Upper body pulling exercises are widely considered to be a fundamental movement pattern in well rounded strength programme, given the importance it holds in a variety of activities, like rock climbing, swimming, kayaking/rowing, walking the dog or even picking up a child or a heavy object.

Pull ups are a very common pulling exercise, however, many struggle with them because of a lack of pulling strength or even a lack of shoulder and upper back mobility (poor shoulder flexion and thoracic extension) as a result of their current daily sitting and exercise habits, limiting their ability to raise their arms overhead sufficiently.

Therefore, you may initially choose to bias rowing variations to strengthen your upper body pulling.

What is the Difference Between a Pull Up and a Row?

A pull up is considered a vertical upper body pulling exercise, whereas rowing exercises are considered as horizontal upper body pulling exercises, which, as previously mentioned, may be more user friendly for the beginner but also beneficial in its own right…

Upper body pulling exercises bias lats, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoid and the biceps. Rowing exercises place more emphasis on the rhomboids and trapezius and less on the lats than pull ups and vertical pulling exercises. So, if you are looking to grow/strengthen your rhomboids and traps, then you best get rowing.

What Type of Rowing Exercises Should I Be Doing?

This depends on a variety of factors and ultimately predominantly depends on your goals, available equipment and preferences. However, I’m going to take you through some of my favourite rowing exercises and their unique benefits to help you decide what is best for YOU!

Our 16 Best Rowing Exercises

1 - 3 Point Dumbbell Row

You'll Need -

• Dumbbell

• Weight Bench

The unilateral nature of the movement, created by the 3-point stance, increases oblique activation as you are forced to resist the rotational forces working upon the body during the exercise, making it a good core exercise, as well as a good single arm exercise.

2 - Bench Assisted Dumbbell Row

You'll Need -

• Dumbbell

• Weight Bench

The Unilateral Dumbbell Bench Row is a great regression or alternative to the 3-point row, giving you a more solid base of support, allowing you to load more weight unilaterally or giving you the stability required to lift safely, before progressing onto the 3-point row.

3 - Deadstop Rows

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

The Deadstop Row, also known as the Pendlay Row, eliminates the use of the ‘stretch shortening cycle’; the ‘bounce’ out of the bottom of the movement which normally gives you a powerful helping hand at the start of the lift. This forces you to focus on absolute strength and force development, perfect if you are looking to target strength development.

4 - Incline Bench Prone Row

You'll Need -

• Adjustable Weight Bench

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

• Barbell Pad

The incline bench prone row removes the lower back loading from the movement that is associated with other rowing variations, allowing you to isolate the upper body pulling motion, which may be beneficial if you have already heavily loaded your lower back with other exercises.

5 - Pronated Bent Over Row

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

The pronated grip increases the activation of the biceps during a bent over row and also exposes you to similar shoulder rotation angles to the chin up, making it a great variation for anyone looking to do their first chin up.

6 - Reverse Row

You'll Need -

• Barbell

• Squat Rack

The reverse row is a beginner friendly row variation which demands you to stabilise your core and challenge your rowing strength, without heavy loading on the lower back, which may be beneficial for a beginner looking to develop core stability during dynamic movements.

7 - Snatch Grip Bent Over Row

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

The snatch grip bent over row is a great and challenging rowing variation for the Olympic lifting fanatic strengthening your upper back in snatch specific positions.

8 - Trap Bar Bent Over Row

• Trap Bar

The trap bar shifts the weight closer to the line of your centre of mass, reducing the load on the lower back, thus reducing the load on the lower back. You might consider using this variation if you want the benefits of the bent over row, but with less erector spinae loading.

9 - Suspension Trainer Inverted Row

You'll Need -

• Suspension Trainer

The suspension trainer reverse row increases the demand for stability of the trunk versus a typical barbell reverse row, improving trunk stability, whilst also being a perfect rowing exercise for training at home or on the go with minimal equipment, with the option to make it easier or harder based on your foot position.

10 - Chest Supported Alternating Dumbbell Row

• Adjustable Weight Bench

• Two Dumbbells

Similar to the Incline barbell prone row, this variation allows you to load heavily, without the lower back being a limiting factor. The dumbbells in this variation allow you to load unilaterally, without testing your anti-rotation capacity, while also being able to lift through a greater range of motion.

11 - Kettlebell Gorilla Row

• Two Kettlebells

The gorilla row challenges your ability to keep your lower back square to the floor while your upper back rotates through a large range of motion, thus developing anti-rotational, whole-body strength.

12 - Lying Dumbbell Elbowing Row

• Dumbbell

• Adjustable Weight Bench

The elbowing row, similar to a banded face pull, allows you to greater target the traps than the lats, which may be beneficial if most of your pulling exercises already heavily bias the lats. The elbowing row is easier to progressively overload than a banded face pull and uses the bench as a constraint to help you lift more where you usually have to resist falling forward during a standing face pull.

13 - Landmine Row

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

• Landmine Post

• Landmine Handle

The natural arc bar path created by the landmine forces you to pull your elbow towards your bum, extending the shoulder joint and utilising the lats more. This is a useful exercise constraint for people looking to load their lats during a row but do not know how.

14 - Bent Over Barbell Row

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

The bent over row is a popular rowing variation that allows you to lift heavy loads while also loading the lower back and reinforcing your hinge mechanics, which may be beneficial if you are still learning to hinge properly or need to accumulate extra load in a hinged position if it is one of your weaker lifts.

15 - Elevated Landmine Row

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

• Landmine Post

• Landmine Handle

• Landmine Row Platform

This holds all the same benefits of the traditional landmine row but with a greater range of motion, making it a great exercise progression to induce more stress and latter adaptation once the traditional landmine row is mastered.

16 - Meadow Rows

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

• Landmine Post

The arced bar path loops laterally away from the body, forcing your hand to move diagonally from it’s start position, away form the torso, which is a useful exercise constraint for those that may struggle with putting too much relative emphasis on the shoulder joint during a single arm row.

Add these Rowing Favourites into your training to ensure that your upper body training sessions ticks all the boxes to grow your upper body pulling muscles, with an honourable mention to the traps and rhomboids, preparing you for whatever heavy upper back loading life has to offer.

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars and Weight Plates Equipment > Benches ; Equipment > Dumbbells Exercise Type > Strength