Front Row Upper

Front Row Upper

Front Row Upper

Bent Over Rows For Serious Back Development

The bent over row is one of the basic bread and butter exercises for upper and middle back development. For decades now athletes, bodybuilders and power lifters have been using the bent row as a way to increase the strength and size of the muscles in the middle to upper back. If you're wanting to add bulk and shape to your upper body, then the bent row is an important exercise that you must fit into your back workouts.

Targeting the Lats, the bent 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 lats with laser accuracy and move closer to the v-shaped upper body that your dying to have! While most of the best best weight lifting exercises allow you to train multiple muscles at the same time, the bent over row doesn't allow any other muscle groups to steal the show and cut into the amount of work that your lats do. This is one of the big benefits to planning bent over rows into your lat workouts. The heavy weights that you can perform this exercise with allow to to really hammer your lats.

Muscles Stimulated During The Bent Row

Aside from the Latissimus Dorsi, there are a few other muscle groups that carry a little bit of the load. The Teres Major, Posterior Deltoid, Biceps Brachii, Brachioradialis, Brachialis, Rhomboids and Trapezius all aid in the completion of this movement, but the vast majority of the load is carried by the latissimus dorsi. When performed with decent form, the bent over row uses very few of the muscles listed above, but when performed with sloppy form, it's one of those exercises that can start to push a lot of the load from the target muscle group to the accompanying body parts. that's just one of the reasons that it's critical to learn how to perform bent rows properly.

How To Perform The Bent Over Row

1. Grab the barbell with an overhand grip with your hands spaced slightly wider than shoulder width. You should be standing on your feet with them spaced 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 your lower 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 the bent over row, you should feel the muscles in your upper back contracting. The lats are located along both sides of the spine along your back. In order to ensure that you are focusing on the lats properly, it helps to visualize 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 bent over rows with an overhand grip, you will place an emphasis on the lower part of the trapezius and your rhomboids. While performing bent rows 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 strength and size of your middle and upper back, then barbell 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.

About the Author

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