Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

Technique

How to perform 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. As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar, bring your torso back around 30 degrees. 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. The upper torso should remain mostly 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.
3. Inhale during this portion of the movement.

GymDaze demonstration

Watch Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

Programming relevance

Muscles involved

Primary targets: Latissimus Dorsi.