The barbell bentover row is the mack daddy of all the rowing variations. It strengthens your upper and lower back, shoulders, biceps, forearms, and grip. Plus, being in the hip-hinge position under load for time improves your lower and upper back endurance. Guess what that’s good for? You guessed it, your deadlift.
If you have issues keeping tight in the hinge position and the bottom of your deadlift, spending more time there with the bentover row is imperative. The barbell bentover row is almost the perfect exercise to improve your deadlift performance but that’s not the only benefit. Here are some important advantages of training the barbell bentover row.
How to Perform the Bentover Barbell Row
Perform a proper hip hinge and grab a loaded barbell with a grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
With your chest up and shoulders down row the barbell to your belly button.
Keep your elbows angled at about 45 degrees throughout the exercise.
Pause at the top position of the row and then slowly lower the weight back down.
Reset and repeat for your desired reps.
Benefits of the Bentover Barbell Row
Improved Posture: The loaded hip-hinge position of the bentover row increases the strength and endurance of the muscles that are important for good standing posture, the upper and lower back. Exercises like the bentover row reinforce good spinal control to resist rounding in the upper and lower back.
Added Muscle and Strength: The bentover row adds strength and mass to your upper back, lats, and erector spinae. It’s a great strength and muscle-building exercise because it allows the lifter to use more load than other rowing variations. Plus, it engages your forearms and biceps leading to a stronger grip.
Improved Deadlift and Pulling Performance: Maintaining a loaded hip hinge while pulling improves the strength and endurance in your lower and upper back. Plus, the glutes and hamstrings are working isometrically to keep you in a good hip hinge position. The barbell bentover enhances the strength and endurance of the muscles required for deadlifting and other pulling exercises.
As great as the barbell bentover row is, training it hard and heavy can be tough on the lower back and elbows. Plus, rowing bilaterally strength imbalances between sides can happen. This is why it is always handy to have some variations to address those concerns.
The Pendlay Row is similar to the barbell bentover row in every aspect except for one. This bentover row variation involves pulling from the floor, as opposed to hovering above the floor. The Pendlay bentover row variation is friendlier on the low back due to the weight resting on the floor between reps. Pulling from a dead stop takes the stretch reflex out of the muscle to make the concentric contraction more difficult.
Best Rep Range: 6-12
How It Helps: This develops the power of the floor because you’re pulling from a dead stop and not the floor and it’s a little friendlier on your lower back if this area is a problem for you.
How To Do It: Set up as you would for the barbell bentover row except your torso will have more of a forward lean. Hinge down and grip the barbell with an over or under-hand shoulder-width grip. and take an overhand shoulder-width grip. With your chest up and shoulders down up, explosively pull the barbell towards your sternum. Control the barbell to the floor and reset and repeat
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Trap Bar Bentover Row
Trap Bar Bentover Row
The trap bar bentover row is similar to the barbell variation except for the neutral grip and the weight is in line with your center of gravity. Combined with the andles this makes it less stressful on the lower back. The neutral grip helps you challenge your upper back, biceps, and forearms with more weight than the barbell variation because you’re usually stronger while lifting with a neutral grip.
Best rep range- 8-15
How it helps- the neutral grip combined with weight being in line with your center of gravity allows you to go hard and heavy without your joints being unnecessarily stressed.
How to do it- step inside the trap bar and hinge down and grab the D handles. Get your chest up and shoulders down and row until the back of the bar almost touches your glutes. Angle your elbows at about 45 degrees while rowing. Slowly return to the starting position and reset and repeat.
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Louisiana Personal Trainer – Stability Unilateral Bentover Row
Stability Unilateral Bentover Row
The stability unilateral bentover row helps you in a few ways. First, like all unilateral exercises, it will strengthen the imbalances between sides and gives you more core action. Second, by increasing the stability you’ll make it easier on your low back and it gives you the ability to lift more weight or do more reps with the same weight. More stability equals more strength. This leads to better muscle development between sides for more flex appeal.
Best rep range- 12-16
How it helps- increasing the stability increases the ability to do more weight or more reps with the same weight. This will strengthen imbalances between sides and enhance hypertrophy.
How to do it- stand side on to a squat rack with a dumbbell at your feet across from the rack. Hinge down and grip the squat rack just below torso height and grab the dumbbell. With your chest up and shoulders down, row the dumbbell to the front of your hip and slowly lower down. Do all your reps on one side and then do the other.
