The way to Do the T-Bar Row: Alternate options, Type, and Muscle mass Labored

The T-bar row is a staple in lots of weightlifters’ again exercises.

The explanations for this are quite a few: it trains your whole again, permits you to carry heavy weights safely and progress repeatedly, and is extremely adaptable, so you may change the way you carry out it to fit your preferences.

On this article, you’ll study what the T-bar row is, its advantages, which muscle tissue it really works, the way to carry out it with correct kind, the very best T-bar row options, and extra.

What Is a T-Bar Row?

The T-bar row is a back exercise typically performed using a T-bar row machine.

While not all T-bar row machines are the same, most consist of a barbell anchored to the floor in a landmine attachment (also called a “T-bar row attachment”), a raised footplate, and a “T-bar row handle” (a handle that enables you to change the orientation and width of your grip).

To use the T-bar machine, you load the free end of the barbell with weight plates, straddle the bar with your feet on the footplate, bend over at the waist, and pull the barbell toward your torso.

T-Bar Row vs. Barbell Row

The main difference between the T-bar and barbell row is how you grip the barbell.

In the T-bar row, the T-bar row handle allows you to use a variety of grip widths. For example, you can take a narrow (hands 4-to-6 inches apart), medium (hands 6-to-18 inches apart), or wide (18-to-24 inches apart) grip.

You can also orient your wrists in multiple ways: you can grip most handles with a pronated (palms facing down), supinated (palms facing up), or neutral (palms facing each other) grip, and some with a semi-pronated or semi-supinated grip.

Conversely, in the barbell row, you can only grip the barbell with a pronated or supinated grip. And while you can grip the barbell as wide as you like, the narrowest grip width you can comfortably use is shoulder-width or slightly narrower.

Some people exaggerate how these grip differences affect the exercises, suggesting how you position your hands greatly impacts which muscles you train.

This is mostly nonsense.

Changing your grip width and orientation likely changes which muscle tissue you emphasize to a small diploma, however it’s troublesome to say whether or not this has a significant impact on long-term muscle progress.

In different phrases, each workouts prepare the identical muscle to a comparable diploma, and neither is best or worse than the opposite. And that’s why it doesn’t make sense to assume by way of barbell row vs. T-bar row and as a substitute assume by way of barbell row and T-bar row.

A great way to incorporate each workouts in your program is to do the T-bar row for 8-to-10 weeks of coaching, take a deload, then substitute the T-bar row with the barbell row for the next 8-to-10 weeks of coaching.

Then, you may both proceed alternating between the workouts each few months or follow the one you like.

That is how I personally like to prepare my coaching, and it’s much like the tactic I advocate in my health books for women and men, Greater Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger.

(And should you’d like much more particular recommendation about what workouts to incorporate in your coaching program to succeed in your well being and health targets, take the Legion Power Coaching Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know the proper power coaching program for you. Click on right here to test it out.)

T-Bar Row: Advantages

1. It trains your whole again.

Many individuals assume that vertical pulling workouts develop your lats, which makes your back wider, and horizontal pulling exercises develop your traps, rhomboids, and teres muscles, which makes your back thicker.

This isn’t based on any sound scientific reasoning, though, and is essentially just gym lore. Research reveals that horizontal pulling workouts, just like the T-bar row, prepare your whole again, together with your lats (maybe even barely higher than vertical pulling workouts just like the pull-up and lat pulldown).

Thus, all horizontal again workouts, together with the T-bar row, make your again thicker, wider, and stronger.

2. It boosts your efficiency on different workouts.

Having a robust again is crucial if you wish to carry heavy weights—you may consider it because the scaffolding that helps the remainder of your physique.

It retains your higher physique tight and prevents you from tipping ahead within the squat, stops your spine from rounding in the deadlift, and creates a stable base during the bench press.

The T-bar row allows you to lift heavy weights safely and progress regularly, which makes it ideal for gaining back strength that’ll boost your performance on other exercises.

3. It’s highly adaptable.

A T-bar row handle allows you to vary your grip width and orientation while you perform the exercise.

The most common variation (and the one we’ll focus on in this article) is the neutral-grip T-bar row, which places your hands about 6-to-18 inches apart with your palms facing each other.

Other popular variations include the . . .

Wide-grip T-bar row, which involves a pronated (palms facing toward your body) grip just outside shoulder-width apart
Close-grip T-bar row, which places your hands about 4-to-6 inches apart with your palms facing each other

Periodically changing your grip is useful because it keeps your workouts interesting and helps you avoid shoulder and elbow overuse injuries, which can occur when you do the same pulling exercise for an extended period.

T-Bar Row: Muscles Worked

The main muscles worked by the T-bar row are the . . .

Latissimus dorsi

Trapezius

Rhomboids

Teres major and minor

Posterior deltoids

Infraspinatus

Erector spinae

It also trains your biceps, forearms, and core to a lesser degree, too.

Here’s how the main muscles worked by the T-bar row look on your body:

T-Bar Row: Form

The best way to learn how to do the T-bar row is to split the exercise into three parts: set up, row, and extend.

1. Set up

Load the T-bar row machine with weights and stand on the footplate so that the barbell is between your legs and you’re facing the weighted end of the barbell.

While keeping your back flat, bend your knees slightly and “hinge” forward at the hips until your upper body is at a 30-to-45-degree angle relative to the floor. Grab the T-bar row handle with a neutral grip and your hands 6-to-18 inches apart and lift the bar off the rest so that you’re supporting the weight.

2. Row

While keeping your back flat, pull the handle toward your abdomen. Continue pulling until the handle touches your torso and your elbows are about 4-to-6 inches from your sides.

(Tip: A helpful cue is to imagine touching the ceiling with your elbows.)

3. Extend

Once the T-bar row handle touches your torso, reverse the movement and return to the starting position. This is a mirror image of what you did during the row.

Don’t let the weight yank your arms back to the starting position or try to extend your arms slowly. The entire “extension” should be controlled but only take about a second.

Here’s how it should look when you put it all together:

The Best T-Bar Row Alternatives

4. Single-Arm Landmine T-Bar Row

The single-arm landmine T-bar row (or “one-arm T-bar row”) places the weight behind your body. This changes the bar’s path as you lift the weight, which may emphasize your mid-back muscles (lats and mid traps) slightly more than your upper-back muscles (upper traps and rhomboids).

5. One-Arm Dumbbell Row

The one-arm dumbbell row is basically a T-bar row with dumbbells. This makes it an excellent variation for people who want to do the T-bar row at home, but have limited equipment and space.

+ Scientific References

Tags: Alternatives, Form, Muscles, Row, TBar, Worked

The way to Do the T-Bar Row: Alternate options, Type, and Muscle mass Labored