Pulling exercises attract strong opinions about hand position. A wide grip is said to build a wider back, a supinated (palms-facing) grip is said to favour the biceps, and neutral-grip handles are marketed as a separate feature on pull-up frames and lat pulldown machines. This article summarises four small studies, published between 2010 and 2021, that tested grip width or grip orientation on the lat pulldown and the pull-up, and states what they can and cannot support. All four measured strength, repetitions or muscle electrical activity in short tests, not long-term growth. It concerns equipment choice and technique, not injury prevention, and it is general information, not medical advice.
Study one: grip width on the lat pulldown
Andersen and colleagues, in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2014), had 15 men perform six-repetition maximum (6RM) lat pulldowns with narrow, medium and wide pronated grips, set at one, 1.5 and two times the distance between the acromion points on the shoulders (the biacromial distance). The 6RM loads with the narrow (80.3 kg) and medium (80 kg) grips were higher than with the wide grip (77.3 kg). Electromyography (EMG) of the latissimus, trapezius and infraspinatus was similar across widths over the whole movement. In the eccentric, or lowering, phase, activation of the latissimus and infraspinatus was greater with the wide than the narrow grip, and the concentric phase showed greater biceps activity with the medium than the narrow grip. The authors concluded that a medium grip may have minor advantages, and that people can generally expect similar muscle activation, and so similar hypertrophy, with a grip of one to two times the biacromial distance. That last point is an expectation drawn from EMG, not a measured growth result.
Study two: width against forearm orientation
Lusk and colleagues, in the same journal (2010), noted that earlier EMG studies had recommended a wide, pronated grip without separating width from forearm position. Twelve healthy men performed lat pulldowns with wide-pronated, wide-supinated, narrow-pronated and narrow-supinated grips at 70% of their one-repetition maximum, with widths individualised to each person. A pronated grip produced greater latissimus dorsi activity than a supinated grip, and grip type had no influence on middle trapezius or biceps activity. The authors recommended the pronated grip to maximise latissimus activation, irrespective of width. The finding applies to a set of five repetitions at moderate load in 12 men, so it describes muscle activity in that test.
Study three: four pull-up variations
Dickie and colleagues, in the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology (2017), recorded EMG from eight shoulder, arm and forearm muscles in 19 strength-trained men performing supinated, pronated, neutral-grip and rope pull-ups. Over a full repetition, the pronated grip produced greater middle trapezius activity than the neutral grip (peak 60.1% against 37.1% of maximum voluntary isometric contraction). Otherwise the authors found that activation across the complete repetition was similar despite the different hand orientations, though the concentric (lifting) phases produced greater activity than the eccentric phases in the brachioradialis, biceps brachii and pectoralis major.
Study four: pull-up grip width and performance
Ortega-Rodriguez and colleagues, in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (2021), had 14 trained men perform pull-ups using a biacromial grip and a free grip, which averaged about 20% wider. The one-repetition maximum, repetitions to failure and the power-force-velocity profile did not differ significantly between the two widths. The authors concluded that the choice of free or biacromial grip does not affect maximal strength, power-force-velocity relationship or repetitions to failure in the pull-up.
Reading the four studies at their actual strength
- Samples were small and male. Group sizes ranged from 12 to 19 men, so the findings do not show what happens in women or in beginners.
- EMG is not growth. Three of the four studies measured muscle electrical activity, which does not always predict growth, as the hip thrust and squat guide shows. Only Ortega-Rodriguez measured performance directly.
- The pulldown and the pull-up were not compared with each other. Each study looked at one exercise, so the four together give no head-to-head result for a pulldown machine against a pull-up bar.
What the studies mean for kit
None of the studies found that a specialist handle or an extra-wide grip produced better strength results. A frame or machine with a single fixed bar therefore loses little on the evidence here, and a range of handles is a preference more than a requirement. The guides to back and pulling equipment and cable machines and functional trainers compare the equipment itself, and the guide to bench press grip width shows a similar pattern for pressing.
Frequently asked questions
Does a wider grip build a wider back?
None of the four studies measured back width or muscle growth from grip width, so they cannot support that claim.
Which grip activated the latissimus most?
In the one study that compared them directly, Lusk and colleagues found the pronated grip did.
The bottom line
Four small studies in men found little difference in strength or repetitions from pull-up grip width, similar overall muscle activity across pull-up hand positions and across lat pulldown widths of one to two times shoulder width, and greater latissimus activity with a pronated than a supinated grip on the pulldown. They measured short tests, not muscle growth, so grip choice on a pulling machine or pull-up bar is best treated as a matter of comfort and variety.
Sources
- Andersen et al., “Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down”, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2014)
- Lusk, Hale and Russell, “Grip width and forearm orientation effects on muscle activity during the lat pull-down”, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2010)
- Dickie et al., “Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations”, Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology (2017)
- Ortega-Rodriguez et al., “Effect of the Pronated Pull-Up Grip Width on Performance and Power-Force-Velocity Profile”, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (2021)