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cable underhand pulldown strength standards

What is a good cable underhand pulldown?

For a 180 lb male, an Intermediate cable underhand pulldown is about 115 lb (0.64x bodyweight). Advanced starts around 148 lb. Enter your own bodyweight below to get the exact standard and FVCP rank.

Good target 115 lb Intermediate at 180 lb
Next tier 148 lb Advanced standard
Gym median Separate tab Self-reported, not blended
Check My Level Estimate Your 1RM Methodology
Evidence ledger No blended rankings
Primary source FitnessVolt standards model
Available views Standards
Coverage 21 bodyweights × 5 levels

Competition results, gym submissions, and reader logs stay labeled separately so the ranking source is clear.

Quick Answer cable underhand pulldown

A solid (Intermediate) cable underhand pulldown for a 180 lb male is about 115 lb (0.64x bodyweight). Use the calculator below to convert your own cable underhand pulldown into an FVCP percentile for your bodyweight. An Advanced lifter at this weight reaches 148 lb (0.82x bodyweight).

FitnessVolt standards, with FVCP competition rankings shown separately from gym percentiles

cable underhand pulldown demonstration
Estimated Standards

How strong is your cable underhand pulldown? Compare your 1RM against standards for 21 bodyweight categories, from Beginner to Elite.

Primary Muscles lats
Equipment cable
Standards Coverage 21 bodyweights × 5 levels
Difficulty Intermediate
Type Compound

Estimated Standards - The level table for this exercise is modeled from FitnessVolt strength ratios for a related base lift, not from direct measurements of this movement. Learn about our methodology

How Strong Is Your cable underhand pulldown?

Intermediate (competition scale)
Typical FVCP: 50th percentile
A 180 lb male lifting 115 lbs (0.64x bodyweight) on the cable underhand pulldown ranks Intermediate on the FVCP competition scale, stronger than ~50% of verified competition lifters at this bodyweight. Enter your own numbers above to see where you stand.

That clears the median for this bodyweight and gives you a useful benchmark for the next tier.

Over 40? Our calculator also reports an age-adjusted percentile and an age-30 equivalent using the McCulloch age factor, so masters lifters are compared to lifters their own age. See the age-adjusted (Masters 40+) standards below for the full breakdown.

FVCP competition ranking, shown separately from gym percentiles and reader logs
Your FVCP:
Age-adjusted percentile
lb Age-30 equivalent 1RM

FVCP competition ranking, shown separately from gym percentiles and reader logs
th percentile

Illustrative: a normal-distribution model anchored to the real Beginner to Elite percentile thresholds for your bodyweight. The marker shows where your lift falls, not a measured frequency count.

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to track your progress over time.

Reader Data Is Still Building

We do not have enough reader-submitted cable underhand pulldown entries yet to publish a stable crowd benchmark. Until then, this panel shows the Intermediate standards baseline only:

115 lb Typical 1RM (Intermediate)
0.64x x Bodyweight

Baseline figures for a 180 lb male at Intermediate level, from the standards table. This is not reader-submitted data. So far readers have logged a lift here.

Enter your numbers above first. We publish reader benchmarks only after a sample threshold is met.

How Much Should You cable underhand pulldown?

Use this table to find the standard closest to your bodyweight. The tiers are standards, not claims about reader submissions.

How a male lifter's expected 1RM scales with bodyweight at each level. Exact numbers in the table below.

BW (lbs) Beginner Novice Intermediate Advanced Elite
110 28 44 65 90 118
120 33 50 73 99 128
130 38 57 80 108 138
140 43 63 88 116 148
150 48 69 95 125 157
160 53 75 102 133 166
170 58 81 109 140 175
180 63 86 115 148 183
190 68 92 122 155 191
200 72 97 128 162 199
210 77 102 134 169 206
220 81 108 140 176 214
230 86 113 146 182 221
240 90 118 151 188 228
250 94 123 157 194 235
260 99 127 162 201 241
270 102 132 167 206 248
280 107 137 173 212 254
290 111 141 177 218 260
300 114 146 183 223 266
310 119 150 187 228 272

Is Your cable underhand pulldown Good?

