Barbell Row

Bent-Over Row, Barbell Bent-Over Row

Back

Horizontal Pull

Compound

Intermediate

Set it up

  1. Set up as though you are about to deadlift, with the bar over your midfoot.

  2. Hinge until your torso is 15 to 30 degrees above parallel and hold that angle.

  3. Take a grip just outside your knees and pull the slack out of the bar.

  4. Brace hard before the first rep.

What I say while you lift

  • Row the bar to the bottom of your ribs, not to your chest.

  • Drive your elbows back past your ribcage.

  • Hold the torso angle — the bar moves, you do not.

  • Control the bar down instead of letting it drag you forward.

What goes wrong

  • Standing up a little more with every rep.

  • Throwing the bar up with the low back.

  • Shrugging the shoulders instead of rowing with the elbows.

3011

default tempo

Breathe in at the bottom, hold through the pull, exhale after the bar returns.

breathing

Before you load it

Any load that changes your torso angle is too heavy — put it down and take twenty pounds (9 kg) off.

Swap to a chest-supported or single-arm row while the low back is sensitive to sustained hinging.

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