The Bent Over Row: Build A Bigger, Stronger Back.

Most people tend not to consider their back very much until the day it lets them down and they’re forced to spend hours lying in agony on a wooden floor. Even regular gym-goers will generally focus on more glamorous muscles and spurn the opportunity to address the stress and strain a deskbound lifestyle can place on your back. The problem? Your shoulders internally rotate, and this results in tight pecs and a stiff neck.

This often leads to a weakness in the lower back – at best causing pain and discomfort, at worst risking serious injury – and the problem is only aggravated if you add further stress on the chest and shoulders with endless pressing exercises.

The solution is obvious: place greater emphasis on your back training. Step forward, the bent-over row.

Your back muscles are the primary beneficiaries of the bent-over row, and as they increase in strength your posture will also improve so you don’t slump as much. Directly stimulating your lats, traps, rhomboids and rotator cuffs works wonders for your body. A stronger back with better posture – what’s not to like?

If you’re a bench press obsessive, you should also find that adding this to your weights session helps balance out your upper body muscles – the bench press focusing on pecs and shoulders in contrast to the back-building row.

Bent over row technique

Form is all important with the bent-over row, and the best way to ensure you don’t get sloppy is to pick the right amount of weight. Slow, controlled movements are of far more value than jerking up a massive weight and twisting all over the shop.

Once you have your barbell loaded, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. 

Bend your knees and lean forward from the waist. Your knees should be bent, but your back stays straight, with your neck in line with your spine. Grab the bar with your hands (palms-down), just wider than shoulder-width apart and let it hang with your arms straight.

Brace your core and squeeze your shoulders together to row the weight up until it touches your sternum, then slowly lower it back down again. There’s one rep. With a light weight, shoot for four sets of eight to 10 reps.