Barbell row setup
Bar on the floor or in a low rack. Stand close, feet hip width. Hinge at the hips, push the butt back, soften the knees. Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width with an overhand grip. The torso angle should sit between 30 and 60 degrees relative to the floor.
Keep the upper back tight. Lats engaged. Spine neutral.
The pull
Pull the bar to the lower chest or upper abdomen. Drive the elbows back, not up. The bar arcs toward the body, not straight up. Pause briefly at the top, then lower under control.
Don’t let the torso pop up to add momentum. The torso angle stays where it started.
Two style choices
Pendlay row (Glenn Pendlay): the bar rests on the floor between every rep. Each rep starts from a dead stop. Strict, but harder to load.
Yates row (Dorian Yates): more upright torso (60+ degrees), bar pulled to the upper abdomen, underhand or neutral grip variants. More biceps and lower-lat involvement.
For most coaching contexts, the Yates-style upright row tolerates more weekly volume without beating up the lower back.
Common faults
Heaving with the lower back: rocking the torso to add momentum. Fix: drop the weight by 15%, fix the form, build back up.
Bar path drifting forward: the bar moves up and away rather than into the body. Fix: think about pulling elbows behind the body, not up.
Hanging from the shoulders: at the bottom, shoulders sag forward and the lats disengage. Fix: keep the upper back tight throughout, even at the bottom of the rep.
Programming
For pulling balance against bench press volume: prescribe 1.5-2x as much horizontal pulling as horizontal pressing across the week. Most lifters under-row.
For strength: 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps at RPE 7-8.
For hypertrophy: 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps at RPE 7-9.
When to swap
Lifters with lower-back fatigue (often after deadlift days) should swap to chest-supported row, seal row, or T-bar row. Same horizontal-pull pattern, less spinal load.