A quick read on what counts as a good cable underhand pulldown at each level, for a typical male and female lifter.

Men (180 lb): a good (Intermediate) cable underhand pulldown is about 115 lb (0.64x bodyweight). Advanced lifters hit 148 lb (0.82x), and Elite is 183 lb (1.02x).

Women (140 lb): a good (Intermediate) cable underhand pulldown is about 56 lb (0.4x bodyweight). Advanced lifters hit 81 lb (0.58x), and Elite is 109 lb (0.78x).

How Much Should You Be Able to cable underhand pulldown?

Men: a 180 lb male should lift about 115 lb at an Intermediate level (a beginner target is around 63 lb).

Women: a 140 lb female should lift about 56 lb at an Intermediate level (a beginner target is around 21 lb).

By bodyweight (men): A 150 lb lifter lifts about 95 lb, and a 220 lb lifter lifts about 140 lb at an Intermediate level. Find your exact bodyweight in the table above.

By age (men): at an Intermediate level a 30 year old male lifts about 113 lb, while by age 50 the Intermediate standard is about 100 lb. See the By Age tab for every age band.

FitnessVolt standards, with FVCP competition rankings shown separately from gym percentiles

How Does Age Affect cable underhand pulldown Strength?

How cable underhand pulldown standards change across different age groups. Values represent a 1RM in lbs.

How a male lifter's expected 1RM changes with age at each level. Exact numbers in the table below.

Age Beginner Novice Intermediate Advanced Elite
15 46 68 96 129 165
20 53 78 110 148 189
25 54 80 113 151 193
30 54 80 113 151 193
35 54 80 113 151 193
40 54 80 113 151 193
45 51 76 107 144 184
50 48 71 100 135 172
55 44 66 93 125 159
60 41 60 85 114 146
65 36 54 76 103 132
70 33 49 69 92 118
75 29 44 61 83 106
80 26 39 55 74 94
85 23 35 49 66 85
90 21 31 44 60 76

What Do cable underhand pulldown Strength Standards Mean?

Beginner

Stronger than 5% of lifters. You are building the mind-muscle connection for the cable underhand pulldown, learning to initiate the pull with your back rather than your arms, and developing basic grip strength.

Novice

Stronger than 20% of lifters. You can perform the cable underhand pulldown with proper scapular retraction and a controlled range of motion. You are progressively overloading and building back thickness and lat width.

Intermediate

Stronger than 50% of lifters. Your cable underhand pulldown shows strong back engagement with minimal momentum. You use RPE to regulate pulling intensity and train strategically to balance horizontal and vertical pull volume.

Advanced

Stronger than 80% of lifters. You have built substantial back development through the cable underhand pulldown with refined technique and heavy loads. Your grip is no longer a limiting factor, and you manage rowing and pulling fatigue across training blocks.

Elite

Stronger than 95% of lifters. Your cable underhand pulldown strength is exceptional. You can handle loads that most lifters cannot move with strict form, and your back development reflects years of high-volume, periodized pulling work.

How to Progress Your cable underhand pulldown

Tier-specific training recommendations to move your cable underhand pulldown to the next level.

