Beginner

Single-Arm Cable Bench Row

Bracing chest-down on an incline bench in front of a low pulley lets you row a single-arm cable handle through a long, constant-tension range with no lower-back demand. The cable keeps load on the muscle at both the stretch and the squeeze, which the free-weight one-arm row cannot match at the bottom. It's a precise, joint-friendly way to build each side of the back and feel the lat working end to end.

Equipment
Bench, Cables
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

How to do it

  1. 1

    Place an incline bench a couple of feet in front of a low cable pulley and lie face-down on it.

  2. 2

    Reach down and grab a single handle attached to the low cable.

  3. 3

    Let the arm extend fully so the shoulder blade reaches forward under tension.

  4. 4

    Row the handle toward your hip by driving the elbow back and down.

  5. 5

    Squeeze the lat and mid-back at the top without twisting off the pad.

  6. 6

    Return under control to a full stretch, then finish the side before switching.

Tips

  • Set the bench distance so tension stays on the cable even at full stretch.
  • Row toward the hip to keep the lat loaded rather than the upper traps.
  • Keep the chest glued to the pad and resist rotating your torso.
  • Let the shoulder blade travel forward at the bottom for extra range.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Placing the bench so close to the pulley that the stack rests on its stops when your arm is fully extended, so the stretch at the bottom carries no load. Back it off a foot and the bottom of the rep becomes useful again.
  • Lining the bench up so the cable rubs the frame on its way to your hip. Offset the bench a few inches toward the working side so the handle travels through clear air.
  • Loading heavily enough that the cable drags the bench toward the stack mid-set. Wedge a foot against the floor or take weight off; a moving bench costs you the fixed torso you came here for.
  • Grabbing the bench edge with the free hand and pulling on it. It hides how much the working lat is actually doing and it twists the torso off the pad.
  • Reaching so far at the bottom that the shoulder jams into the pad. Let the shoulder blade slide forward, then start the pull before the joint runs out of room.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the single-arm cable bench row should I do?
Two or three sets of 12 to 15 per side with a three-second return. This is a tension exercise rather than a loading exercise, so the weight should be light enough that you can pause at the top and still control the way back down. Once the setup is dialed in, note where the bench sits relative to the pulley so you can repeat it next session; changing that distance changes the exercise more than changing the plates does.
What can I do instead of the single-arm cable bench row without a cable machine?
A single-arm dumbbell row on the same incline bench keeps the supported position, though the load falls away at the bottom where the cable keeps pulling. A band anchored low and in front of the bench restores some of that bottom tension at home. A chest-supported single-arm machine row is the closest gym equivalent when the pulleys are busy.
What is the single-arm cable bench row good for, and when is it the wrong choice?
It is a precision exercise for the lat: the bench cancels the lower back and any body English, and the cable keeps load on the muscle at both ends of the range, so each side gets honest work. That makes it good for hypertrophy, for evening out sides, and for training when your back is sore. It is the wrong choice as the heavy pull of a session, and it is awkward in a busy gym, since it ties up a bench and a pulley for two or three sets per side.

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