Seated Rows

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey guys,

Whenever I perform seated rows it always seems like my biceps are bearing the brunt of the exercise. Is this simply bad technique on my part or are my biceps way behind in development? I know this might be an impossible question to answer without seeing me perform the movement but any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Stickman

2

Try doing them the way Ian King outlines in Phase I of his Super Strength program (do a search or go to the link in the FAQ section). Also, make sure you pause for a second when you’ve brought the bar to your abdomen and focus on contracting your back muscles as you hold it there, then use a slow eccentric movement, again trying to focus on your lats.

3

Oh yeah, the current issue has an article by IK entirely on rows which explains his “cheated” row technique (kinda forgot…check that before you go to Super Strength, since I could be confusing the articles).

4

I used to find that biceps felt much more of the work than my back when doing most of my back exercises. I changed two things which seemed to help. First, I made sure I was using a full range of motion, allowing my back to fully stretch. Secondly, rather than focusing on pulling the bar, I focused on driving my elbows back and squeezing my shoulder blades together. Deadlifts also hit the back well without taxing the biceps too much. These “tricks” did wonders for me, hope they help.

5

Thanks a lot you guys, I’ll give those a shot.

Stickman

6

try pulling the handles back by pulling from your elbows, imagine the forearms/hands as a hook that connects to your elbows
your forearms shouldnt raise above parallel to the ground at any time, otherwise your trying to row a heavy weight with puny biceps muscles and its not going to work.