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BENT-OVER
DUMBBELL ROWS
 MPEG:
Dumbbell row
CORRECT FORM
For
the left side:
1) Place a dumbbell on a bench.
2) Bend over and place your left knee and right hand on a bench
with your right foot on the ground as shown
3) Grab the dumbbell and lower it over the left-hand side of
the bench. You are now in position to perform the row.
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4)
Pull the dumbbell upward alongside your body.
Initiate the movement by squeezing your left shoulder blade
inward while simultaneously pulling back with your arm.
Keep your back completely straight. |
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Do not let your
back/spine rotate at the top of the movement more than a minimal amount
(see picture).
4) Lower the weight slowly as you return to the starting position.
Allow your shoulder blade to drift back out.
5) Exhale as you pull the weight upward, inhale as you lower the dumbbell.
MUSCLES
USED
SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
You
should feel this primarily in your middle back, between and below
your shoulder blades.
If you are feeling strain, fatigue or burning up closer to the back
of the shoulders, or in the arms, you are probably not beginning and
ending the movement by squeezing the shoulder blades together. Beginning
weight-lifters almost universally make this mistake.
It is important to keep your back as straight as possible. This is
difficult and requires strong abdominal and trunk muscles to offset
the one-sided downward pull of the dumbbell. Allowing your spine to
rotate or twist too much with a significant amount of weight in one
arm can cause shearing and micro-tearing of the discs in your spine.
Over time, this could lead to disc injury such as a herniation.
If you feel soreness in your lower back as a result of performing
dumbbell rows, you may be straining the small muscles that are fighting
to keep your back straight. In this case, a different type of rowing
exercise may be for you.
EFFECTIVENESS
Rows
are an essential exercise to completely train the upper back. They
are sometimes difficult to do without placing other areas at risk
for strain and injury. If you can perform them without lower back
or neck pain, a dumbbell row is excellent for training the entire
upper back. All upper back muscles will be trained, but especially
the ones in between the shoulder blades - the middle/lower trapezius
and the rhomboid muscles.
Additionally, because you are pulling back and extending the shoulder,
the long head of the triceps will pull as well. This means that if
you have fatigue in the triceps, you might want to put a day between
your triceps and upper back routine.
IMPORTANT
WITH TRAINING FOR
Bodybuilding, Tennis,
Racquetball, Football,, Martial arts, Boxing, Basketball, Baseball
and all throwing sports, Golf, Wrestling. |
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