Wide grip pullups are one of the most difficult exercises to perform. Most people can't do them when they first try and it takes many months of dedicated labor to build strength in order to do them. So why bother?

Well, the answer is two-fold. First, it's an excellent compound exercise that will target multiple groups of muscles and really build your lateral muscles to help with that V look that most body-builders aim for. Second, it's freakin' cool. If you can go up to a bar in the park or gym and rip out a bunch of pullups people can't help but look at you. Let's face it, factor 2 is why most people want to do this exercise and there's no shame in admitting it.

Performing a wide grip pullup requires form and technique just like bench pressing or bicep curling. To begin, you must approach the bar you wish to use for your pullup and place your hands palms foreward on the bar spread out as far as you can in a Y. Often it's best to keep your thumbs on the same side as your fingers to help with grip strength.

From here you can lean forward and flex your lat muscles out and get a feel for what your body will be doing. It's important to put a mind-muscle connection to your exercise otherwise you may injure yourself or do the exercise incorrectly.

Now what you will want to do is pull your body up towards the bar while arching your back. It's okay if your chest comes under the bar a little but your goal is to bring your head over the bar and back down. You should feel the lateral muscles in your back flexing on the pullup and down as well as strain on your biceps (lesser) and forearms (lesser).

Many people have issues with their hands. Grip strength is important and ways of improving that are mentioned below. But it's best to perform these with gloves of some sort to help protect the palm of your hands. If the fleshy part of your hand gets pinched loosen your grip and rely more on your fingers than the center of your palm.

Depending on your current fitness level you may or may not be able to do a complete pullup on your first try. Likely, if your are like 90% of the population, you can't do a single pullup. Don't worry, we'll have you doing dozens in relatively no time. (Okay, I lied, it'll take maybe 6 months before you can do your first one).

So, now we talk about the nitty gritty of how we build strength for these wide grip pullups. After you first try to do a pullup pay attention to how well you do. If you hang on the bar and can't lift yourself at all remember that moment and drop down. If you can pull yourself halfway up that's a good start and you'll want to do that everytime you approach the bar.

Now, after you've benchmarked your current fitness level grip the bar again as mentioned above and jump up to the top of the exercise (chin above the bar) and hold as long as you possibly can while letting yourself down slowly. This is called a 'negative' and will help you build strength for the exercise. Try to complete a full set of 'negatives' after you've done your benchmark attempt.

What? Negatives? This isn't a pullup. I'm embarassed...

Don't be. Negatives are a time tested way of building strength for pullups and will have you building back strength for when you can do proper pullups. The key, though, is to be consistent and ensure that you don't over-do it. A good routine would be to perform 3 sets of 10 negatives every week.

Every week?! That's right, you need to give your body time to recover from the muscle tears. Otherwise you'll never grow stronger. So eat healthy, perform the exercise every week and before you know it your initial benchmark test (which you should perform each week) will get better and better until you can do a full pullup.

If you aren't comfortable with 'negatives' and want to try to build muscle strength other ways you can target each muscle directly as follows.

Lateral Muscles:
Wide Grip Pulldown
Bent-over Dumbbell Row

Biceps:
Any form of Curl (less important)

Forearms:
Forearm Curl (Important for grip strength)

It's important to pay attention to how your hands deal with performing negatives. If you find that you can't maintain your grip you may want to look into forearm curls as a way to help build strength. A lot of times grip strength is the major blocking factor for most people to perform a lot of pull ups.

Wide grip pullups can be especially dangerous if done improperly. Remember to keep your eyes forward and not to look up at the bar or to the sides. This can put a strain on the neck which can lead to pulling a muscle.

Personal experience. I was doing pullups in the gym approximately 6 months ago when I looked to the left while pulling up and I jerked the muscle in-between my shoulder blade and my spine. After a few minutes I couldn't turn my head to the left anymore. It was completely swollen and I had to seek medical treatment.
BE CAREFUL!

As stated before, if you aren't sure of what to do ask someone for help and always practice safety before ego.

Any questions please feel free to contact me! I hope you enjoyed this hub.