Effects of Grip Width on Muscle Strength and Activation in the Lat Pull Down
Abstract Andersen, V, Fimland, MS, Wiik, E, Skoglund, A, and Saeterbakken, AH. Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull down. J Strength Cond Res 28(4) 1135 1142, 2014 The lat pull down is one of the most popular compound back exercises. Still, it is a general belief that a wider grip activates the latissimus dorsi more than a narrow one, but without any broad scientific support. The aim of the study was to compare 6 repetition maximum (6RM) load and electromyographic (EMG) activity in the lat pull down using 3 different pronated grip widths. Fifteen men performed 6RM in the lat pull down with narrow, medium, and wide grips (1, 1.5, and 2 times the biacromial distance) in a randomized and counterbalanced order. The 6RM strengths with narrow (80.3 7.2 kg) and medium grip (80 7.1 kg) were higher than wide grip (77.3 6.3 kg; p 0.02) There was similar EMG activation between grip widths for latissimus, trapezius, or infraspinatus, but a tendency for biceps brachii activation to be greater for medium vs. narrow (p 0.09) when the entire movement was analyzed. Analyzing the concentric phase separately revealed greater biceps brachii activation using the medium vs. narrow grip (p 0.03) In the eccentric phase, there was greater activation using wide vs. narrow grip for latissimus and infraspinatus (p 0.04) and tendencies for medium greater than narrow for latissimus, and medium greater than wide for biceps (both p 0.08) was observed. Collectively, a medium grip may have some minor advantages over small and wide grips; however, athletes and others engaged in resistance training can generally expect similar muscle activation which in turn should result in similar hypertrophy gains with a grip width that is 1 2 times the biacromial distance.
Journal of strength and conditioning research