Leg-Assisted Pull-Up (Wide Grip)
What Is the Leg-Assisted Pull-Up (Wide Grip)?
Leg-Assisted Pull-Up (Wide Grip) is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back, chiefly the latissimus dorsi, and also engages the biceps, the rear shoulders and the muscles that hold the shoulder blades down. It is a beginner-level movement done from a seated position under a low bar: the legs stay straight with the heels on the floor, so they support part of your body weight while you pull your chest up to a bar held with a wide overhand grip.
It is the wide-grip version of the Leg-Assisted Pull-Up, and the setup is the same; only the hand position changes. With the hands about one and a half times shoulder width apart, the elbows travel out to the sides and down instead of down and back, they bend less over the rep, and the shoulders start closer to the bar. That means less help from the biceps and a slightly shorter pull, which is why most people manage fewer reps here than with the standard grip even though the legs give the same assistance.
Its main use is as a stepping stone toward the Pull-Up (Wide Grip). It lets a beginner practice the wide-grip arm path, and the shoulder blade control that goes with it, at a fraction of full body weight, and it gives stronger lifters a way to add wide-grip pulling volume once their hanging reps run out. A wide grip is often sold as the way to build a wider back, but it does not isolate the lats: they do most of the work at any grip width, and what the wider grip mainly changes is the arm path and how much the biceps help. Many programs simply rotate it with the standard and underhand grips.
It suits beginners who can already do the standard Leg-Assisted Pull-Up with control and anyone working toward wide-grip pull-ups. It is a poorer fit for people whose shoulders dislike the arms held wide overhead; for them, the standard grip or the Leg-Assisted Chin-Up is the better place to start. Thinking of driving the elbows down toward the hips, rather than pulling with the hands, helps keep the back doing the work.
Muscles Worked
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Primary
- Lower Trapezius
- High
- Teres Major
- High
- Biceps Brachii
- Medium
- Brachialis
- Medium
- Brachioradialis
- Medium
- Deltoid
- Medium
- Rhomboid Major
- Medium
Instructions
- Set a bar in a power rack at a height you can just reach with straight arms while sitting on the floor beneath it.
- Sit under the bar with your legs straight out in front of you and your heels on the floor, shoulders roughly below the bar.
- Reach up and grip the bar overhand with your hands about one and a half times shoulder width apart, thumbs wrapped around the bar.
- Start seated with your arms straight, chest up and core braced.
- Draw your shoulder blades down away from your ears before you bend your elbows.
- Drive your elbows down toward your sides, letting them travel out in line with the bar, and lift your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line from heels to shoulders.
- Keep your heels on the floor as a pivot that carries part of your weight, without pushing through them.
- Pull until your upper chest reaches the bar and your chin clears it, keeping your neck neutral.
- Pause briefly, then lower under control until your arms are straight and you are back in the seated start position.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Common Mistakes
Grip too wide
Setting the hands so wide that the shoulders pinch at the bottom and the chest can no longer reach the bar shortens the pull and stresses the shoulders without adding anything for the back.
Pushing through the heels
Driving up with the legs turns the rep into a bounce and takes the work away from the back, so the heels should only support and pivot.
Shrugging into the pull
Starting the rep with the shoulders up by the ears instead of first drawing the shoulder blades down shifts the load to the upper trapezius and the front of the shoulder.
Sagging or piking hips
Leaving the hips low or folding at the waist at the top, instead of lifting into a straight line from heels to shoulders, cuts the range and lets the legs do more.
Reaching with the chin
Craning the neck forward to get the chin over the bar strains the neck and hides an incomplete pull, so bring the chest up to the bar instead.
Dropping into the bottom
Falling back to the floor at the end of each rep loads the shoulders hardest in their most stretched, wide position and wastes the lowering phase.
Injuries
Leg-Assisted Pull-Up (Wide Grip) is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The heels carry part of your body weight, so the shoulders and elbows handle far less load than in a hanging pull-up, and you can end a rep at any point by sitting back down. The wide hand position is the main thing that sets it apart: it holds the shoulders in a wide overhead position at the bottom of each rep, which some people tolerate less well than a shoulder-width grip.
The shoulders are the most common strain point, especially the front and top of the joint when the arms are straight overhead. A motion-capture study of 11 people who regularly trained pull-ups found that hanging wide-grip pull-ups moved the shoulder blades through a smaller range and put the arm in positions linked with shoulder impingement risk, compared with a shoulder-width overhand grip. The elbows and the inside of the forearms can also get sore when volume climbs quickly. Drawing the shoulder blades down before each pull, keeping the grip no wider than you can control, and lowering slowly instead of dropping back to the floor all reduce the stress.
If the wide grip bothers your shoulders, bring your hands in to the Leg-Assisted Pull-Up grip or switch to the Leg-Assisted Chin-Up. To make the exercise easier, bend your knees and bring your feet closer so the legs help more. When it becomes easy, progress through the Negative Pull-Up or Band-Assisted Pull-Up toward the full Pull-Up (Wide Grip).
Stop if you feel a sharp or pinching pain in the shoulder, pain that lingers after the set, or numbness or tingling in the hands, and have it assessed by a qualified professional before you continue.
- Primary Focus
- Back
- Equipment
- Pull-up bar and body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How wide should my grip be?
About one and a half times shoulder width works for most people and puts your forearms close to vertical when your chest reaches the bar. Go no wider than that: if your shoulders pinch at the bottom or your chest stops well short of the bar, bring your hands in.
- Q: Is the wide grip harder than the regular Leg-Assisted Pull-Up?
For most people, yes. The legs give the same help, but the biceps contribute less with the hands set wide, so expect a few fewer reps than with the Leg-Assisted Pull-Up grip.
- Q: Does a wide grip build a wider back?
Not on its own. The lats do most of the work at any grip width, and back size comes from training them hard and consistently over time; the wide grip is one useful way to vary your pulling, not a requirement for lat growth.
- Q: When should I move on to the hanging wide-grip pull-up?
Once you can do 3 sets of 10 to 12 controlled reps with a brief pause at the top, start practicing the Negative Pull-Up or Band-Assisted Pull-Up alongside it. Keep this exercise for extra volume while you build toward the Pull-Up (Wide Grip).