Wide Grip Pull-ups
This sounds pretty self explanatory, right? Take a wide grip and do pull-ups.
Pull-ups of some sort should always have a place in your training plan, and there are many variations to choose from. Loaded Pull-ups make this lift a life long endeavor and there is a progression for every ability level. Pull-ups are scalable and programmable. There are three main reasons to use the Wide Grip Pull-up; to Deload; for Hypertrophy; and for deepening your Pull-up Repertoire.
Method:
Assume a grip that is approximately double your shoulder width.
Grip the bar with a deep overhand and thumbless (thumb over the bar) grip.
Allow your chest to open to the bar with your eyes looking slightly up, but also forward. Extension through the upper back is fine, but avoid arching your lower back.
Pull your chest to the bar. Drive your elbows down and back. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Think of making your arms into a ‘W’ at the top of each rep.
Make a brief pause at the top and bottom of each rep.
Breath in at the bottom; breath out at the top; breath hold during movement.
What is the point of Wide Grip Pull-ups and when would they have a place in your training Plan? I think of a Wide Grip Pull-up as “Specialized Variety”. Specialized Variety (SV) is “the same but different”. Using a different variation of a Pull-up to take a “break” from Pull-ups. I know this sounds like a contradiction, but this is a way of using SV to continue working with a lift but with enough difference that it allows for recovery and other adaptations without completely walking away from the movement pattern. SV can be used for a week or two as a deload, or to add in back off sets for a hypertrophy emphasis. Here is an example of SV. Perhaps you have been working on a loaded Chin-up for 12 weeks. You have hit a new Personal Record (PR) and you need a break but you still want to keep “Pull-ups” happening. You can transition to a different Pull-up variation to give your brain and your body a break by replacing loaded Chin-ups with Wide Grip Pull-ups using bodyweight for whatever reps/sets are appropriate.
Another example of SV would be working on Bench Press for 16 weeks; hitting a new 5RM PR, and then transitioning to Narrow Grip Bench Press for a 4 week block. You are still Bench Pressing but in a way that is different enough to elicit new adaptations that will carry over to your standard BP, when you get back to it.
Replacing loaded Chin-ups with a Bentover Barbell Row is not SV, this is substituting a different lift, and movement pattern altogether. The Wide Grip Pull-up is excellent SV, whether it is for a 2 week block of training, or even on a single day per week that is reserved for SV in your training plan. Wide Grip Pull-ups are very demanding on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Using them in small doses is best. If you choose to make them the centerpiece of your training, make it for a short 2-4 week block.
Why not train them all of the time?
The mechanics of the Wide Grip Pull-up are very different…
Yes, the grip is different. That is easy to see, but this is a Pull-up variation that will make you feel weak. You are in a disadvantaged position of leverage. Your biceps participate much less at this grip width and the job of closing the gap between you and the bar falls on the musculature of the back. This is great for upper back development and it can help you get more connected to the role your back muscles play in your conventional Pull-up. This lack of leverage and the natural stretch that happens in this wide grip is demanding on your joints, so start with bodyweight and be sure to have multiple sets of 10-12 smooth reps before you consider adding a plate. I would suggest that it is unnecessary to add an external load with this variation. It will naturally be more difficult due to the lack of leverage, but to make it feel meaningful make paused reps. Paused reps are kinder to the joints. I like the Wide Grip Pull-up to help teach better Back recruitment and Back hypertrophy.
The Rhomboids and Lats will get more of an emphasis with this variation, which is where Wide Grip, and Inverted, Pull-ups can really fill in where the vertical path of the Pull-up comes up short. I see many lifters make the mistake of trying to squeeze their shoulder blades together during conventional Pull-ups and Chin-ups. I understand that they are trying to include their Rhomboids into the Pull-up/Chin-up, but it comes at a cost. When you squeeze your shoulder blades together in a conventional Pull-up/Chin-up and create horizontal force, you end up pulling your body toward the bar. This changes the orientation of your forearm and puts tremendous stress on the elbows and shoulders. Contact with the bar is unnecessary. All you need is vertical clearance. Creating horizontal movement in your Pull-up/Chin-up to squeeze your upper back or to get a touch to the bar, WILL over time make your elbows and/or shoulders angry.