Beginner → Novice Building Your Foundation
  • Train the cable underhand pulldown 2x per week, focusing on initiating the pull from your back, not your arms.
  • Use linear progression with strict form - no swinging or excessive body English.
  • Pause briefly at peak contraction to build the mind-muscle connection.
  • Develop grip strength in parallel to avoid it becoming a bottleneck.
Track progress with the one rep max calculator →
Novice → Intermediate Structured Progression
  • Add a pull variation (different grip width, underhand, or single-arm) for balanced development.
  • Increase pulling volume to 10-15 sets per week across all back movements.
  • Program the cable underhand pulldown at RPE 7-8, saving RPE 9 work for top sets only.
  • Balance horizontal pulls (rows) with vertical pulls (pulldowns/pull-ups).
Plan your RPE-based sessions →
Intermediate → Advanced Periodized Training Blocks
  • Run 4-6 week blocks with progressive overload on the cable underhand pulldown.
  • Use RPE 8-9 for heavy sets with calculated backoff work at RPE 6-7.
  • Add controlled eccentrics and paused reps to break through plateaus.
  • Total back volume of 15-22 sets per week, distributed across pull patterns.
Program your backoff sets →
Advanced → Elite Mastery
  • Maximize the cable underhand pulldown through advanced intensity techniques and precise volume management.
  • Use periodized blocks with planned overreaching and supercompensation phases.
  • Refine execution: squeeze at contraction, controlled stretch, zero momentum.
  • Your back development should reflect years of disciplined, high-volume pulling.
View RPE-to-percentage chart →

How to Perform cable underhand pulldown

["Adjust the cable machine so that the pulldown bar is at a height above your head.","Sit down on the seat and grab the pulldown bar with an underhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.","Keep your back straight and lean back slightly.","Pull the bar down towards your chest, squeezing your shoulder blades together.","Pause for a moment at the bottom of the movement, then slowly release the bar back up to the starting position.","Repeat for the desired number of repetitions."]

Read the complete cable underhand pulldown guide on FitnessVolt →

Where Do These cable underhand pulldown Standards Come From?

FitnessVolt keeps each data population labeled. Competition percentiles use verified raw meet results where available. Gym percentile tabs use self-reported Symmetric Strength data. Reader-submitted benchmarks appear only after enough entries are logged for this lift.

Standards data last refreshed: March 29, 2026

Is Your cable underhand pulldown Good for Your Weight?

Use this page to compare your cable underhand pulldown against clearly labeled standards and percentile datasets. Here is the cleanest way to read it:

  1. Start with Standards to find the tier closest to your bodyweight.
  2. Use Gym Percentiles when you want self-reported gym comparisons.
  3. Use Competition for verified meet-result percentiles where the lift supports it.
  4. Use By Age when age-segmented gym data is available.

If you do not know your 1RM, use the one rep max calculator to estimate it from any rep set. For example, if you can cable underhand pulldown 185 lbs for 5 reps, the calculator will estimate your max.

The important rule: do not mix the tabs. Standards, gym percentiles, competition percentiles, and reader logs answer different questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

A "good" cable underhand pulldown depends on your bodyweight, sex, and training background. The Intermediate tier is a useful first serious target, while Advanced and Elite represent much harder standards. Use the table above for the number closest to your bodyweight.
Many lifters can reach the Intermediate tier on the cable underhand pulldown after steady training, but the timeline depends on starting point, technique, programming, recovery, and bodyweight changes. Treat the tier as a benchmark, not a deadline.
Yes. Competition views use verified meet-result data where available, gym percentile views use self-reported gym cohorts, and reader-submitted benchmarks are shown only after enough entries are logged. The populations are labeled separately.
For weighted lifts, enter a clean raw 1RM or an estimated 1RM from a recent hard set. For rep-based movements, enter controlled full-range reps. Avoid equipped lifts, partial reps, or bounced reps unless you are comparing against the same style every time.

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One Rep Max Calculator Estimate your one-rep max from any rep set Benchmarks Compare against competition data RPE Chart Training load percentages by RPE
Written by Tom Miller, CSCS · Reviewed by Editorial Team
Tom Miller, CSCS, is a Sr. Editor & Content Strategist with 10 years of experience in Powerlifting and Personal Training. As a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, he is dedicated to delivering informative, engaging, and reliable health and fitness content. His work has been featured on websites including the-sun.com, Well+Good, Bleacher Report, Muscle and Fitness, UpJourney, Business Insider, NewsBreak and more.