Dangerous exercises

[Hans]

^ What about the BB classic: Wide-grip pulldowns?
(And done with the most atrocious form imaginable.)

The most atrocious form I've seen so far is when people lean back heavily doing a kind of upside-down wide-grip row. That is bad due to the reasons I mentioned above.

But even when done in upright position, the wide-grip pull-down should be considered poor form. To begin with, it shortens the range of motion compared to a shoulder-wide grip. In addition to that, there is a strain force on your shoulder joint (just look at the force you need to produce in order to move the bar: there is one component parallel to each forearm pointing to you and one perpendicular to it pointing outwards; the latter causes the strain). The shoulder joint is rather weakly stabilized with respect to its function, so it should be treated with care.

To properly conduct a lat pull-down, sit upright, use a shoulder-wide grip, and keep your arms close to your body (your arms will do this quite automatically when you use a shoulder-wide grip). Ideally, your hands and forearms are able to rotate naturally during the movement, i.e., they supinate when the bar moves downwards and pronate when the bar moves upwards. This however requires a bar with some kind of free-moving handles or rings. Your second best option in this regard would be a bar with a (shoulder-wide) neutral grip.