How to do the barbell row
The barbell row is the main horizontal pull in most programs and the usual counterweight to all the pressing people do. It builds the mid-back that holds your bench setup together and your deadlift bar path tight.
- Type
- Lift
- Level
- Intermediate
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Works
- Lats and Mid-back
- Also worked
- Rear deltoids, Biceps, Spinal erectors, and Hamstrings
- Also called
- Bent Over Row and Pendlay Row
Set up
- Set up as if you were deadlifting, with the bar over your midfoot.
- Hinge at the hips until your torso is somewhere between 15 and 45 degrees above horizontal, and hold that angle.
- Take an overhand grip a little outside shoulder width, with a slight bend in the knees.
The rep
- Brace, then pull the bar toward your lower ribs or upper stomach.
- Lead with your elbows and finish by squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Lower under control to full arm extension without letting your torso rise.
- Keep the torso angle identical on every rep of the set.
Cues that help
- Row to the belt buckle, not to the chest.
- Elbows drive back and down, not out to the sides.
- If your torso is rising to meet the bar, the weight is too heavy.
Common mistakes
Turning it into a shrug
Heaving the bar with a hip snap and a shrug trains neither the lats nor the mid-back. Drop the weight until the elbows can do the work.
A torso angle that changes every rep
An inconsistent angle makes the log useless, because rep one and rep eight are different exercises. Pick an angle and hold it.
Rounding the lower back
The row is a supported position, not a spinal endurance test. If your back rounds by the last rep, the set ended two reps ago.
How to progress it
Rows respond well to adding reps before weight. Work in the 6 to 12 rep range, add a rep a week until you hit the top of the range on every set, then add weight and go back to the bottom of the range.
How to track it
Log the row with the same torso angle noted in the equipment or notes field if you switch styles — a Pendlay row from the floor and a strict row from the hang are different lifts with different numbers.
Log your barbell row
Opens the lift form with Barbell Row already filled in. Free account, no card.
Barbell Row questions
What is a Pendlay row?
A row done with the torso parallel to the floor where the bar is set back down on the floor between every rep. It removes the stretch reflex and makes each rep a fresh pull.
Overhand or underhand grip?
Overhand biases the upper back and rear delts; underhand lets you use more weight and involves the biceps more. Both are fine, but log them separately.
Rows or pull-ups?
Both. They pull in different directions — rows horizontally, pull-ups vertically — and most programs include one of each every week.