When it comes to doing pull ups and chin ups you can use different grip widths.
Here’s a break down of the grip widths.
1) Wide grip: Uses the most back and least biceps.
2) Shoulder-width grip: Uses slightly less back and a lot more biceps.
3) Narrow grip: Uses even less back and more biceps and forearms.
The wide grip will always be hardest for most people and the 2 other grips will vary from person to person but the difference in reps here won’t be huge.
Here’s a normal breakdown of how your reps can look on each if your body is balanced:
Shoulder width grip: 20 reps
Narrow grip: 17-25 reps
Wide grip: 12-15 reps
Notice that I put ranges because some people will have a stronger back and weaker biceps and vice versa.
If you’re just starting out doing wide grip pull ups you may only be able to do 5-6 reps while you can do ~15 shoulder width grip pull ups.
However after a few months your wide grip pull ups will catch up and you will also see a boost in your other pull up variations.
So the big question is, which grip is best for you?
The answer: Start with a regular shoulder-width grip and build your strength up to 15-20 reps.
Then once you have a solid foundation, you can start playing around with the wide and narrow grip variations.
The biggest mistake you can make is to do wide grip pull ups before you have a good base.
The wide grip pull up is not a novice exercise because it puts a lot of extra stress on the shoulders and thereby increases the risk of injury.
Be proud but stay hungry!
Oskar Faarkrog, ISSA Certified Trainer
Read my free 50 page guide "The 2 Phases of a Skinny-Fat Transformation"