A Few Bent Over Row Tips

The bent over row is one of the basic bread and butter exercises for upper and middle back development. For some time now, power lifter and bodybuilders have been performing the bent over row as a way to increase the size and strength of the muscles in the middle to upper back. If you’re looking to pack on some bulk and shape to your upper body, then the bent row is an important exercise that you must fit into your lat workouts.

Targeting the Latissimus Dorsi, the bent over row combines the potent muscle building benefits of allowing you to train through a complete range of motion with a  heavy weight and allowing you to target your latisimus dorsi with targeted accuracy and move closer to the classic V-shape taper that you really want! While most of the best best weight lifting exercises allow you to train multiple muscle groups at the same time, the bent row doesn’t allow any other body parts to steal the show and cut into the amount of work that your lats do.  This is one of the big benefits to incorporating barbell rows into your back workouts. The heavy weights that you can perform this exercise with allow to to really hammer your lats.

Muscles Stimulated During The Bent Over Row

Aside from the Latissimus Dorsi, there are a few other muscles that carry a some of the load.  To complete this movement the Brachialis, Posterior Deltoid,Teres Major,Brachioradialis and Biceps Brachii all contribute, but the vast majority of the load is carried by the latissimus dorsi. When performed with decent form, the bent row uses very few of the muscles listed above, but when performed with poor form, it is one of those exercises that can start to push a lot of the load from the target muscle group to the secondary muscle groups.  that’s just one of the reasons that it’s so important to learn how to perform bent rows properly.

How To Perform The Bent Row

1. Grasp the Barbell with an overhand grip with your hands spaced slightly wider than shoulder width.  Spread your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees slightly. Lean forward at the waist at approximately a 45° angle. Make sure to keep your back straight during the full range of the movement. If you’re body is aligned properly, then the bar should be positioned just above your knee prior to beginning the exercise.

2. Pull the bar up to the lower portion of your chest, making sure to keep your core muscles contracted (in order to stabilize your spine). When properly performed, you will basically be lifting your elbows up towards the sky while holding your upper body in a stationary position.

While performing this exercise, you should feel the muscles in your upper back working. The lats are located along both sides of the spine along your back. In order to ensure that you are targeting the lats properly, it helps to think about the muscles that you are using (or supposed to be using) and to attempt to pull your shoulder blades up and back at the top of the exercise, this will force your latissimus dorsi to contract if it isn’t already engaged.  Once you feel the muscles that are supposed to be performing the bulk of the work during bent over rows, then it becomes easier to make small adjustments to your form to ensure that the right muscles are being targeted.

3.  Allow the bar to move back down to the starting position in a slow and controlled manner, but still focus on using your lats to complete the eccentric portion of the lift.

As with all free weights exercises varying the position of your grip will allow you to target different parts of your middle and upper back. If you perform barbell rows with an overhand grip, you will place an emphasis on the lower part of the trapezius and your rhomboids. While performing the bent over row with an underhand grip will place most of the emphasis on the upper portion of the trapezius and the biceps brachii.

If you’re looking to increase the size and strength of your middle and upper back, then bent over rows should be a major part of your back workouts.  Not only will you be able to target your lats with laser precision and take a step towards acquiring the v-taper upper body, but you’ll be able to train with a heavy enough weight to make a noticeable difference quickly.