wide chins or pull downs..

i've heard alot of controversy between these two...which is better to do and is it bad to do both on the same day ?
 
Id do wide chins and avoid to exercises with the same movement (I assume by Pull downs you are referring to lat pulldowns)
 
thats probobly because they are easier ;)
pretty much all proffessional trainers agree that if you can do pullup/chinups, do them instead of pulldowns.
 
I can do

6 with good form. Anything after that requires twisting, turning, bad form...you get the picture. So I just do pulldowns instead.
 
I do both but usually not in the same workout. Pull-ups are a great exercise and there are a lot of variations. Some workouts I will do 50 pull ups (usually 3 or 4 sets) then barbel rows. Another workout I do is weighted pull ups and then I'll throw in cable rows and close grip pull downs. One thing to consider is that wide grip exercises tend to be hard on the shoulders.
 
I agree with the consensus. Doing both on the same day isn't a good idea. Amberfire mentioned a few good lat exercises you can do in one workout, and yeah, if you can do chins, don't bother with pulldowns.

It depends on your goals but kipping your body is okay to an extent, especially if you're training speed and explosiveness.
 
Depends on your goals. Say you want hypertrophy and you can only manage 3 or so chins with good form and timing, you'd want to do something else instead of that. However if you could manage 10 ish would good form and timing than personally i'd be partial to them over other exercises.
 
Yeah, gotta agree with that :)

Most people agree that pullups and chins are better than pulldowns, but i think the debate about wide grip vs should with (narrow) is still up in the air.
 
mmmmmm, if it makes sense, you'd want a medium grip yeah? Too wide, and it's physically impossible to pull yourself up (If you havn't already, next time in the gym try it with the grip as wide as possible)...too narrow and the focus is more on biceps...That's my understanding anyway.
 
yeah too wide makes it impossible. What ive heard is that using a medium/narrow grip gives you more range of motion (which it does) and that it makes it easier to keep the scap depressed and retracted.
How wide do you mean by medium? shoulder width, slightly wider, or alot wider?
 
normally i use the squat rack to do my chins and i got about an inch from either edge for my wide grip chins...i can usually get 8 but yeah it's not possible to get my chin over the bar
 
yeah too wide makes it impossible. What ive heard is that using a medium/narrow grip gives you more range of motion (which it does) and that it makes it easier to keep the scap depressed and retracted.
How wide do you mean by medium? shoulder width, slightly wider, or alot wider?

slightly wider. Personally, i find it the most comfortable and it just seems a more natural position to be in.
 
I've been in a long and involved thread on grip width for pulldowns, chins and variants. The conclusions reached were basically explained by noting the position of the humerus bone in relation to the different grips. With the mythical wide grip (the one most people hear is for 'width') leaves the humerus straight out to the sides. To do a narrow grip, you have to extend the humerus upward , pulling the lats up into a longer ROM, and a different angle of attack in the beginning of the movement.
As you do your pull, the humerus moves through the extra plus the prior ROM, accomplishing almost the same thing, but more.
I say 'almost' because there is a slight difference in the position of the elbows, narrow grip requiring them to be slightly more forward. But that is a good thing for involving the upper lat.

also try holding your hands above your head shoulder width apart, you wont feel a pull on your lats, now try touching your hands you will feel the pull,so IMO close grip is better for stretch and it allows you to use more weight and there is less chance of injury to shoulders and bis.
 
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