bent over row

The Bent Over Row is a powerful free-weight back exercise that should have a prime spot in your back workout routine. If you're on a mission to build a strong and well-defined back, this exercise is an absolute must.

Here we will delve into the muscles worked, how to perform the Bent Over Row, benefits, common mistakes to avoid, reps and sets, how to progress this exercise, how and where to fit it into your workout plan and finally other exercises targeting the same muscle groups.

Muscles Worked When Performing the Bent Over Row

The Bent Over Row primarily targets the muscles in your back, using a barbell that can be loaded no end, making it one of the most efficient and powerful back exercises. The key muscles engaged during this exercise include:

Latissimus dorsi (lats): The lats are the large muscles of the back, and they are the primary muscles worked during bent-over rows. This exercise helps in developing width and thickness in the upper back.

Traps: Mainly the mid to lower traps are engaged during this exercise.

Rhomboids: The rhomboid muscles, located between the shoulder blades, are activated during bent-over rows. They play a crucial role in scapular retraction, pulling the shoulder blades together.

Erector Spinae: The erector spinae muscles, which run along the spine, are engaged to maintain a stable and neutral spine position during the bent-over row movement.

Biceps: The biceps are secondary muscles involved in the exercise. As you pull the barbell towards your body, the biceps are responsible for elbow flexion.

Posterior Deltoids: The back shoulder muscles are also recruited from a secondary perspective.

Forearms: The muscles of the forearms, including the brachialis and brachioradialis, are worked during the gripping and lifting phases of the bent-over row, enhancing forearm strength and development.

Hands (Grip): The hands and grip strength are crucial for holding onto the barbell throughout the exercise. Improved grip strength is a significant benefit of incorporating bent-over rows into a workout routine.

Using a barbell for this exercise is significant, because the barbell provides the opportunity to add a lot of weight as you progress.

You can use the muscle highlighted image at the top of this page for a visual guide of the muscles worked.

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How to Perform the Bent Over Row

To perform the Bent Over Row with proper form, follow these steps:

1. Set Up: Start by holding a barbell with your palms facing down, maintaining a grip at around shoulder-width apart.

2. Stance: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. This stance provides stability and flexibility.

3. Fixed Position: Lean forward slightly from your hips, ensuring your back remains straight. Keep your head up and look straight out in front of you - ideally into a mirror so you can check your form.

4. Start Position: Let the barbell hang down in front of you, with your arms extended and elbows slightly bent.

5. Pull: Then, pull the barbell toward your body, keep your torso neutral and your elbows tucked in close to your sides.

6. Squeeze: Squeeze your back muscles as you lift the barbell, and ensure it comes into contact with your lower ribcage.

7. Back to Start: Slowly return the barbell to the start position, through the same clean and controlled movement.

8. Go for reps.

Benefits of the Bent Over Row

Incorporating the Bent Over Row into your workout routine offers practical, strength and aesthetic benefits:

Back Development: This exercise is one of the most powerful exercises for building a strong and well-defined back.

Strength & Power: It is a powerful compound exercise, targeting multiple muscle groups simultaneously, contributing towards your overall strength and power.

Move the Most Weight: As far as back exercises go, this is one that can be loaded to your complete potential, so you can move more weight with this back exercise when compared to many others that use dumbbells or cables.

Bent Over Row: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Proper form is essential when performing the Bent Over Row. This is a pretty big move where you will potentially be lifting a lot of weight, so the chances of injury from negligence is much higher. Pay attention to these common mistakes.

Form: Always prioritise form and technique over heavy weights, Master the move, make sure you’re confident with it, and then add weight gradually. Leave your ego out of this exercise.

Mind-Muscle Connection: Focus on the muscles worked during the exercise, this will help you to ensure that you are hitting all the right muscle groups with every single rep.

No Momentum: Avoid using momentum or allowing your body to move with the weight. Keep your body still, using only your arms to move the barbell through your upper back muscles.

Reps and Sets

The number of reps and sets for the Bent Over Row depends on your current level with this exercise.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 3 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of Bent Over Rows you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest inbetween.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgment.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make the Bent Over Row More Challenging

You can make this exercise more challenging by increasing the weight you are working with. Alternatively, to make the Bent Over Row more challenging, you can slow the exercise down to increase your time under tension.

How to Incorporate the Bent Over Row into Your Workouts

This is a big move, it’s a compound move and it’s a barbell exercise, that means it is best positioned at the beginning of your workout. If you’re doing this exercise as part of your back workout and if that workout includes a deadlift, we recommend performing this exercise after the deadlift and certainly before any dumbbell or cable exercises.

You can learn more about exercise order here.

Exercises that Work Similar Muscles to the Bent Over Row

Another equally powerful back exercise similar to the Bent Over Row is the T-Bar Row, you can also try the Single-Arm Dumbbell Row, and Seated Cable Row for a lighter variation to squeeze out the last bit of strength you have left after the bigger move. You can also find some more back exercises at the bottom of this page.

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