What does PocketAthlete actually do?

You log each morning: sleep, soreness and fatigue. It scores your readiness, adjusts that day's session, and builds four-week training blocks around your sport, your position and the equipment you have.

Is it only for footballers?

No. It covers football, rugby, basketball, running, weightlifting and general gym training, with position-specific work for the team sports.

No. Tell it what you have and it programs around it. Many of the technical drills need nothing but a ball and a wall.

Can it work around an injury?

It works around soreness you log and avoids body parts you tell it to leave alone. It is general training information, not medical advice — see a physiotherapist for a diagnosis.

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Straight Arm Pulldown

Isolates the lats without the biceps joining in, which almost no other pulling movement manages.

StrengthMachineControlledAll back exercises All machine exercises All lats exercises

What it works

Back, Lats

How to do it

1Stand facing a high pulley, take a bar with straight (but not locked) arms, and pull it down to your thighs in an arc, keeping the arms straight throughout.
2It isolates the lats without the biceps.
3Bending the elbows turns it into a pulldown and defeats the purpose.

Cues that matter

›Arms straight but not locked
›Pull down to the thighs in an arc
›Bending the elbows defeats the point

Watch a form guide for the straight arm pulldown ↗

Train the same thing

Close Grip Lat PulldownMachine · Back, Lats
Reverse Grip Lat PulldownMachine · Back, Lats
Dumbbell PulloverDumbbell · Back, Lats
Kettlebell single-arm rowKettlebell · Back, Lats, Grip
Yates RowBarbell · Back, Lats
Machine Back ExtensionMachine · Back

Get a training block built around you

PocketAthlete builds your program from your sport, your position and how recovered you actually are that morning — then adapts it as you log sessions.