Anyone have any variations on the bent-over BB row that have worked out well for them? Every person at my gym, insists that rows MUST be done by pulling to the abdomen. But, every time I do that, I feel it mainly in my posterior delts (same with DB Rows). But, I’ve found that when I pull the BB to my chin/upper chest, I feel it intensely in my lats! Anyone else experience this?
try keeping your elbows as close to your body will pulling to your abs while using a supine (underhnad) grip…also check out poluquin’s “top 7 upper back exercises” the last one is a DB row where you pull to your hip, once you get the form down this will kill your lats.
Try varying how far you bend over. How far you go can easily shift the emphasis to the places you mentioned as well as the traps. You don’t have to be completely at 90 degrees, and make sure to have an arched, not rounded, back.
In fact, in the “Yates Row,” you’re bent
only over about 20 degrees, and pull the
bar to about your waistband, while keeping
the shoulders forced DOWN (absolutely
not in any way shrugging the bar up) with
back arched and scapulae retracted at the top of the movement – imitate
a Playboy Bunny pushing out her tits.
There is, by the way, no way to bend over
90 degrees and pull the bar up high on the body while using a heavy weight. You’d fall
over and/or the stress on the lower back
would be extreme.
How is your back is it perfectly flat, parallel to the ground as you pull the bar to you abs or do have a little bit of rounded shoulders? If you have rounded shoulders as you are doing this exercise you might feel it more in your posterior delts make sure you back is flat and parallel to the ground
try doing them first in your back workout if you dont already. Also to perform bent over rows effectively you need to build a strong lower back to support the weight. I assume you do deadlifts or good mornings, or preferably both. if thats not the problem then your just using to much weight.
That is the best way I have ever heard the form in a Yates Row described b4 Bill, cudos. And yes, I would say Yates rows are a killer for back(with the underhand grip). I also found that sometimes I would load an e-zcurl bar instead of a flat bar so I could get a maximum contraction, and make sure you are lifting as if you were pulling with your elbows, not your shoulders.