Until 2011, I hated barbell rows. No matter the variation, they just didn’t feel “right” to me.
The exercise fabled to fill the upper back was instead stressing my lower back and hamstrings. And it wasn’t one of those “you’re working the muscle, keep going, rah-rah” kind of feelings either. It was a “fwaarrkkkkk, this can’t be good” kind of feeling.
(As crazy as it sounds, barbell rows also used to aggravate my chronic knee pain. When my chronic knee pain was at its peak, a lot of stiff legged movements—despite having a small range of motion about the knee—flared up my knee. Here’s a little social proof, from back when I asked Mark Rippetoe about my issues.)
Sometime in 2009, I remember trying Yates rows. My memory of this is vivid because I was so geeked going into it. Having a higher torso angle was supposed to eliminate lower back stress and all around feelings of awkwardness.
It didn’t.
So I made the decision to stop doing any kind of barbell rows.
For a year it was dumbbell rowing. And then another year there was no rowing, save for batwings.
Around this time, I was also repatterning my lower body. You know, An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain stuff.
POST KNEE REHABILITATION RESULTS
After a host of glute-centric work and all of the goodness that lower body repatterning entails, I went back to barbell rows. Partly out of curiosity. Partly because I just love the dead stop “pendlay” row. (I’m well aware of the naming issues and controversy.)
To my surprise, the movement felt entirely different. But it was short lived. Not long after, I broke my foot. When I got back into training, I opted against them in favor of saving my foot from unnecessary stress.
Earlier this year, I went back for my second tour, post-repatterning, post-chroninc knee pain, and post-brokenness. Maybe the rash of injuries made me forget about my toils with them, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago when a client asked me, “Is there anything I can substitute for barbell rows? I’m not sure I feel them in the right place,” that I remembered how troublesome they once were.
WHAT BARBELL ROW ARE WE TALKIN’ HERE?
For the sake of clarity, when I say “barbell row,” I’m referring to the standard overhand grip row done with the back parallel to the floor. If you want to get technical it can be done from either a dead stop or with a stretch reflex at the bottom of the movement. Currently, I opt for the stretch reflex version because I want it to be more of an upper body exercise as opposed to a deadlift assistance exercises.
WHERE SHOULD YOU FEEL THE ROW?
Nowadays, when I do barbell rows, I feel them in two places:
- Mid-Upper Back
- Glutes
I’m fairly certain those are both acceptable answers to the question of where the barbell row should be felt.
The glutes take a large load because they are responsible for holding the bent over position. This position is essentially the bottom of a romanian deadlift, and an isometric hold in the midst of a hinging movement pattern.
Failing to feel the glutes likely means you’re defaulting to the lower back and hamstrings, which is usually accompanied by an anterior pelvic tilt. This problem is very common as the coaching cues used to prevent lower back injuries almost always involve some sort of lower back over arching. This an entirely different topic in itself (again, An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain stuff).
As for feeling it in the mid-upper back, I don’t abide by the uber-elbows-pinned rowing rule. I focus on two things:
- Getting a full stretch at the bottom (this means protracting the scapula, although I don’t go as far as old Arnie — I make sure to maintain solid lower back positioning)
- Squeezing it all together at the top (this means retracting the scapula—I like thinking “thumbs to armpits, which I can thank Dan John and bat wings for)
WHY CAN I SUDDENLY ROW?
When I was fixing my knee pain, I spent a lot of time doing isometric and “slow moving” work to get a mental connection with my hips. Firing my glutes in the bottom romanian deadlift position was, and still is, a given because all of the man hours put in.
Although I didn’t correlate it until recently, I spent an entire summer doing no rowing but bat wings. Bat wings are a Dan John-ism that are nothing more than isometric rows.
There seems to be something to repatterning and doing things slowly — even to the point if no movement — at first.
Something…
WHY YOU SHOULD BE DOING BARBELL ROWS
These days, it seems the barbell row is frowned upon. Other exercises prove more worthwhile through EMG studies, they say.
But I can confidently say the barbell row has been a huge contributor to my back’s growth, and I don’t plan on getting rid of them anytime soon.
Aside from the sexiness, the barbell row is one of those useful connect-the-dot tools.
If you can’t barbell row without your glutes afire and upper back ablazing, you probably have some wiring issues. If this applies to you, here are some things to think about:
- Your glutes aren’t in charge of your lower body. And when that happens, you’re at risk for knee pain and other lower body trouble, not to mention decreased performance as a whole.
- Your upper back has trouble commanding scapular retraction. And when that happens, your shoulder is in trouble.
So if you’re avoiding the barbell row, you might want to think about why to see if you’re not just covering up unresolved problems. Now, it’s not like I have room to talk as I threw them to the curb for two years. But after jigsawing this all together, few exercises provide a hit the entire backside quite like the barbell row.
