Lat pull downs vs pull ups

[sandman]

Pull downs and I don't see this as being close. They hit the target muscles in a much better fashion and much better squeeze on the back muscles. Too many people do pull ups just to get through the motion rather than concentrating on the muscles being used to work. I don't see putting in a movement that more about the motion than it is the muscles being used.

[USN HM 350Z]

yes, I do the first two sets a little wider than shoulder length, then a set of reverse grip and a set of neutral grip to finish things off.

[Scope75]

Pull downs and I don't see this as being close. They hit the target muscles in a much better fashion and much better squeeze on the back muscles. Too many people do pull ups just to get through the motion rather than concentrating on the muscles being used to work. I don't see putting in a movement that more about the motion than it is the muscles being used.

I can cheat way more on a pull down than a pull-up.
I also see more people in the gym cheating on pull downs than pull-ups

[olddawg]

Pull ups, then dropset with pull downs. I'm 220 now so a set of 8-10 of them, then right to pulldowns with 160, then another of 90, 5 min rest lol

[sandman]

I can cheat way more on a pull down than a pull-up.
I also see more people in the gym cheating on pull downs than pull-ups

Besides the people who turn the lat pulldown into a row. I see more people doing full ROM on lat pulldown but not pull ups. To many people either don't go down all the way or don't pull all the way up. The classic chin extension to make people believe they got a full rep. And it's ok to cheat but I feel when people seem to cheat on chin ups they are only worried about completeing a rep rather than the muscles that are supposed to be working.

[islandmagic]

wide grip pull-ups with 40lb xvest... all the way down pause then all the way up slow is the key to get that burn.. 8 sets of 10 reps

pull-ups is my staple!!!!

[Jelisej]

Pull-ups is considered as one of the best exercises and I think almost every bb/pl programs include them.
Personaly for me body weight pull-ups are no 1 exercise, as it generate very good hormonal response with less taxes than compunded exercies for lower body. There are so many muscles involved, including abs. And I also consider BW pull-ups as a cardio as well.
Weighted pull-ups IMO are not as good (especially wide ones) as they put too much strain on rotator cuff which is bad thing IMO.
Sometimes I do towel pull-ups, they hit upper back big time and arms- and they did strenghten my grip strenght a bit (and my grip strenght is one of the weaknesses). Thanks to towel pull-ups I was able to deadlift more weight.

[Cdsnuts]

So then we have most saying pull ups and some saying pull downs. Interesting. There has to be some difference between the two. What confuses me is that If I did the same amount of weight on the lat pull down as I do with pull ups (210lbs) I wouldn't be able to do as many pull downs as I could do pull ups with the same weight. This is what I can't get my head around.

[Rodja]

A machine is never a better substitute than it's free-weight counterpart.

[xxiv]

So then we have most saying pull ups and some saying pull downs. Interesting. There has to be some difference between the two. What confuses me is that If I did the same amount of weight on the lat pull down as I do with pull ups (210lbs) I wouldn't be able to do as many pull downs as I could do pull ups with the same weight. This is what I can't get my head around.

mechanical disadvantage?