Health Publications

Back on track: even out muscle imbalances with the dumbbell row

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Nov, 2003 by Neal Pire

PERFORMANCE

* Stand to the right of your weight bench and hold a dumbbell in your right hand with your palm facing in.

* Place your left knee and left hand, palm flat, on top of the bench.

* Pull your abdominals in and bend forward from your hips so that your back maintains its natural arch and is roughly parallel with the floor, your neck is in line with the rest of your spine, and your right knee is slightly bent.

* Extend your right arm down so that it's directly in line with your right shoulder; keep your shoulder relaxed but parallel with the floor.

* Pull your right arm up until your elbow is pointing to the ceiling and your hand brushes against your waist.

* Hold the dumbbell up for a moment at the top of the movement, focusing on squeezing your shoulder blade toward your spine. This will allow for a strong contraction through your upper and middle back, including the rhomboid, middle trapezius and upper latissimus dorsi muscles (see the diagram at left for muscle location).

* Slowly straighten your arm and return to the start. Complete all reps and repeat with your left arm.

TRAINER'S TIPS

* Keep your shoulders parallel to the floor at all times.

* Avoid rotating your body upward as you lift, and keep your abdominals gently pulled in toward your spine to help maintain your back's natural arch and to minimize the chance of feeling this exercise in your lower back.

* Lift with a smooth and even movement and lower with control.

* Exhale through your mouth as you lift and inhale through your nose as you lower.

* To get a slightly different feel and to emphasize the lats and mid-back a bit more, you can do this exercise with your palm facing backward.

MEETING YOUR GOALS

If you're going for maximum strength or are trying to build size, use a relatively heavy weight and do 6-10 reps per set. Do at least three sets of rows per upper and middle back workout. One caveat: Don't use a weight that's so heavy it forces you to compromise your form in any way. If you're aiming to sculpt and define, opt for a lighter weight and do 10-12 reps per set. Two to three sets per workout will be enough to achieve results. Whatever your fitness goals, you should work your back muscles at least twice a week. Add variety to your workout with other great back exercises including pull-ups, chin-ups, machine rows, lat pull-downs and pullovers.

FUNCTIONAL TRANSLATION

Rowing movements such as the one-arm dumbbell row are an essential element of many sports-related activities. Obviously, it's the primary action in many crew and paddling sports. You also involve rowing movements during the act of pulling your arms up and down when you go for a rebound in basketball, during many swimming strokes, when you pull and release the bow in archery and at various times in sports such as judo, gymnastics, rock climbing and tennis.

The rowing action comes into play more times than you may realize in your everyday life, too. Picking up a pile of newspapers, pulling a piece of furniture into place, tugging on your dog's leash--all involve performing a row to some extent. But perhaps the best reason to include the one-arm dumbbell row and other rowing movements in your weight-training routine is that they work wonders for your posture by strengthening the muscles that keep your shoulders back and that keep your mid- and upper-back supported.