Underhand Barbell Row
Bent-over barbell row taken with an underhand grip, which tucks the elbows and favors the lats.
How to do it
- Load a barbell and stand with your feet about shoulder width behind it.
- Push your hips back with soft knees and hinge until your torso is near 45 degrees.
- Take an underhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders and set a flat back.
- Pull the bar to your lower ribs with the elbows tracking close to your sides.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top without standing up.
- Lower the bar to straight arms under control and repeat.
Key technique cue
Elbows along the sides, bar to the low ribs, don't stand up.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Rounding the lower back to reach the bar, which concentrates load on the lumbar spine.
- ✕ Rising out of the hinge on each rep, which turns the row into a partial deadlift.
- ✕ Curling the bar up with the arms, which leaves the lats and mid-back underloaded.
- ✕ Jerking the weight with hip drive, which replaces back tension with momentum.
Benefits
- ✓ Underhand grip keeps the elbows in and biases the lats.
- ✓ Trains a full hinged row pattern with heavy loadable equipment.
- ✓ Builds the trunk and hip position control that free rowing demands.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 -
Step 3 You are here - Underhand Barbell Row
- Straight Bar Bench Mid Rows
- Barbell Bent Over Row
- Kettlebell Gorilla Row
- Pendlay Row
- Yates Row
About the exercise
The underhand barbell row is a hinged row with the palms turned up. The supinated grip keeps the elbows close to the ribs, so the shoulders extend rather than pulling out wide, and the lats take more of the load than they do in a flared overhand row. The middle and lower trapezius and rhomboids still work through scapular retraction, the biceps assist more than in a pronated row, and the trunk holds the hinge: free bent-over rowing was measured as the highest lumbar spine load of the common rowing variations.
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