The good news is that getting started is as simple as getting started. If you ditched them, un-ditching them starts with nothing more than grabbing a hold of the barbell, bending over, and getting the work done.
You will struggle a bit at first. But keep at it.
As for motivation, when was the last time someone needed less glute and upper back work?
The good news is that there’s hope for you yet. Even if you think you’re doing them completely wrong, you’re probably better off than I was at the start. Yet here I sit, now declaring man-love for the barbell row. I do them weekly, my knees are healthy, my lower back feels great, and my upper back ain’t too shabby.
If you can’t even fathom how to use your hips more and “repattern” for the row, be sure to check back over the next two weeks for suggestions. I’ll let all of this sink in before barraging you with more. And if your interest is peaked, you might as well sign-up for the newsletter (form at the top of the page) so you don’t miss any posts.
Oh, and that “project” I talked about in my blurb a few days ago — it will be released very shortly. And it might just fix your row woes in addition to to wiring issues you have.
+++++
Where and how would you start repatterning for the row if you’re completely out of whack?
Do you do barbell rows. If not, why?
Having been rowing exclusively using the ‘Kroc’ bent, dumbbell variety, I’d been meaning to mix in a little variety with barbell rows. A timely post, for sure! Having been following the guidelines you’ve pointed out here namely, a necessity to feel the upper back and glutes taking the load (with minimal if any lower back and hamstring involvement), I’m finding it to be yet another movement that’s helping to improve my pulls off the floor overall. That and RDL’s, too. Another noticeable benefit personally, a stronger and more stable bottom position in the snatch. That doesn’t surprise me at all, BTW as I’m finding most lower-body compound exercises, rows included, as having a reasonable carryover towards an activity of particular interest, Olympic weightlifting (and powerlifting, too; an ever-present, totally sucky bench press notwithstanding
).
You’ve sent out questionnaires regarding your reader’s interests with respect to topics discussed here. Well, sir… this is one of them, at least for me. Thanks, Anthony.
Daluke, cool stuff. Yeah, the bottom position will have some snatch carry over. Stay tuned for the continuation of the series.
Hey Anthony,
I too did a good deal of barbell rowing at one time and eventually stopped in 2011. My experience was that as I got stronger at them (225 for reps, body weight of 195) my low back started to take on more and more of the load. It After reading your own writing as well as a few other notable coaches, I realized I had glute weakness that I needed to address. After many months of glute and hip thrusts and repatterning as you call it, as well as many many reps of 45 back extensions, I returned to do rows recently and they feel much more “right” than they did before.
Lesson learned, if you have weak/inactive glutes, EVERY other posterior chain involved movement is never going to “feel” how it should.
Awesome, Alexander. Glad you’ve had similar experiences.
I mostly do calisthenics for my back, such as levers. It’s funny how muscle imbalances in the hips and core can have such a massive impact elsewhere.
PS Thanks for responding to my email in a timely and hilarious manner last week.
I do levers too. Great exercise.
And no problemo about the e-mail. ‘Tis what I’m here for.
Used to hate rows because of lower back pain. But now I have learned to use the glutes, I love rows. Best exercise for adding mass to the back!
Awesome. Similar feelings. Underrated these days.
Hi Anthony!
Excellent post. The highlight of this post for me was the role of glutes in the row, and the linked article to batwings. Thanks.
Have you seen the adonis row?
http://www.adonisindex.com/counter-contraction-the-adonis-row/
Nope, never seen that before. Can’t say I’m a fan.
Well neither am I. I tried it yesterday, couldn’t get a lot out of it. For starters, i couldn’t go beyond 55 lbs
I am ditching it… just thought i would let you know 
Hah. Yeah, thanks. Never seen it before.
Sick post Dude.
I actually had experience with this. Suffered knee pain a few years ago. Rehabbed it with my PT and learned to hinge and constantly practicing hinging before every workout. Just started doing the barbell row again a few months ago and it actually does feel a crap load different. I also feel it a ton in the lats.
Have you played around with Anderson Barbell Rows? I think they are a great way to ease into a full blow bent over barbell row. You can slowly put tension in your back and glutes and really focus on firing the muscles before even putting any velocity into the bar. Much safer way to learn the movement and connect the mind to the muscle.
Nope, no experience with the Anderson Barbell row. I may have to experiment. Thanks man.
Big ups for this man. I love barbell rowing and experienced the exact same thing as you until about a year ago. I took the weight way down and concentrate hard on form. I find it to the most effective back exercise in my routine now. In fact I’m sore right now from it.
Nice. It does requiring a slow start, that’s for sure.
