What you'll gain

• Needs only a bar, so it fits home and outdoor program tracks.

• Puts the lats in charge of a full overhead pulling range.

• Scales in both directions with band assistance or added load.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   Set an overhand grip on the bar noticeably wider than your shoulders.

2. 2

   Hang with straight arms so your arms and torso form a Y shape.

3. 3

   Brace your abs and squeeze your glutes to stop the legs swinging.

4. 4

   Depress your shoulder blades, then drive your elbows down toward the floor.

5. 5

   Pull until your chin clears the bar and the lats are fully shortened.

6. 6

   Lower under control to near full arm extension and repeat.

Common Mistakes

• Kipping with the hips to clear the bar, which removes the lats from the work.

• Arching the lower back instead of pulling higher, which shortens the range.

• Stopping halfway down each rep, which skips the stretched position where strength is built.

• Adding reps with a partial range rather than regressing to band or machine assistance.

About This Exercise

The wide-grip pull-up is an overhand hang with the hands set clearly outside the shoulders, arms and torso forming a Y at the bottom. You depress the shoulder blades, drive the elbows toward the floor and pull until the chin clears the bar. The lats are the prime mover, supported by the trapezius, rhomboids, infraspinatus and teres minor, with the biceps and trunk muscles assisting; EMG of pull-ups put the latissimus dorsi well above every other measured muscle. A closer grip recruits the biceps and chest more, which is why the wide version tends to allow fewer reps. In a library this is the strict bodyweight back clip. It carries no equipment dependency beyond a bar, so it fits home and outdoor program tracks, calisthenics content, and any progression ladder that ends in a loaded pull-up.

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