Cable Rows are a fantastic exercise for the lats and you should be factoring them into your THT workouts regularly.
However, as with so many exercises there’s a way of doing them that ignites growth, and there’s a way of doing them that does very little indeed.
So pay attention here for correct muscle-building form for seated cable rows.
How To Do Seated Cable Rows
Watch the video demonstration first…
- Place your feet on a vertical platform.
- Positioning your legs so that the knees have a slight bend.
- Pull the cable attachment to your waist. A couple of important points here:
(1) Too many guys are pulling the attachment too high; almost to their chest. This is just all wrong. Keep the attachment quite low and row to your waist.
(2) If possible use a seated row attachment. You can use a straight bar but this forces an OVERHAND grip, which I find allows me to generate less force than with an actual row attachment.
- At the top of the rep, your lower back should be arched. Pull the shoulders back and push the chest out forward.
- Now lower the attachment until the arms are almost fully extended. I don’t like to FULLY straighten the arms here as I like to keep a little tension on the lats throughout the whole rep. So stop an inch short of full extension of the arms.
LOOSE FORM TOWARDS THE END OF THE SET
Cable Rows are a good example of an exercise where being too strict is a disadvantage.
At the end of a set, when you are unable to complete any further full reps with strict form, lean forward at the beginning of the rep. Then INITIATE the movement with the lats and then pull your torso back into a straight position as you row.
Again, pull your shoulders back and push the chest forward while arching your back. This “optimized” form will allow you to hammer out an extra rep or two.
CADENCE
You’ll note that I am lowering the weight more slowly than I am pulling it. In THT we recognise that a cadence of 1 second lifting, 1-2 seconds lowering, is best for building muscle.
So pull the load at virtually maximal speed and lower more slowly & smoothly under FULL muscular control.
Those of you who have been doing your rows incorrectly should notice some nice muscle soreness after implementing the form I’ve demonstrated here.
Try it out as soon as you can and let me know how you get on!
Train With Intensity!
Mark (on Facebook? Click ‘like‘ below or I’ll wrap you in the mouth with a cable row attachment!)
THANKS! Good lesson. I have not been told about aiming low when pulling back. So will aim for stomach rather than chest from now on!!
I can’t remember where I picked up the idea from, but I think I’ve been doing something similar to your ‘optimized’ version throughout the set. By leaning forwards at the start (maybe 20-30deg), caused by the pull of the cable itself, I feel my lats getting fully stretched before each contraction, and I appreciate a longer duration of tension/effort against the complete range of muscle motion. I always complete the contraction phase of the rep by slightly leaning back (10deg) as I can focus extra squeeze on the lats.
I will duly follow your new guidelines on next back day, as it looks much tighter than mine. But I want to see if this form doesn’t put too much emphasis on the arms, as I maybe ‘wrongly?’ have a current form that seems to impact the back more and the arms less.
Love the moans and groans haha i shall be implementing this correct form. I’ve been shown and have watched people swing to much forward in the start of the movement and leaning back to far in the pulling movement. Obviously im going to have to drop the weight a little bit more to get it nice and fluid. Its also nice to hear that you don’t have to be 100% strict at the end of the set just like the decline tricep pushdown.
Here at MuscleHack we strike the perfect balance between form and weight! – It’s not sloppy & it’s not strict – IT’S SMART! -Mark Mcmanus
@Richard. I prefer to bring in that movement at the end of a set. Also remember there is the movement of bringing the shoulders back, chest out, and back arched in every rep. Remember the cadence too.
@Shannon. I basically shout my way through my workouts 😉
Nice quote there, sounds like me alright 🙂
Hi, ur tht workout for back is dead lifts, dead lifts, dead lifts, and then 3 sets of bent over barbell rows. Where would I insert the cable rows into this workout? Do I just add an extra exercise? And how many sets and reps? Thanks
@Ismail. Remember the THT Exercise Bank. https://musclehack.com/targeted-hypertrophy-training-exercise-bank/
On this program you go there and switch up exercises every cycle (if you want to). Seated cable rows will replace another compound exercise like bent over barbell rows.
This helped alot. I almost clicked it off. I do these in the Somanabolic Muscle Maximizer program that I’ve been doing for a few weeks now in a super set. I’ve been pulling towards my chest. I’m definitely keeping in mind now to keep it towards my waist, as well as keeping a slight bend in my knees. I felt that keeping my knees NEARLY stiff would grant me strict form and keep the tension of the movement where it’s supposed to be.
Thanks though.
This looks really good. Hard to believe I’ve been out of the gym for a year now due to creating a sciatic nerve pain doing bent over barbell rows. I always made sure my form was perfect but for whatever reason sciatica moved in! Never had any back issues or this in my life. As I get back into the routine. I’m sticking with the cable rows you’ve got here. Just wish I could permanently get rid of the litteral pain the butt pain. 🙁
Cheers bro.
You’re awesome, bro!
I’ve been following your advice for a couple years now. Thanks for being a consistent resource for this type of stuff!
@zipper
Maybe doing core exercises might help?
Mark,
The machine I have has the choice of underhanded rows. This is basically a horizontal bar that one can do overhand or underhand. Does underhanded (palms facing up) have any advantage or benefits? I also have the option displayed in your blog here too.
I’m questioning with John also Mark, is one better than the other, over or underhand grip??? Thanks Mark Man!!!
P.S. I’m not on facebook so PLEASE Don’t wrap me in the mouth with a cable row attachment!!!!!!………That There Is Funny Mark!!
@John & Mike. The hand position in the video is best. However, failing that an overhand grip would be next best. An underhand grip would not be desirable as the biceps would be very much involved and fail before the lats do, terminating the exercise prematurely.
@Mike Huber. I’ll spare you in that case 😉
Thanks, everyone.
Great article. Relieved to know that I have been doing them correctly. 🙂 I was afraid that I would read this and find out that I was doing them wrong.