How to Do Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck

Start and end of one clean rep of Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck.

Quick facts

How to perform Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

Muscles worked

• Back (primary): pulls the arms down and toward the torso and keeps the spine stable.
• Biceps (secondary): bends the elbow and turns the palm up during pulls and curls.
• Shoulders (secondary): raises and rotates the arms and drives everything overhead.

Sets & reps by goal

Pick the row that matches your goal. If you're newer, anchor in the hypertrophy range while you groove the form.

Form tips

• Start each rep by pulling the shoulder blades in first, then drive with the elbows — think of pulling with the elbows, not the hands.
• Keep tension on the cable through the whole range — pause before the stack touches down instead of letting it crash.
• Treat every rep the same — a repeatable setup and bar path is what lets you add weight safely over time.
• Control the lowering phase — a 2–3 second descent builds more than dropping the weight.

Common mistakes

• Yanking with the arms and forgetting the back, so the biceps give out before the target muscle does.
• Letting the stack yank the working muscle back at the end of each rep.
• Chasing weight jumps before the current load feels solid on every rep.

Frequently asked questions