The Wide Grip Pull-up is a great choice if you are feeling like you need a little more emphasis on your horizontal pulling musculature without resorting to Barbell or Kettlebell Bentover Rows. Maybe you don’t have access to the tools or the necessary weight, or maybe you just want to further develop your Pull-up repertoire. Wide Grip Pull-ups served old school bodybuilders well in building wide backs. Wide Grip Pull-ups are sometimes referred to as Body Builder Pull-ups.
Pull-ups have a natural opening and closing of the ribcage. I am not suggesting a complete disconnection at the bottom, but there is an opening and closing that happens. Staying hollow throughout the whole movement is a misunderstanding. The path of the Pull-up is a J-shaped curve not a straight line. The J-shaped curve creates some subtle pendulum. As you string more reps together, it is the opening and closing of the ribcage that helps to control and minimize the natural pendulum that happens; while also maximizing the efficiency of the lift. If you stay hollow the whole time you will have to make a very diagonal path of a Pull-up to minimize the pendulum otherwise the subtle pendulum will quickly turn into a very circular and rotary movement. In a Wide Grip Pull-up, there will be less opening and closing of the ribcage due to the chest-up nature of the posture. In this Pull-up variation lead with the chest and allow the ribcage to be slightly open. However, a Wide Grip Pull-up is not the same as Gironda/Sternum Pull-up where there is a severe arch through the back and a ton of space between the ribs and pelvis. There will still be some opening and closing of the ribcage, but it will be more subtle than a conventional bodyweight Pull-up/Chin-up.
Remember that you are trying to have more recruitment of your horizontal pulling muscles. Leaning back a bit is just fine. Your eyes will not be on the horizon. You will be looking forward but also above the bar. This “chest-up” posture will make it difficult to get a touch to the bar, which is unnecessary anyway. Your anatomy will provide you with a natural end point for your range of motion, just get a good squeeze at the top. Play with your grip width and find what provides the biggest range of motion and the most mid-upper back recruitment. If you get contact with the bar, cool. If not, it doesn’t matter. It would be better to keep your forearms vertical than to pull yourself forward to get a touch to the bar. Will your chin clear the bar? Maybe, but it is possible that it may not. You are leading with your chest, which naturally puts your spine less vertical and makes the chin less likely to finish above the bar. In a barbell row, does the bar need to touch your abdomen? No, not necessarily. Limb length plays a huge role. Produce the biggest range of motion you can. A Wide Grip Pull-up is not a primary lift, so there is no need to get too caught up in the weeds of what is a legal or perfect rep. Make smooth controlled reps. Tempo is important. Fast reps get ugly real quick and a fast tempo will put more stress on your joints due to the wide grip.
The Grip.
Wrapping your thumb over the bar is a Thumbless Grip and it is a good choice in Wide Grip Pull-ups. You can try wrapping your thumb around the bar, but it is uncomfortable for most lifters. Getting your thumb over the bar allows your wrist to have more room to radially deviate. With your thumb out of the way you will have less stress on your wrists, but you can also put some thought into how your thumb is placed on top of the bar. Think of driving your whole hand down into the bar as you pull, including the side of your thumb that is ontop of the bar.
Grip the bar deep into your hands, as if you are trying to get your knuckles to point forward instead of up. Remember that you are at a mechanical disadvantage with grip width, but we can create some advantages to make a stronger pull. Of course this is a Pull-up, but with a deep enough grip and your thumb over the bar; think of Pressing/Pushing the bar down to the ground on your way up.
The Wide Grip Pull-up has value as SV; a unique stimulus for different overhead pulling strength; and a good opportunity for upper back development. However, I view it as a lower tier Pull-up variation. I wouldn’t suggest making this a primary lift, unless you have a unique injury or biomechanical limitation that makes this the best, or only, Pull-up variation that works for your body.
Spending time with Wide Grip Pull-ups will expand your understanding of Pull-ups. You never know what you will learn from a different variation that you can apply to your primary lift. What will Wide Grip Pull-ups teach you about your Pull-up? Wide Grip Pull-ups will help you feel your lats and upper-mid back working. When you do come back to conventional Pull-ups you will feel stronger and more powerful because you have a better concept of how to engage your lats. You might discover that a deep Thumbless Grip gives you more leverage and improves your 1RM. Grip width is a spectrum and limb length makes grip width unique for each lifter. Playing with a wide grip can help you find a better conventional Pull-up grip that might be a hair narrower than you thought it should be.
