If your goal is to build muscle and strength in your back, the bent-over row is a great exercise to use. It trains the biggest muscles in your back and, over time, can make you very strong!
There are a bunch of different ways you can do it, too. You can do:
• Bent-over barbell rows
• Bent-over dumbbell rows
• Bent-over kettlebell rows
• Reverse-grip bent-over rows
• Single-arm bent-over rows
That’s just a handful of the options you have. Each variation of the bent-over row can target your back muscles in a different way.
That’s the key to making progress, isn’t it? Changing the stimulus you place on your muscles over time!
I’ve been lifting weights for about 17 years, since my freshman year of high school. So, it’s safe to say I’ve been doing bent-over rows for a while.
It’s definitely helped me pack on muscle. It’s also helped me build a solid foundation to build off of in my training.
Let’s get into it.
In This Article:
• Bent-Over Row Muscles Worked
• How to Do the Bent Over Row
• Bent-Over Row Variations
• Common Mistakes with the Bent-Over Row
• How to Get the Most out of the Bent-Over Row
Bent-Over Row Muscles Worked
The bent-over row works all the major muscles in your back. There are 20 pairs of muscles in your back, but I’m not going to cover all of them.
I’m going to stick to the main muscles we’ll be focused on here.
Latissimus Dorsi aka “Lats”
Your lats are the large wing-like muscles that span the lower ⅔ of your back. They attach on the lower 2/3 of your spine, hips, lower ribs, bottom of your shoulder blades, and your upper arm.
It’s a big muscle and likely the one you notice most in your back. I’d say other than your traps, it’s the primary muscle your back training will focus on.
Your lats' main function is to pull your arms down and internally rotate them.
Rhomboids
This muscle group contains your rhomboid major and minor. These muscles attach to your upper spine and your shoulder blades. Their main function is retracting your shoulder blades.
So, when you pinch your shoulder blades together, you’re using your rhomboid. It’s important to do this in the bent-over row because it sets your shoulders in a stable position.
Trapezius aka “Traps”
Your traps are a large muscle group in your back. They sit on both sides of your neck between it and your shoulders. They also run down about halfway down your back, attaching to your spine.
Your traps do a lot of different things. They help you shrug your shoulders, but they also do a lot with your shoulder blades.
They help to pull your shoulder blades down and back and help with their rotation as well. When we do movements with our arms, like in the bent-over row, all of these movements are important.
Elbow Flexors
There are a few muscles in this group...
• Biceps
• Brachialis
• Brachioradialis
These muscles all work together to help us bend our elbows. Depending on your hand position, it can influence which ones are worked most.
With a reverse grip (palms facing forward), your biceps will be worked the most. With an overhand grip, your brachialis and brachioradialis will be emphasized more.
In the bent over row, and all of its variants, we will be using all 3 to some extent.
Erector Spinae
These are a group of 3 muscles that run along both sides of our spine. Their main action is in stabilizing and extending our spine.
Think about going from rounding forward to arching up with your chest out. This movement is essentially your erector spinae at work.
These muscles are very important when it comes to maintaining a stable and neutral spine when doing bent-over rows. It’s protective and can save you from an injury!
Posterior Deltoid aka “Rear Delts”
Your deltoids are the rounded muscles that sit on top of your shoulder caps. The rear deltoid is the small portion in the back.
Their main action is helping with shoulder extension, or pulling your arms behind you. They serve a minor role here, but they’re involved nonetheless.
How to Do the Bent Over Row
Whether you choose to do bent-over rows with dumbbells or a barbell, the movement is relatively the same.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell with an overhand grip. You can also do an underhand grip, depending on your preference (An underhand grip will recruit more of your biceps).
2. Bend your knees slightly and push your hips back as far as you can. Keep your back straight and your chest up as you lower down until your torso is almost parallel with the floor.
3. Let the barbell hang with your arms fully extended. Make sure your back remains straight throughout the entire movement.
4. Pull your shoulders back, and pull the barbell towards your lower rib cage. Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together and pulling with your elbows.
5. Keep your elbows close to your body, or at least no further than 45 degrees from your sides.
6. Squeeze your lats for a second at the top, then slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.
7. Repeat this for reps.
Bent-Over Row Variations
The bent-over row is a great exercise, and as I said earlier, there’s more than one way to do it. Let’s talk about them.
Alternating Dumbbell Bent Over Row
This is a very similar exercise to the traditional bent-over row. The main difference is that you’re using dumbbells instead of a barbell and using one arm at a time.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. That, and one other thing. Because you’re doing one arm at a time, it does add an element of working your core a bit, too.
2. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Use a neutral grip with your palms facing each other.
3. Bend your knees slightly and push your hips back as far as you can. Keep your back straight and your chest up as you lower down until your torso is almost parallel with the floor.
4. Let the dumbbells hang with your arms fully extended. Make sure your back remains straight throughout the entire movement.
5. Pull your shoulders back, and pull one dumbbell towards your lower rib cage. Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together and pulling with your elbow.
6. Keep your elbow close to your body, or at least no further than 45 degrees from your side.
7. Squeeze your lat for a second at the top, then slowly lower back to the starting position.
8. Repeat on the other arm and do an equal number of reps on both sides.
Kettlebell Bent Over Row
This is the same exercise as the dumbbell bent-over row, except kettlebells are weighted differently. With a dumbbell, the weight is loaded in line with your hands. You can do the movement with more control.
