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Movement
Beginner
8 min read
Kinetic atlas

Horizontal pull

The horizontal pull brings the hands towards the trunk along an axis perpendicular to it. This page describes its phases, the shoulder, shoulder blade and elbow joints, the muscles involved and the most frequent confusions about it.
Latissimus dorsi and pulling
Bracing
Current phase

Bracing

before the pull
The trunk is set and stiffened by the simultaneous contraction of the abdominal and lumbar muscles; the shoulder blades rest on the ribcage.
Put it into practice in Shapier
Find in Shapier the dumbbell row guide, a horizontal pull, to place this exercise within a session.
See the dumbbell row guide
Muscle roles in the horizontal pull
Prime movers
Latissimus dorsi, teres major, posterior deltoid · Extend the arm and bring it backwards, along or away from the trunk.
Synergists
Rhomboids, middle trapezius, biceps brachii, brachialis, brachioradialis · Draw the shoulder blade towards the spine and flex the elbow.
Stabilisers
Erector spinae, abdominal wall, glutes and hamstrings · Hold the trunk and the pelvis when the torso is leaning forward.

What the horizontal pull is for

The horizontal pull brings the hands towards the trunk along an axis perpendicular to it: pulling a heavy door towards you, hauling on a rope, drawing an object across a table. The elbow travels backwards and flexes while the shoulder blade slides towards the spine.
It is the opposite movement to the horizontal push, and it shares its logic: a single family groups together very different exercises as soon as the direction in which the load moves relative to the trunk is the same. What changes from one variation to another is the position of the torso and the support it has (neumann2016).
Scapular retraction
Sliding of the shoulder blade towards the spine, on the ribcage. It is the scapular component of the horizontal pull, distinct from the movement of the arm at the shoulder joint.
scapular adduction · drawing the shoulder blades together

The phases of the movement

The horizontal pull, phase by phase

  • 1
    Bracing
    before the pull
    The trunk is set and stiffened by the simultaneous contraction of the abdominal and lumbar muscles; the shoulder blades rest on the ribcage.
  • 2
    Concentric phase
    drawing in
    The elbow travels backwards and flexes, the shoulder extends. The shoulder blade follows the movement by sliding towards the spine.
  • 3
    End of the pull
    hands close to the trunk
    The range ends at the moment when the shoulder blade is closest to the spine, without the trunk twisting to gain a few centimetres.
  • 4
    Eccentric phase
    return
    The load moves away under control. The shoulder muscles and the elbow flexors work while lengthening and the shoulder blade returns forward.
  • 5
    Resetting
    starting position
    The arms are extended again, the trunk keeps the same position and the next repetition can begin.

Joints and planes of movement

  • Glenohumeral: the arm extends and, depending on the path of the elbow, moves more or less
away from the trunk in the horizontal plane.
  • Scapulothoracic: the shoulder blade slides towards the spine. This displacement is part of
the movement, it is not an add-on to it.
  • Elbow: flexion systematically accompanies the backward travel of the arm, in every variation.
  • Radioulnar: the orientation of the grip, in pronation, supination or a neutral position,
changes the contribution of the different elbow flexors (neumann2016).
  • Hip and spine: when the pull is performed with the torso leaning forward, the starting
position is a hip hinge held throughout the set.
The movement combines the transverse plane, for the movement of the arm away from the trunk seen from above, and the sagittal plane, for shoulder extension and elbow flexion.

Who does the work

Muscle roles in the horizontal pull

Role
Main structures
What they do
Prime movers
Latissimus dorsi, teres major, posterior deltoid
Extend the arm and bring it backwards, along or away from the trunk.
Synergists
Rhomboids, middle trapezius, biceps brachii, brachialis, brachioradialis
Draw the shoulder blade towards the spine and flex the elbow.
Stabilisers
Erector spinae, abdominal wall, glutes and hamstrings
Hold the trunk and the pelvis when the torso is leaning forward.
The elbow flexors are not interchangeable. The biceps brachii is most effective when the forearm is supinated, the brachialis works whatever the orientation of the forearm, and the brachioradialis is called on most in a neutral position (neumann2016). This is why a neutral grip and a supinated grip do not produce the same sensation with the same load.
When the torso is leaning, the demand on the trunk muscles becomes substantial: they have to hold a position while the arms produce force. Work on trunk training describes this function as maintaining stiffness rather than producing movement (mcgill2010).
Certainty level · Established
The latissimus dorsi does not simply link the arm to the back: it attaches to the pelvis and to the thoracolumbar fascia, which gives it an action on the trunk as a whole.
Its classical anatomical description gives it origins on the spinous processes of the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, on the thoracolumbar fascia, on the iliac crest and on the lowest ribs, before it inserts on the humerus. An attachment to the inferior angle of the shoulder blade is frequent but inconstant. This extent explains why it takes part both in movement of the arm and in the transmission of forces between the upper and lower body; on the other hand, the respective share of each of its portions during a given pull cannot be measured in any simple way.
Neumann DA (2016) · Standring S (2020)

