T-bar row

Exercise details

• Target muscles: The back in general
• Synergists: Latissimus Dorsi, Middle and Lower Trapezii, Rhomboids, Teres Major, Posterior Deltoid, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, Brachialis, Brachioradialis, Pectoralis Major
• Mechanics: Compound
• Force: Pull

Starting position

1. Stand over a t-bar with a wide stance and knees slightly bent.
2. Keeping your torso upright and back straight, bend down, grasp the handles with either a wide or a shoulder-width grip, and pull the bar off the floor a little. Your back should be straight and almost horizontal, and your arms should be almost fully extended.

Execution

1. Exhale as you pull the t-bar up to your abdomen.
2. Hold for a count of two.
3. Inhale as you return the t-bar to the starting position.
4. Repeat.

Comments and tips

• Pull with your back muscles, not your biceps.
• Keep your back straight and close to horizontal.
• Start light to give your lower back time to adapt.
• If your gym doesn’t have a t-bar lever/machine, you can use a barbell. Just position one end of the barbell into a corner to keep it from moving, load the other end with plates, wrap a double row bar around the barbell, and you’re ready to go.
• Unlike what most people think, in rowing actions such as the t-bar row, your biceps act neither as targets nor synergists, only dynamic stabilizers.

T-bar row video

Sources

• ExRx.net, Lever T-Bar Plate-Loaded Row