Back · Cable
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
How to do the wide grip lat pulldown, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Cable
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Vertical Pull
- Mechanic
- Compound
See it in motion
How to do it
Sit at a lat pulldown machine with a wide grip on the bar, palms facing forward. Pull the bar down towards your upper chest, keeping your elbows pointed outwards. Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together as you lower the bar. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.
- 1Take a grip wider than shoulder width and pull the bar to your upper chest, feeling your lats and upper back engage
- 2Initiate by drawing your shoulder blades down and back before bending your elbows
- 3Pause briefly at the bottom of the rep to maximise the squeeze before controlling the return
Common mistakes
- Don't lean back excessively or jerk your torso to move the weight
- Avoid pulling with your biceps, focus on your back doing the work
- Don't allow the bar to snap back up; control the eccentric phase
Muscles worked
The wide grip lat pulldown mainly works the lats and biceps, with the forearms, lower traps, mid traps, upper abs, and rear delts assisting.
- LatsPrimary
- BicepsPrimary
- ForearmsSupport
- Lower TrapsSupport
- Mid TrapsSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Rear DeltsSupport
Kovo programs the wide grip lat pulldown for you and tracks it every session.
The AI builds your whole program, drops the right lifts into each workout, and adjusts your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More back exercises
- How to do the back extension bench back extension
- How to do the barbell good morning
- How to do the barbell bent over row
- How to do the barbell shrug
- How to do the cable straight arm pulldown
- How to do the chin-up
Last reviewed April 2026.