Morphological and technical variations

The path of the elbow is the parameter that most changes how the work is shared out. An elbow that stays close to the trunk directs the movement towards shoulder extension and calls more on the latissimus dorsi and the teres major. An elbow that moves away directs the movement towards horizontal abduction and increases the share of the posterior deltoid, the rhomboids and the middle trapezius (neumann2016).
Support for the trunk changes the nature of the exercise without changing that of the movement. With the torso resting on a support, the demand is concentrated on the arms and the shoulder blades. With the torso free and leaning, the movement adds a pull to the holding of a hip hinge: two very different requirements combined in a single action.

Common misunderstandings

Caution
Three misconceptions about the horizontal pull
“Pulling isolates the back.” No pull does without the elbow flexors: the arm cannot come back towards the trunk without the elbow flexing. Trying to remove their contribution amounts to removing the movement.
“You have to squeeze the shoulder blades as hard as possible.” Scapular retraction is a component of the action, not an instruction to push to its extreme. Locking the shoulder blade from the start prevents precisely the displacement that is part of the movement.
“The heavier the load, the harder the latissimus dorsi works.” How the work is shared between muscles depends above all on the path of the elbow and the angle of the shoulder. Increasing the load does not mechanically shift the work towards one muscle in particular.
One last confusion consists in regarding the bent-over row as an exercise for the arms and back only. As long as the torso stays leaning, the hip extensors and the trunk muscles work continuously to hold the position, independently of the movement of the arms (mcgill2010).

Latissimus dorsi and pulling

The model shows the latissimus dorsi, the teres major and the muscles that draw the shoulder blade towards the spine during the out-and-back of a pull. The text stays complete without the scene, which illustrates a reference arrangement and not the morphology of a real person.
Current step
Three parts to connect
A pull connects the hand to the pelvis through three moving parts: the humerus, the shoulder blade gliding over the ribcage, and the spine acting as the fixed point. Latissimus dorsi is the only muscle to span almost that whole path, from pelvis to arm.
Scene description
A three-dimensional diagram of the trunk seen from behind, arms raised diagonally overhead as at the start of a vertical pull. The ribcage, the spine, the pelvis, both shoulder blades, both humeri and the forearms are shown in bone tones, with a small dark sphere marking each shoulder joint. In terracotta, latissimus dorsi forms a wide fan on each side, spreading from the lower back and iliac crest and narrowing as it rises to the top of the humerus. The trapezius is split into three bands — upper towards the shoulder, middle towards the spine of the scapula, lower rising from the mid back — and biceps brachii runs along the front of the arm. A two-and-a-half-second animation brings the humeri back alongside the trunk in adduction while the shoulder blades descend and latissimus dorsi shortens. The volumes are stylised: this is a teaching diagram, not an exact anatomical reconstruction.
Visible structures
  • Latissimus dorsi
    A broad fan arising from the spinous processes of the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, the thoracolumbar fascia, the iliac crest and the last three or four ribs. All its fibres converge on the bicipital groove of the humerus: it pulls the arm down, back and towards the trunk.
  • Shoulder blade
    A flat bone gliding over the back of the ribcage, with no direct joint to the spine. In a pull it depresses and rotates downwards: without that motion the humerus jams against the acromion and the range gets paid for elsewhere.
  • Trapezius
    Its three portions pull the shoulder blade in three directions: the upper elevates it, the middle draws it towards the spine, the lower depresses it. In a vertical pull, the lower portion is the direct partner of latissimus dorsi.
  • Biceps brachii
    Two heads arising from the scapula and inserting on the radial tuberosity. It flexes the elbow and supinates the forearm: in a pull it shortens the distance between hand and shoulder while latissimus dorsi moves the arm.
  • Insertion on the humerus
    The tendon of latissimus dorsi attaches in the floor of the bicipital groove, at the very top of the humerus. A wide origin across the whole lower back and a narrow insertion high on the arm: that convergence is what gives the muscle its fan shape.
Guided steps
  • 1/5
    A pull connects the hand to the pelvis through three moving parts: the humerus, the shoulder blade gliding over the ribcage, and the spine acting as the fixed point. Latissimus dorsi is the only muscle to span almost that whole path, from pelvis to arm.
  • 2/5
    Latissimus dorsi anchors across almost the whole lower back: the lower thoracic and lumbar spinous processes, the thoracolumbar fascia, the iliac crest and the lowest ribs. That origin surface is what gives it its strength, and why a pull is felt all the way down to the pelvis.
  • 3/5
    All those fibres converge into a flat tendon attached in the floor of the bicipital groove of the humerus. Wide below, narrow above: the pull concentrates on a single point of the arm, which makes it strongly directional — downwards and backwards.
  • 4/5
    The humeri leave the overhead position and adduct back alongside the trunk while the shoulder blades depress and rotate downwards. Latissimus dorsi shortens, the lower trapezius holds the blade down and the elbow bends: arm motion and shoulder-blade motion cannot be separated.
  • 5/5
    The lower trapezius depresses the shoulder blade, the middle trapezius draws it towards the spine, and biceps brachii flexes the elbow to bring the hand closer to the shoulder. A pull is never an isolated back exercise: it is coordination between arm, shoulder blade and spine.
Model licence · Z-Anatomy et BodyParts3D — CC-BY-SA 4.0
The horizontal pull complements the horizontal push and differs from the vertical pull in the orientation of the arm and in the direction of shoulder blade rotation.
The pages devoted to the latissimus dorsi, the trapezius and the biceps brachii detail the structures cited here.

