Beginner

Inverted Row

The inverted row is the horizontal-pulling counterpart to the push-up: you hang under a bar and pull your chest to it while the whole body stays rigid. It builds the mid-back and lats while teaching a strong braced plank, and the difficulty scales simply by changing your foot position. It's a superb starting point for beginners and a solid finisher for everyone.

Equipment
Barbell
Body part
Back, Lats
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Horizontal Pull
Muscles worked
Target
Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius Middle
Secondary
Trapezius Lower, Deltoid Posterior, Infraspinatus, Biceps Brachii Long Head, Biceps Brachii Short Head
Tertiary
Erector Spinae, Upper Rectus Abdominals

How to do it

  1. 1

    Set a bar in a rack at about waist height and lie underneath it.

  2. 2

    Grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width and hang with arms straight.

  3. 3

    Set your body in a straight line from heels to head with the core braced.

  4. 4

    Pull your chest to the bar by driving the elbows down and back.

  5. 5

    Squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top, then lower under control.

  6. 6

    Keep the hips up so the body stays rigid throughout.

Tips

  • Keep glutes and abs tight so the body moves as one plank.
  • Raise the bar or bend your knees to make it easier; elevate the feet to make it harder.
  • Pull the chest to the bar, not the chin, to keep the mid-back engaged.
  • Don't let the hips sag; a broken plank turns it into a shoulder movement.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • J-hooks that are not seated properly, or a bar resting loose on safety pins, can roll or pop out when you pull hard from underneath; check the bar is captured before you lie down under it.
  • The bar is set so high that the body is nearly upright and thirty reps go by without much happening; if you can do more than fifteen clean reps, lower the bar instead of adding more.
  • The ribs flare and the low back arches to get the chest up to the bar, so the last inches come from the spine rather than from the shoulder blades.
  • At the bottom the shoulder blades stay pinned together, so the mid-back never gets the stretch that makes the next pull worth anything; let them spread as the arms straighten.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the inverted row should a beginner do?
Three sets of 8 to 12, two or three times a week, at a body angle where the last rep is a genuine effort with the hips still in line. Bodyweight movements progress by geometry rather than plates, so when 12 reps stop being hard, lower the bar a notch instead of chasing more reps. A good milestone is three sets of 10 with the bar at hip height and the legs straight; elevating the feet is the step after that.
How do I make the inverted row easier if I cannot do ten reps?
Raise the bar. Every notch up makes the body more upright and cuts the share of bodyweight you are lifting, and that one change is worth more than any technique tweak. Bending the knees and putting the feet flat on the floor closer to your hips has the same effect, and so does walking the feet in toward the bar. If the last reps still fall apart, do fewer reps per set and more sets, or hold the top position for five seconds and lower slowly instead of pulling.
What is the inverted row good for, and when should I use something else?
It builds the mid-back and lats while teaching you to hold a rigid body under load, it needs nothing but a bar, and it scales continuously by body angle, which makes it a good first horizontal pull, a good movement to return to after a break, and a solid high-rep finisher for anyone. Use something else when you want heavy, low-rep strength work: you run out of angle before you run out of back, and a weighted row or a machine progresses more cleanly. It also needs a bar you can trust to hold you from underneath.

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