Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
A pulldown is a pull-up you can dial the load on. That is an advantage right up until the load is set high enough that the lower back does the pulling.
How to do Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
- Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
- Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip. Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
- As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
- As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work except for holding the bar; therefore do not try to pull down the bar using the forearms.
- After a second at the contracted position squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement.
- Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown Sets and Reps by Goal
Strength
4 sets of 6-8 reps with 2-3 minutes rest and a torso that stays within about 15 degrees of vertical.
Hypertrophy
3-4 sets of 10-12 reps with a 2-second lowering phase and 90 seconds rest, pausing with the bar at the collarbone.
Endurance
3 sets of 15-20 reps at a light load with 60 seconds rest, keeping continuous tension by not letting the stack touch down.
Common Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown Mistakes
Leaning far back and using bodyweight to drag the bar down, which makes it a row rather than a vertical pull.
Keep the chest tall and lean back no more than 15 degrees. If you need more lean, take weight off the stack.
Pulling the bar behind the neck, which forces the shoulders into extreme external rotation.
Pull to the front, to the top of the chest. Behind-the-neck pulldowns offer no extra lat recruitment and plenty of extra shoulder risk.
Gripping so wide that the elbows cannot travel down and back.
Set the hands roughly one and a half times shoulder width. Wider does not build more width; it just shortens the range.
Easier and Harder Than Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
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Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown — Frequently Asked Questions
How do you do the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown?
Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar. Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip. Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width. As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position. Use a cable machine and keep the movement controlled through the full range. The animated GIF above shows the complete rep at normal speed.
What muscles does the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown work?
The Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown primarily targets the lats. It is classified as a back exercise and is performed with a cable machine.
How many sets and reps of the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown should I do?
For muscle growth: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps with a 2-second lowering phase and 90 seconds rest, pausing with the bar at the collarbone. Adjust the load rather than the rep target if form breaks down before the final rep.
Is the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown good for beginners?
Yes. The Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown is a beginner-level movement, so it is a reasonable place to start. Keep the load light enough that you can control every rep and stop 2-3 reps short of failure while you learn the pattern.
What can I do instead of the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown?
Try the Pull-Up, Chin-Up or the Seated Cable Row. Each trains the lats with a similar movement pattern, so you can swap based on the equipment you have available.
