What is a good indicator of how close your row should be near your bench?
I’ve read that they should be almost equal, and that if you can bench more than you can row you have serious muscular imbalance due to the back having larger muscles ( source = bb forums )
If this is true, i seriously need to work on my row since i can bench 40lbs more. My push has always just been stronger than my pull.
To say you have a ‘serious’ imbalance if they are not equal or close is probably an overstatement, but in general a good goal is they should be close to each other. However if you are super good bencher then the best benchers will be better than the best rowers, perhaps due to the extra emphasis the bench gets.
Also to be clear the row in question is the 45 degree bent over row, not the 90 which will not be that close to the bench press.
Mine are within 5% of each other.
One major reason why the bench is stronger than rows in the population majority is because, simply, people train the bench more than rows. Is that the case with you as well?
In any case, it should be noted that the top bench pressers in the world like Kenelley and Mendelson probably have their rows nowhere near their raw benches, and they still have no problems.
I don’t get that. It is MUCH easier to lay on a bench and be able to push off that stable surface than it is to bend over, support your upper body weight, and pull. It just makes sense that the push would have a clear advantage in terms of pounds moved.
[quote]trextacy wrote:
I don’t get that. It is MUCH easier to lay on a bench and be able to push off that stable surface than it is to bend over, support your upper body weight, and pull. It just makes sense that the push would have a clear advantage in terms of pounds moved.[/quote]
That’s true. It is a lot harder when you don’t have a stable surface to support your chest for rows, which is part of the reason why it’s hard to do a 45 degree row with your max BP or even close to it. Unless you have one of those T-bar row machines that support your chest.
Just try to keep the rows within close range of the BP. If you can’t, try and improve your rows before adding more weight to the BP.
With DBs there’s no comparison, maybe just because of the chest support with the 1-arm rows. Barbell is probably closer, but still with some room to play with.