Row
Seated cable row
Works
Also works
Equipment
How to do it
- Sit facing the low pulley with your feet on the platform.
- Grip the handle and keep your knees slightly bent and your torso upright.
- Pull your shoulder blades back before pulling.
- Pull the handle to your abdomen, driving your elbows back and close to your body.
- Return under control until your arms extend without rounding your back.
- Keep your torso still and avoid rocking back and forth.
Common mistakes
- Swinging the torso back to pull
- Rounding the back on the return
- Shrugging the shoulders while pulling
What the evidence says
If your lower back is the limiting factor, the variation matters: comparing the inverted row, the standing bent-over row and the one-arm cable row, the inverted row produced the highest latissimus dorsi activation with the lowest lumbar spine load, while the standing bent-over row imposed the largest spine load.
Fenwick CM, Brown SHM, McGill SM. «Comparison of different rowing exercises: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness». Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2009;23(5):1408-1417. View the study
At matched effort, free-weight rows demand more from the erector spinae than machine rows, and the unilateral version activates the external oblique more than the bilateral one. Pick a machine or chest-supported row when you want your upper back to be the limit, not your lower back.
Saeterbakken A, Andersen V, Brudeseth A, Lund H, Fimland MS. «The effect of performing bi- and unilateral row exercises on core muscle activation». International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015;36(11):900-905. View the study
Rows do grow the biceps, but they don't replace curls: over 8 weeks training one arm with the dumbbell row and the other with the biceps curl, elbow flexors grew 11.1% with the curl versus 5.2% with the row.
Mannarino P, Matta T, Lima J, Simão R, Freitas de Salles B. «Single-Joint Exercise Results in Higher Hypertrophy of Elbow Flexors Than Multijoint Exercise». Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2021;35(10):2677-2681. View the study
What isn't settled: No trial has yet compared row variations by measuring how much the back actually grows: what exists is muscle activation and spine load measured in a single session, and activation doesn't predict hypertrophy. Choosing between barbell, Pendlay, T-bar or Meadows rows is, for now, a matter of comfort and of what fails first — not of evidence.
Other variations
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