grip on high pulls

[PWoody]

I was wondering what the difference is between a closer grip as opposed to a wider one. I usually am just outside of shoulder width, but was curious as to what different muscles are used when holding it with your hands almost together at the center of the bar?

[coffee-guy]

A closer grip with a slight rearward lean will hit the latissimus dorsi better (look at a muscle diagram and you can see that the muscle fibers here face in this direction etc)...

A wide grip with a more upright posture focuses on the teres major/minor....

The "safest" one to go with is the shoulder width, slight leaning back form as anything else (even the close grip T-bar etc) puts serious stress on the shoulder joint/capsule - think internal/external rotation on the joint - ugly when something goes wrong or you do them for a long period of time (same reason behind the neck presses are potential career ending exercises - or any shoulder press where the upper arm falls below the parallel plane for that matter)......

[PWoody]

Alright thanks a lot. I was assuming it was more for lats, but wasn't too sure. Appreciate the info.