Wide Grip Pull-Up
The wide-grip pull-up is an overhand pull-up with your hands set well outside shoulder width. It trains the lats and upper back, with less help from the biceps than a narrower grip, over a slightly shorter pulling distance.
Also called: Wide Pull-Up, Wide Pronated Pull-Up · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: pull
Step by step
- Grip the bar overhand, palms facing away, with your hands about one and a half times shoulder width apart and your thumbs wrapped round the bar.
- Hang with straight arms, legs together, ribs down and glutes lightly squeezed so your body stays still.
- Start each rep by pulling your shoulder blades down, away from your ears, before your elbows bend.
- Drive your elbows down towards your sides, keeping your forearms close to vertical under your hands.
- Pull until your chin clears the bar and your upper chest comes towards it, with your shoulders still held down.
- Return under control to a full straight-arm hang, taking about two seconds, without swinging.
- After the last rep, step down onto a box or drop from the straight-arm hang onto soft knees.
- Shoulders down before the elbows bend
- Elbows down to your sides
- Forearms close to vertical under your hands
- Chest up towards the bar
- Straight arms at the bottom of every rep
- Ribs down, legs still
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Latissimus dorsi | Prime mover | C |
| Teres major | Secondary | C |
| Posterior deltoid: posterior | Secondary | C |
| Trapezius: lower | Secondary | C |
| Trapezius: middle | Secondary | C |
| Rhomboids | Secondary | C |
| Biceps brachii | Secondary | C |
| Brachioradialis | Secondary | C |
| Rotator cuff | Stabiliser | C |
| Forearm flexors | Stabiliser | C |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Grip set as wide as the bar allows
Fix: Bring your hands in until your forearms stay close to vertical as you pull.
Half reps at the bottom
Fix: Return to straight elbows at the bottom of every rep before pulling again.
Shrugging into the pull
Fix: Pull the shoulder blades down first, then bend the elbows.
Craning the neck to reach the bar
Fix: Keep your head neutral and pull your chest towards the bar.
Swinging or kicking
Fix: Squeeze your glutes, keep ribs down and legs still, and pause at the bottom.
What the research says
StrengthMuscle growthGeneral fitnessSport performanceEndurance
- Load by goal — Research comparing loads finds maximal strength favours heavier loads (about 8 reps or fewer per set), while muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets finish close to failure. Lifters commonly add load with a dip belt, or use band or machine assistance to reach a target rep range.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the size benefit, and strength gains appear largely insensitive to how close to failure you train.
- Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns. Around 10 or more hard sets a week has been associated with more growth than fewer than 5, and training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
- Rest — In trained lifters, rests of about 3 minutes between sets have produced greater strength and size gains than 1-minute rests, largely because each set can carry more work.
- Grip width — There is no direct research comparing wide and shoulder-width pull-ups for long-term growth. In a lat pulldown study, lat activation was similar across narrow, medium and wide grips, and lifters were slightly stronger with the narrower grips.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the wide grip pull-up in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.