Inverted row works all of your pull muscles: your back, biceps, traps, and all the stabilizer muscles in between.
If you’ve been doing just pushups and bench presses, you need to start doing an equal amount of work with your back to stay in balance and away from injury.
If you’re trying to get to your first pull-up, or even if you are already doing pull-ups, adding Bodyweight Rows to your routine is a great idea.
This is what we do all day every day: help people hit their goals!
In fact, it’s a question I get all the time in emails, so I figure I’d add it to the repertoire of explained exercises here on Nerd Fitness.
I’ll be using “bodyweight row” and “inverted row” interchangeably in this article.
You pick up a barbell, bend over at the waist (keeping your back straight), and pull the weight up towards your chest.
This can be a great exercise, but the improper form could cause complications or not give you a great workout!
If you want to eventually be able to do pull-ups, THIS is the exercise you need to add into your routine until you can do a full pull up.
In it, we have workout plans to follow whether you’re at home doing bodyweight training or at the gym with weights.
Inverted Row: How to do it?
Let’s start with the people who have access to a gym (see a variation for No-Gym people at the end).
If you don’t have rings, here’s Staci demonstrating the same movement, just with an anchored barbell in a squat rack:
Lie on the floor underneath the bar (which should be set just above where you can reach from the ground).
Grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing AWAY from you).
Contract your abs, and try to keep your body a completely straight line. Your ears, shoulders, his legs, and feet should all be in a straight line.
Pull yourself up to the bar until your chest touches the bar.
Lower yourself back down.
If you’re still struggling and they’re too difficult, it’s okay. We just need to back up a few steps.
Set the bar higher so that when you lean back, your body isn’t down on the ground; maybe it’s only at a 45-degree angle.
