Was just wondering is there any merit in actually doing bent over rows? I mean from all the squats, deads, leg work etc. I feel my back just gets fatigued a lot and doing bent over rows doesn’t help.
Do you think the chest supported row (machine) hits the back (lats, rhombs etc.) just as much as the bent over row would, or because since the weight isn’t “free” it won’t work as much
I’d still keep in the db rows (or kroc rows) + incline chest supported db rows. So I feel as if there isn’t any point lol…thoughts?
Too many people worry about doing the ‘basics’ because that’s what they are told they have to do. Bottom line, if an exercise is not working for you, or you just don’t feel you get anything out of it, drop it. There are always alternatives, as you’ve already found.
This is completely individual, of course. I do them twice a week now, and tried toing deadlifts inbetween. Bent rows didn’t happen the next day, needless to say.
They don’t seem to interfere with squats though, but if I was doing deadlifts or goodmornings I’d do Hammer Strength Rows instead.
Ya, I think it’s just a personal choice and has to do with having to see which exercises work better for you. I personally get a lot out of bent-over barbell rows and love them. They don’t get my lower back too sore, but if you feel chest supported more, and are making better gains with them, by all means, do them!!
if your deadlifting in your back session and moving some decent weights i wouldnt recommend bent over rowing in the same session to much lower back loading. if your not deadlifting in the session then bent over rows should be fine. you could always try yates way and finish a back session with deads rather then start it with them
I did heavy t-bar rows for the first time the other day, and then squats the next day were brutal. From now on, if im gonna go heavy on rows it will be kroc rows, HS rows, or pullups. And if im gonna go lighter then chest supported, pulldowns or possibly bentover would work.
I can feel the chest supported row working my back well but I can never do them comfortably. I can go heavy on bent over rows and it’s easy to cheat a bit by swinging but my lower back is usually my weakest link and no matter how much I deadlifted/good morninged(?) it didn’t help improve my lowerback’s endurance by much. Now I prefer to do T-bar rows and DB rows.
If you’re worried about it hurting your chest, you can pre-fatigue that exercise. Rape the Kroc rows, and you should have just enough left over to struggle with a lighter load on the chest supported, maybe allowing you to breathe.
[quote]That One Guy wrote:
If you’re worried about it hurting your chest, you can pre-fatigue that exercise. Rape the Kroc rows, and you should have just enough left over to struggle with a lighter load on the chest supported, maybe allowing you to breathe.[/quote]
If you are so gassed from Kroc rows (I’m pretty much done after them so I leave them to the end) that you have to cut your chest-supported weight in half, then I don’t think they are really worth the effort. Might as well move on to a back width movement. Or, if you feel the need to do another thickness exercise, that doesn’t stress the low back, I’d rather do something that doesn’t compress my chest and allows me to get a full breath in…HS rows, cable rows, etc.
[quote]giterdone wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
I don’t see how anyone does chest supported rows, I can’t breath at all when my chest is sitting on that pad.
Same here. These are probably my most hated exercise. [/quote]
Unorthodox, but I hid a pillow at my gym’s desk for when I want to do these; It looks damn weird, but no one says anything. Plus I can breathe.
Edit: For clarification, not a bed pillow; one of those rotund throw pillows that hurt when hurled.
I absolutely hate bent over barbell rows, db rows are better imo. If someone wants to hit their middle back, medium-wide pronated grip seated cable row is good, without straining the lower back.
Breathing is over-rated. Seriously, you only need one or two, maybe three breaths in a set. Conversely, I always felt I needed the extra day of rest for my legs so I rarely had BO Rows in my program.
I’m curious those of you who don’t like STB Rows due to the breathing issue, just how much weight are you using?
I have shoulder issues so there are times I do STB Shrugs instead of Rows and have no problem breathing. I’ve gone up to 160 this way. The last time this topic came up I got curious and checked my old log books. I quickly found an entry of 190 lbs for 11 reps on STB Rows. I’m sure I didn’t have an issue with breath.
I’m also curious how much these Supported T-Bars vary. I know I’m much weaker than I once was, but that discrepancy seems bigger than other movements for me.
If you do strict BB rows (no torso movement) then you’ll have virtually no lowerback fatigue. Most people like to use loose form with rows and such though which is fine, but it does hit the LB a bit in the process.
I haven’t done barbell rows myself in a long time because of the same reasons as you. I squat 2-3 times per week and deadlift 1 time, while my lower back is one of my stronger parts I still need to be carefull or it won’t recover enough. I do a lot of HS low row and DB rows instead.
[quote]trav123456 wrote:
If you do strict BB rows (no torso movement) then you’ll have virtually no lowerback fatigue. Most people like to use loose form with rows and such though which is fine, but it does hit the LB a bit in the process.[/quote]
Personally my lower back gets more tired if I have no torso movement, regardless of whether it moves or not it’s still supporting some of the weight.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
I don’t see how anyone does chest supported rows, I can’t breath at all when my chest is sitting on that pad.[/quote]
I find it hard to breath when I’m doing them with both hands but if I do them one handed it’s not a problem.