Kettlebells have all the weight loaded below the handle you’re gripping. This actually forces your body to use more stabilizer muscles. So while you’re doing essentially the same movement, it does train your body a bit differently.
You can do them one arm at a time or with both arms at once. Again, doing it alternating each arm brings your core into the movement more as well.
Inverted Row
This isn’t as much a bent-over row, but it does train the same muscles. The main difference is that you’re upside down and using your own body weight.
You’ll need a Smith machine or a squat rack with a bar racked in place for this one.
For these instructions, we’ll use a Smith machine. It’s easier to change the height quickly if needed to change the angle and resistance.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Set the bar on the Smith machine to whatever height you’d like. The lower the bar is, the more difficult it is.
2. Lie down with your shoulders directly under the bar. Grab it with an overhand grip at shoulder-width.
3. Engage your glutes to lift your hips off the floor and balance on your heels. Your body should be in a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders.
4. Pull your shoulders down and back to set them. Then, pull your chest to the bar by focusing on pulling your elbows back. If this is too difficult, you can walk your feet backwards and/or raise the bar higher.
5. Squeeze your back muscles for a second at the top, then slowly return to the starting position.
6. Repeat for reps.
If you want to make this even more difficult, elevate your feet onto a bench. It makes it significantly harder!
Bent-Over Dumbbell Reverse Fly
While this isn’t really a bent-over row variation, it does contain the same bent-over position. It also trains the muscles in your back, like your traps and rhomboids.
The prime mover in this exercise, though, is the posterior deltoid.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Grab a set of dumbbells with your palms facing each other.
2. Squat down, pushing your hips back and sinking your chest toward the ground. Keep going until your back is almost parallel to the ground.
3. Keep your core engaged, but make sure your back is flat and not arching or rounding.
4. Keep your shoulders pulled down and back throughout the movement for stability.
5. With a slight bend in your elbows, use your rear deltoids to pull the dumbbells out to your sides.
6. Your arms should be parallel to the ground at the top of the movement.
7. Squeeze your rear deltoids for a second at the top, then slowly return to the starting position.
8. Repeat for reps.
Common Mistakes With the Bent Over Row
While the bent-over row is an awesome exercise, you can hurt yourself if you’re not careful. It’s important to make your form a major priority.
Rounding Your Back
The biggest mistake I’ve seen with athletes and clients I’ve worked with is allowing your back to round forward. It’s easy to do if you think about it.
The weight you’re holding is pulling you down. You have to consciously remember to resist that and keep your back straight.
Allowing your back to round forward with weight in your hands is asking for a back injury. Don’t do it!
Over-Arching Your Back
This is the exact opposite, but still not ideal. If you arch your back to puff your chest out too much, your core isn’t engaged properly.
Your core is a major stabilizer of your spine. So, it’s important to keep your core engaged during bent-over rows.
While rounding your back can lead to an injury, so can over-arching your back. Keep your core engaged and your spine in a neutral position.
This is the safest position your spine can be in when handling heavy weight during a bent-over row.
Not Controlling the Weight
A lot of people want to lift heavy in the gym. Many others want to blast out as many reps as possible. In both cases, you want to make sure you’re properly controlling the weight. This is for 2 reasons.
Giving the weight too much momentum can lead to injury. Too much momentum on the way up can cause the weight to hit you too hard. Too much on the way down can put a ton of torque on your spine.
You may be cheating yourself if you use momentum to swing the weight. Doing that means the right muscles aren’t doing as much of the work. The whole point is to train those muscles, not make it easier to do more reps.
How to Get the Most Out of the Bent Over Row
If you’re doing bent-over rows, you are likely training for a purpose. Maybe you want to build muscle or lose body fat.
Maybe you just want to get stronger or be healthier.
In any of these cases, there’s a lot that goes into making progress. You can’t keep doing the same thing forever and keep seeing results.
At some point your progress will slow down, or plateau altogether, if you do. Nobody likes a plateau, so what can you do?
Well, first off, you’ll have to progress your workouts over time. Because our bodies are so good at adapting, we have to keep making it harder to keep progressing.
I don’t mean that every single workout you need to go up in weight, but over time, you will. You may also need to increase the number of sets, reps, and exercise difficulty.
You also need to train those muscles in other ways with other back exercises.
That’s only one aspect, though. If your goals have to do with building muscle or losing body fat, that adds other elements into the mix.
I’m talking about your nutrition and recovery. Don’t get me wrong… these matter even if you’re just building strength and staying healthy.
But if you want to add muscle or lose body fat, these are absolutely key. It’s impossible to build muscle without eating enough protein and calories.
It’s also impossible to lose body fat without being in a calorie deficit to some degree.
You also need to sleep and have adequate rest if you’re going to recover properly. Without that, you won’t be able to build muscle effectively.
It could also lead to an injury down the line if you aren’t careful.
Between figuring out the right diet and knowing how to adjust your workouts over time, most people struggle. I know I used to!
I had to get my degree in exercise science and study nutrition for countless hours before I got a grasp on it. That’s why people go to experts for help.
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