Move of the Month: Bodyweight Row
by COC fleet manager and certified strength coach Will Ruth
The bodyweight row is one of my favorite strength training exercises for rowers of all ages, types, and levels. This is a horizontal pulling exercise to develop the muscles of the latissimus dorsi (“lats”), trapezius (“traps”), shoulders, biceps, and forearms. The best part about the bodyweight row is that it works these target muscles hard with very minimal load on the low back. Rowers constantly use the low back with rowing, sculling, erging, and other strength training exercises like squats and deadlifts, so it’s ideal to reduce stress and strain on this area when we have other exercise options.
The bodyweight row can be done with fairly minimal equipment. It can work for gym-goers and home-gym users alike, whether you have a barbell and squat rack or just a TRX, gymnastics rings, or even only a towel and a sturdy post. The bodyweight row can be part of a strength training routine or done on its own as a short movement break during a workday. After spending hours at a desk, on the computer, or in a car, I find it feels great to squeeze the shoulder blades together back-and-down through a full range of motion.
Advanced low handle
Beginner high handle
Rings or TRX
Towel handle
Key technique pointers:
Think about a straight line from heels to head. The body is essentially in a plank position so the emphasis stays on the target back, shoulders, and arm muscles with no flopping or arching of the torso.
Keep the shoulders down throughout the movement, bringing the chest up to the handles with no upward shrugging of the shoulders.
Use a 2-to-1 lowering-to-lifting tempo, controlling the descent on each rep to keep muscular tension high.
Start at a handle height that is appropriately challenging to get 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps with 2 minutes of rest between sets. You can superset another exercise during the rest interval, like a pushup or squat that doesn’t work the upper body pulling muscles.
I’ve found that less experienced athletes often consider the bodyweight row too advanced, thinking that they have to go to a low handle position right away with the body parallel to the ground. We can raise the handle up to waist or chest height with a more upright body position to make quality sets in the 8-12 rep range possible, and then decrease the handle height from there to keep it challenging.
I’ve also found that more experienced athletes often forget about the bodyweight row once they can do a few sets of 10 reps with a low handle position. We can continue to keep the bodyweight row challenging with tempo modifications like slowing down the lowering phase of each rep or using one-and-a-half reps, some creative set-and-rep designs, and even adding resistance with a resistance band or weighted vest. I use the bodyweight row in my strength training for rowers of all levels, as well as in my own lifting.
Watch my demonstration video below for a progression and different variations of the bodyweight row, plus additional demonstrations of the challenging ladder row and cluster set bodyweight row.