Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

How to do the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

Muscles worked

Role	Muscles
Primary	lats
Secondary	biceps, middle back, shoulders
Equipment	cable machine
Difficulty	beginner
Type	compound

No cable machine? Train the same muscles with these

Ordered by how likely you are to own the 6 options.

V-Bar Pullup Bodyweight Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up Bodyweight Chin-Up Bodyweight Pullups Bodyweight Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover Barbell Kipping Muscle Up Other Equipment

Harder than the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

Elevated Cable Rows intermediate · Cable Machine Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover intermediate · Barbell Weighted Pull Ups intermediate · Other Equipment

Superset the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown with

Opposing shoulders and chest work — alternate sets without extra rest.

Alternating Cable Shoulder Press shoulders Cable Chest Press chest Cable Internal Rotation shoulders Cable Rope Rear-Delt Rows shoulders

Common questions

What muscles does the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown work?

The Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown primarily works the lats, with the biceps, mid back, and shoulders as secondary movers. Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown, Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown, and Kipping Muscle Up train the same muscle, across 7 equipment types.

What equipment do you need for the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown?

A Cable Machine. Without a cable machine, V-Bar Pullup, Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up, and Chin-Up train the same muscle, and 8 of the catalogue's options for this muscle need no equipment.

Is the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown suitable for beginners?

Yes, the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown is rated beginner. Elevated Cable Rows, Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover, and Weighted Pull Ups are the progressions from here.

Where should the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown go in a workout?

Early — the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown is compound, working 4 muscle groups, so run it first or second while you are fresh, then superset Alternating Cable Shoulder Press and Cable Chest Press later.

Similar exercises

Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown Cable Machine Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown Cable Machine Kipping Muscle Up Other Equipment Muscle Up Other Equipment Rocky Pull-Ups/Pulldowns Other Equipment Rope Climb Other Equipment