate a little toward the stretch and your elbow travel past your body at the end, more range than any two-handed row. It is the row to use when one side of your back is visibly or measurably behind the other.

How to do it

  1. Set a single handle at about chest height, stand facing the stack with your feet shoulder-width apart, and hold the handle in one hand, arm extended and palm facing in.
  2. Soften your knees, lean forward slightly from the hips, and let your shoulder reach toward the stack with a slight turn of the torso.
  3. Row the handle toward your hip as you square your chest, elbow tight to your side.
  4. Return slowly to the reach, finish the set, then switch hands.

Cues

  • Reach, then pull
  • Elbow tight to the side
  • Finish square

Common mistakes

  • Twisting far back at the finish to move more weight: the rotation stays small.
  • Letting the stack yank your arm forward: control the return.

Swap for: Seated Cable Row, Single-Arm Lat Pulldown, One-Arm Dumbbell Row

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Lat isolation, rear delts and lower back

These three finish a back day. The straight-arm pulldown trains your lats without your biceps giving out first, the reverse pec deck reaches the rear delts and upper back that rows leave underworked, and the Roman chair trains your spinal erectors, glutes and hamstrings through a controlled hinge.

Lats, isolation

Straight-Arm Pulldown

Lats

Your elbows stay nearly straight, so your biceps cannot help and the lats move the weight alone. Placed after pulldowns and rows, it adds lat work at the point where your grip and arms would otherwise end the set early.

How to do it

  1. Attach a straight bar to a high pulley, take it palms down about shoulder width, and step back a couple of feet.
  2. Hinge forward slightly and hold the bar at about shoulder height with your arms long, a small fixed bend in your elbows, and brace your abs.
  3. Sweep the bar down in an arc until it reaches your thighs, squeezing your lats at the bottom.
  4. Let it rise back up under control until your arms are at shoulder height again, then repeat.

Cues

  • Arms long, elbows fixed
  • Bar to the thighs
  • Torso angle never changes

Common mistakes

  • Bending the elbows and turning it into a triceps pushdown: lighten the stack and keep the arms long.
  • Bobbing the torso up and down to move the weight: lock your hinge and move only the arms.

Swap for: Single-Arm Lat Pulldown, Dumbbell Lat Pullover, Lat Pulldown

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Rear delts and upper back, reverse fly

Reverse Pec Deck

Shoulders

Rows train the rear delts only a little, so they tend to lag behind the rest of the back. The reverse pec deck isolates them along with the upper traps and rhomboids, and the fixed arc makes it easy to take near failure without cheating.

How to do it

  1. Set the handles to the rear position, sit facing the pad, and adjust the seat so the handles are at shoulder height.
  2. Hold the handles with arms straight in front of you, palms down or facing in.
  3. Sweep your arms out and back in a wide arc until they are in line with your body.
  4. Return slowly, stopping just before the weight touches the stack, and repeat.

Cues

  • Wide arc, not a row
  • Arms almost straight
  • Keep the stack off the rest

Common mistakes

  • Pulling the elbows back like a row: the arms move out to the side.
  • Too much weight with jerky reps: these grow on 12 to 20 controlled reps.

Swap for: Face Pull, Rear Delt Cable Fly, Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly

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Lower back, glutes and hamstrings, hinge

45-Degree Back Extension

Glutes, Hamstrings

The Roman chair is the one machine that trains your lower back directly. A controlled hinge on the 45-degree bench works the spinal erectors, glutes and hamstrings, and you can hold a plate to your chest when bodyweight reps get easy.

How to do it

  1. Set the pad so it sits just below your hip bones, then hook your heels under the foot rollers.
  2. Fold your arms over your chest and stand straight in line with the bench.
  3. Bend forward at the hips until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
  4. Lift your torso back to a straight line with your legs, squeezing your glutes, and stop there.

Cues

  • Hinge at the hips
  • Stop at a straight line
  • Squeeze your glutes at the top

Common mistakes

  • Arching back past a straight line at the top: the rep ends when your body is straight.
  • Setting the pad too high so it blocks your hips: you should be able to fold freely over it.

Swap for: Back Extension, Superman, Weighted Back Extension

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Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

New to the gym, learning the back machines

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets18 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentLat Pulldown, Seated Row Machine, Fly Machine, Assisted Machine +2

You are in your first months of lifting, the free-weight area feels like a lot, and you want a back routine you can do on machines with confidence.

Two short back sessions a week of 9 sets each, 18 in total, is plenty while you learn the movements. Every exercise sits at 2 reps in reserve so you finish each set with clean form, and each day uses one pulldown, one row and one finisher.

