Grip strength is often a weak link for pulling exercises... and forearm work is almost always pushed to the side in favor of the bigger muscle groups.
What most trainers don't really think about is that the forearms are actually your most VISIBLE muscle group in your entire body...especially in the summer when you're wearing a T-shirt.
There's no better way to stand out than to have a strong grip and thick, meaty forearms.
So to do that, try this... use a hex dumbbell as a pulldown handle instead of a regular handle or bar. This puts your hands in a wide-open position, forcing the grip and forearm muscles to work MUCH harder.
It's a really simple concept and all you'll need is an appropriately-sized dumbbell and an ankle strap.
How to Set Up Dumbbell-As-Handle Pulldowns for Improving Grip Strength
I would recommend starting with a smaller dumbbell like a 10 or 15 lb one first, to get an idea of how it feels. I'm using a 30 lb one in the demo. You can go heavier, but then it starts getting too wide for your hand and it compromises your grip so that you're not actually able to use as much weight on the pulldown part.
A bigger dumbbell is also harder to hold up while you clip the strap onto the cable.
First, set the dumbbell on the floor and set your pulldown weight stack pin. You'll need to account for the weight on the dumbbell in the weight you're using as it'll counterbalance some of the weight stack.
Loop the ankle strap under the handle.
Now pick up the dumbbell and hold it from underneath with one hand as you use the other to clip the strap onto the high pulley.
That's it! you're ready to go.
I don't have a dedicated pulldown machine, just a high pulley, so I'm doing a single-kneeling body position. You can definitely do this on a regular pulldown machine as well.
Now just grip onto the ends of the dumbbell.
And do pulldowns.
Not only is this fantastic for the grip and forearms, it'll also be easier on the shoulders with the neutral grip (overhand and underhand are generally a bit tougher on the shoulders...not dangerously so, but if you already have shoulder issues, it could be an issue).
You will need to use a bit lighter weight than you normally would on pulldowns because the grip will now likely become the weak link of the exercise.
You can use this setup for high reps, low reps, whatever you'd like to do. I find it does give you a great contraction in the lats as well, but it's not necessarily going to be better than regular pulldowns for it.
The focus is primarily on bringing in functional forearm and grip work to your pull training. Do this one AFTER anything else in your workout that requires a strong grip.
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