Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.
Starting position
End position
How to Do Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck
- Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
- Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip. Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than your shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
- As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso and head forward. Think of an imaginary line from the center of the bar down to the back of your neck. This is your starting position.
- As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches the back of your neck by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work except for holding the bar; therefore do not try to pull down the bar using the forearms.
- After a second on the contracted position squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement.
- Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Muscles Worked
Alternatives to Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck
10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.
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1
Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.
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2
V-Bar Pulldown
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.
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3
Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown
A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.
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4
Kipping Muscle Up
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back.
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5
Muscle Up
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back.
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6
Reverse Grip Bent-Over Rows
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a barbell.
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7
Rocky Pull-Ups/Pulldowns
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back.
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8
Rope Climb
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back.
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9
Side To Side Chins
An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the upper back.
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10
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
A beginner compound strength exercise that works the upper back, using a cable machine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What muscles do wide-grip pulldown behind the neck work?
Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck primarily works the upper back. The biceps and shoulders assist as secondary muscles.
What equipment do I need for wide-grip pulldown behind the neck?
Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck uses cable machine.
Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck: is it suitable for beginners?
Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck is rated intermediate. Movements that assume you already own the basic pattern and are ready to load it.
What can I do instead of wide-grip pulldown behind the neck?
Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown, V-Bar Pulldown, Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown train the same primary muscles and are listed with 7 more alternatives above.
Can Fitnit count my wide-grip pulldown behind the neck reps automatically?
Not automatically yet. Fitnit's AI rep counting covers push-ups, squats, dumbbell curls, crunches and pull-ups today; wide-grip pulldown behind the neck can be logged manually in the app, and tracked movements are added over time.
Photographs and step-by-step instructions from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. Muscle mapping and alternatives by Fitnit.
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