Day A: Pulldown and row
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Lat Pulldown 3 × 10–12 2 90 s
Machine Row 3 × 10–12 2 90 s
Reverse Pec Deck 3 × 12–15 2 1 min

Open Day A: Pulldown and row in the session builder

Day B: Assisted pull-up and cable row
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Assisted Pull-Up 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
Seated Cable Row 3 × 10–12 2 90 s
45-Degree Back Extension 3 × 10–15 2 1 min

Open Day B: Assisted pull-up and cable row in the session builder

How to run it
Do Day A and Day B on two non-consecutive days, for example Monday and Thursday. Add them after your leg or chest work, or run them as their own short session.
How to progress
Double progression: keep the weight until every set reaches the top of its rep range with 2 reps in reserve, then move the pin down one plate and work back up. On the assisted pull-up, reduce the counterweight by one plate instead.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Building a bigger back on a split, two back days

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentLat Pulldown, Seated Row Machine, Cable Row, Fly Machine

You have lifted for a year or more, you run a push, pull, legs or upper-lower split, and your back is the body part you most want to grow.

Two pull days of 14 and 13 sets put your lats and mid back at about 20 hard sets a week, near the top of what most people grow from. Day 1 leads with heavy vertical pulls for width and Day 2 with rows for thickness, and the machines let the last sets go to 0 to 1 reps in reserve safely.

Day 1: Width
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown2 warm-up sets first 4 × 6–10 1 2:30 min
Single-Arm Lat PulldownPer arm. 3 × 10–12 1 90 s
Single-Arm High RowPer arm. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
Straight-Arm Pulldown 4 × 12–15 0 1 min

Open Day 1: Width in the session builder

Day 2: Thickness
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Machine Row2 warm-up sets first 4 × 6–10 1 2:30 min
Single-Arm Cable RowPer arm. 3 × 10–12 1 90 s
Lat Pulldown 3 × 10–12 1 90 s
Reverse Pec Deck 3 × 15–20 0 1 min

Open Day 2: Thickness in the session builder

How to run it
Run Width on your first pull day and Thickness on the second, with two or three days between them. Keep your arm training on other days or after these, so tired biceps do not cut your back sets short.
How to progress
Add one rep per set each week until every set hits the top of the range at the target reps in reserve, then add the smallest weight step. If the first exercise stalls for three sessions in a row, take a lighter week at 3 reps in reserve before pushing again.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Your lower back gets tired or tight on rows

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets16 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentLat Pulldown, Seated Row Machine, Fly Machine, Hyperextension

Bent-over rows and deadlifts leave your lower back tired or tight, and you want to train your back hard without loading your spine in a hinge.

Every row here is chest-supported or seated with a pad, and every pull is from a seat with your thighs locked in, so your lower back never holds a bent-over position. The Roman chair stays in at bodyweight and 2 to 3 reps in reserve so the lower back is trained gently and directly. 16 sets in one session, done once or twice a week.

Supported back day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Lat Pulldown 4 × 8–12 1 2 min
Machine Row 4 × 8–12 1 2 min
Single-Arm High RowPer arm. 3 × 10–12 1 90 s
Reverse Pec Deck 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
45-Degree Back Extension 2 × 10–15 3 90 s
How to run it
Do the session once a week, or twice with at least two days between when back is a priority. Keep the back extension last, after your upper back is already trained.
How to progress
Add reps first, then weight, on every machine. On the Roman chair, add reps until 3 sets of 15 feel smooth, then slow the lowering to three seconds before holding a light plate.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What exercise machine works your back?

The lat pulldown and assisted pull-up machine work your lats, the seated row machine and cable row work your mid back, the reverse pec deck works your rear delts and upper traps, and the Roman chair works your lower back. One pulldown and one row each session covers most of your back.

What gym machines should I use for back day?

Start with the lat pulldown for 3 to 4 sets, then a seated row machine or cable row for 3 to 4 sets. If you have time, add the reverse pec deck and the straight-arm pulldown. That is 10 to 14 hard sets, enough for one back day.

What are the big 3 exercises for back?

On machines, the lat pulldown, a chest-supported machine row and the seated cable row. Together they train your lats from overhead and from the front, and your mid back through a full squeeze. With free weights, people usually name the pull-up, barbell row and deadlift.

Are machines as good as free weights for building your back?

For muscle growth, yes. Your back grows from hard sets close to failure, and machines make that easier because your balance and lower back are not the limit. Free weights add more work for your grip and trunk, which matters more if you want a bigger deadlift.

How many sets of back exercises should I do per week?

Around 10 to 20 hard sets a week across pulldowns and rows. Beginners grow on the lower end; trained lifters who want a bigger back usually need the top of the range, split over two sessions.