Back Muscles - Seated Cable Row

Back Muscles - Seated Cable Row

In this lesson you will learn how to do seated cable rows, also called pulley rows. This exercise trains the back muscles and especially the middle of your back and the lattissimus. Equipment you need for this exercise: A low pulley raw machine. and a V-grip. If you only have free weights, you can do barbell rows instead. Find more exercises for your back muscles at weight training and bodybuilding.

Execution

  • Sit down on a low pulley row machine and put your feet against the foot rests. Bend your knees slightly and hold the V-grip with your arms almost extended. Keep your back straight and pretty upright throughout the entire exercise (don't lean back or forward).
  • Then pull the V-grip to your chest like illustrated above and exhale. You can lean back a little bit but the idea is to keep your upper body still. Keep your shoulders low and back, so that you back muscles are fully contracted when the grip touches your chest. Also keep your shoulders in this position when you extend your arms.
  • Extend your arms again and inhale at the same time.

Advice

  • Some people think that you should always keep your shoulders back and down. Others believe that it's better to move the shoulders forward when you extend your arms - so that back muscles are stretched a little. I'm not sure which one is better, but prefer to keep my shoulders still and stretch them between sets and exercises.
  • Seated cable rows are good for volume. Wide grip lat pulldowns on the other hand make your back muscles broader.