Key sources

  • Neumann DA (2016). Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System: Foundations for Rehabilitation, 3rd edition. Elsevier.
  • Standring S (2020). Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice, 42nd edition. Elsevier.
  • McGill SM (2010). Core training: evidence translating to better performance and injury prevention. Strength and Conditioning Journal.
Put it into practice in Shapier

See the dumbbell row guide

Find in Shapier the dumbbell row guide, a horizontal pull, to place this exercise within a session.
See the dumbbell row guide
Body Lab explains; Shapier lets you act and track.

Check my understanding

Can a horizontal pull do without the elbow flexors to isolate the back?
Which parameter changes the most how the work is shared between muscles?
What do the trunk muscles do during a bent-over pull?
Choose an answer

Read next

  • Vertical pull
    The vertical pull brings the arm back towards the trunk from a position above the head. This page describes its phases, the rotation of the shoulder blade that accompanies it, the muscles involved and the most widespread confusions about it.
    With a 3D scene
  • Horizontal push
    The horizontal push drives the hands away from the trunk along an axis perpendicular to it. This page describes its phases, the shoulder and elbow joints, the prime movers and stabilisers, and the most frequent confusions about it.
    With a 3D scene
  • Latissimus dorsi
    The latissimus dorsi is the broadest muscle of the back. It links the pelvis and the spine to the humerus, and draws the arm down and backward in every pulling movement.
    With a 3D scene
  • Biceps brachii
    The biceps brachii sits on the front of the upper arm and crosses both the shoulder and the elbow. It flexes the elbow, but its most specific function is supination of the forearm.
    With a 3D scene

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Trust and method

Author
equipe-editoriale-shapier
Editorial review
Thanh Chau
Scientific review
Pending
Published on
August 2, 2026
Reviewed on August 2, 2026
Next review due August 2, 2027
Limits of this page
  • The roles described correspond to a symmetrical, controlled pull; a pull that is launched, performed with a single arm or accompanied by trunk rotation changes how the loading is distributed in the frontal and transverse planes.
  • The attachments of the latissimus dorsi vary from one person to another, in particular its inconstant attachment to the inferior angle of the shoulder blade: the model illustrates a reference arrangement.
  • This page describes a movement, it analyses no execution: pain in the shoulder, elbow or lower back that lasts beyond a few days is a matter for a healthcare professional.
Sources
  • Neumann DA (2016). Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System: Foundations for Rehabilitation, 3rd edition. Elsevier.
  • Standring S (2020). Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice, 42nd edition. Elsevier.
  • McGill SM (2010). Core training: evidence translating to better performance and injury prevention. Strength and Conditioning Journal.
Educational content. Body Lab does not diagnose and does not replace professional advice.
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