I do them, especially underhand grip, but on the whole I prefer inverted rows variations, which I use more often. And unilateral dumbbell rows, too.
Any reason why, Sven?
I definitely need to re-pattern my hips it seems. I can’t do ANY type of bent-over row (barbell or otherwise), without my lower-back hating me. I have scapular protraction/retraction on lock, so it’s time to do some glute work!
Lookin forward to the next installment.
Yeah, all about snagging that isometric strength in the bottom of the hinge!
Hey Anthony, great post as always.
Do you see any advantages/disadvantages with doing barbell rows from a Smith-machine VS a free hanging barbell? I prefer to use the barbell with the self-spotter because I feel the movement is more controlled and I can focus on squeezing those rhomboids at the top without the bar wobbling. While I might be sacrificing muscle memory and working those small stabilizing muscles on the eccentric stretch, isn’t it more important to isolate rhomboids for somebody with a huge upper chest and inhibited/phasic mid-back muscles? Thanks bud.
Same adv/disadvantages as any exercise in the smith vs. free bar.
But I think you’re mixing up the purpose of two different exercises. What you’re describing is more of a bat wing. The purpose of the barbell row isn’t to isolate. It’s to use the entire back in integration.
I find rowing to be an exercise – albeit one of the few – where machines are useful. There is much less back stress when doing a row on a machine with a chest support pad.
Well, I used to share the same thoughts, but I think learning the barbell row has great value as mentioned.
hey anthony, awesome post.i never thought of barbell rows this deep.didnt know how the glutes play such a huge role in performing this movement.when i do heavy barbell rows,my lower back hurts a bit too.looks like i got some fixing to do!one problem though, some people say at the top of the movement the barbell should touch the body.when i row even with light weights, i find it difficult to for the barbell to touch the body.probably im targetting it to touch at the wrong part,what do u think?thanks man
Yeah, I think the bar should touch the chest. I would need a video. You can target anywhere, really. Upper chest, lower, etc…
Hits different pieces.
Anthony, I REALLY like the way your roll. Great blog. Barbell rows are one of those sum is greater than the total of its parts lifts. Yes, you can Kroc row more total weight. Yes you may be able to chin greater total weight. Yes the old school T-Bar row gives you a more favorable bar path.
But something special happens with the total load hanging off your spine through tightly compressed upper back and glutes. Core strengthening, glute maximus, (and surprising medius) strengthening, hamstring strengthening, upper back strengthening. Segue into some snatch grip DL’s, or snatch grip RDL’s, and you just hit the whole back side of your body, and did some shoulder, scap corrective work, assuming your form is on lock..Love it..
Derrick, that second paragraph is magical. And poetic.
“But something special happens with the total load hanging off your spine through tightly compressed upper back and glutes.”
And snatch-grip romanian deadlifts — love those too. Very underrated.
Thanks!
I was doing BB rows before my knee ACL/meniscus surgery but know after surgery my right leg is way too week and my left leg only basically supports the row. So currently I am doing chest supported rows. Will definitely switch back to BB rows when my right leg strength is up to par
Yeah, all tools have a time and place. Thanks for the reply, George. Nice to have you around.
Awesome post as always Anthony!
I love the way you share your experience and what you’ve learned! I am not quite sure why, but I notice bigger progress when I do dumbbell rows, instead of barbell… I’ve dislocated both my shoulders 5 times, and I’ve torn my ligaments, tendons and so on,and I used to have a lot of problems with my lats and back as a whole, but since starting to incorporate more pulling and pushing exercises with dumbbells ( heavy) , I’ve noticed a huge progress, my posture is better and I am capable of doing movements I couldn’t do before that! I think the reason behind it might be that the dislocation left me with some serious issues and muscle imbalances- I am troubled to pull with my right hand, and troubled to push with the left! And probably when I do barbell exercises, depending on the movement I use predominantly one arm and thus I am exaggerating the strength differences, but when I do dumbbell movements I have to rely on the working hand and no help from the other one… Hm, I think my comment got too long, but I am just contemplating! 
Anyways! Awesome post!
Thanks for the reply, Ines. While I don’t think you should completely abandon barbell exercises, this shows that there’s a time and place for everything.
they say dumbbell rows are superior some strength coaches . i enjoyed the barbell too
Some people do say that because you get to focus on the rowing motion more. It’s harder to cheat on. Blah blah. Just do them right.
Now, saying that, there are reasons not to do them — or at least pick the dumbbell versions — but I wouldn’t vilify the BB version.
Hi Anthony, Your confirmation of having to fire the glutes is a great relief. I have started with BOR’s again and have been (good) sore in the glutes for couple of days. Good article and I will push along with how I am doing them.
Good stuff.