How is this different from a Pendlay row?

The Barbell Pendlay Row starts and finishes every rep with the bar on the floor, so each pull begins from a dead stop, while the bent-over row keeps the bar hanging for the whole set. That continuous tension is why the bent-over row is usually programmed for size and the Pendlay row for explosive pulling strength.

How far over should I bend?

The version shown here holds the torso close to parallel with the floor, which gives the longest bar path and the hardest hold for the lower back. A more upright torso near 45 degrees is easier to keep flat and is a reasonable place to start, as long as the angle you pick stays the same for every rep of the set.

Should I use straps for Barbell Bent-Over Row?

Straps are worth using on the heaviest sets, where the grip gives out before the back does and the row stops training what you meant it to. On sets your grip can hold, go without them so grip strength keeps developing alongside the pull.

Is Barbell Bent-Over Row suitable for beginners?

It can be, but only once you can hold a neutral spine in a loaded hip hinge, because that position has to survive every rep of the set. Start with the Barbell Inverted Row or another supported pull and come back to the barbell once the hinge holds under load.

Can I do this with dumbbells instead?

Yes, and Dumbbell Bent-Over Row lets each arm work through its own path and pass the line of the torso, which suits lifters who find the fixed bar uncomfortable or who want to even out a side-to-side difference. You will usually handle less total load, so treat it as a swap rather than an upgrade.

Barbell Bent-Over Row

What Is the Barbell Bent-Over Row?

Barbell Bent-Over Row is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back, and it also loads the rear deltoids, the elbow flexors and the spinal erectors that hold the bent-over position. It is an intermediate-level movement, because the torso has to stay locked in a hip hinge while the arms do the work, and that is harder to hold than it looks.

It is the standard free-weight horizontal pull and the usual way to load heavy rowing without a machine. Most upper-body or pull sessions put it early, while you are still fresh enough to hold the position, and pair it with a vertical pull such as a pulldown or a chin-up. It also doubles as accessory work for the Barbell Deadlift, because holding a loaded hinge for a full set trains the same position. Strength work usually sits around 4 to 8 reps and size work around 6 to 12.

The lats drive the pull as the elbows travel back behind the torso, and the mid traps, rhomboids and teres major finish each rep by drawing the shoulder blades together. Torso angle changes that balance. The near-parallel position shown here gives the longest bar path and the hardest hold for the lower back, while a more upright torso near 45 degrees is easier to keep flat but shortens the pull. Grip changes the arm work, and the Barbell Bent-Over Row (Reverse Grip) tucks the elbows closer to the sides and hands more of the pull to the biceps, while the Barbell Pendlay Row resets the bar on the floor between reps so every rep starts from a dead stop.

It suits anyone who can already hold a neutral spine in a loaded hip hinge and wants a back exercise that trains that position at the same time. If the hinge gives out first, build up with the Barbell Inverted Row, where your own body weight sets the load, or the Dumbbell Single-Arm Bent-Over Row, where a bench carries part of the torso, then come back to the barbell. Pulling with the elbows rather than the hands is the cue that most reliably keeps the work in the back instead of the arms.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Latissimus Dorsi: Primary
Erector Spinae: High
Lower Trapezius: High
Rhomboid Major: High
Teres Major: High
Upper Trapezius: High
Biceps Brachii: Medium
Brachialis: Medium
Deltoid: Medium
Infraspinatus: Low

Instructions

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and the barbell over your midfoot.
Take an overhand grip just outside shoulder width, so your palms face back toward your shins.
Bend your knees slightly, push your hips back and hinge until your torso is close to parallel with the floor, letting the bar hang at arm's length under your shoulders.
Set your chest, brace your core and keep your neck in line with your spine so your back stays flat.
Pull the bar toward your lower ribs, leading with your elbows and driving them back past your torso rather than flaring them out to the sides.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top, with the bar touching or almost touching your torso.
Lower the bar under control back to arm's length without letting your torso rise or your back round.
Reset your brace and repeat, holding the same hip and torso angle from the first rep to the last.

Common Mistakes

Rounding the lower back
Letting the spine round under load shifts the force onto the lumbar discs and is the fastest way to get hurt on this lift.
Standing up into the rep
Raising the torso as the bar comes up turns the row into a partial deadlift and takes the work off the back muscles the exercise is meant to train.
Jerking the bar with the hips
Snapping the hips to start each pull moves more weight than the back can control and loads the lumbar spine at the worst point in the rep.
Shrugging instead of retracting
Pulling the shoulders up toward the ears at the top swaps mid-back work for upper-trap work, so draw the shoulder blades together and down instead.
Cutting the range short
Stopping before the bar reaches the torso, or before the arms straighten at the bottom, trims both ends of the range the back works through.

Injuries

Barbell Bent-Over Row is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The load hangs away from the body with the spine held close to horizontal, so the lower back is under tension for the whole set even though the arms are doing the visible work.

The lumbar spine is the main strain point. In a comparison of three rowing exercises in seven healthy men, the standing bent-over row activated the back evenly from the upper to the lower back but produced the largest lumbar spine load of the three tested, and the inverted row the lowest. Rounding the back under that load is what turns a heavy set into an injury, so brace before each rep, keep the spine neutral, and end the set when the position starts to change rather than grinding out one more. The shoulder is the second strain point, and letting the bar drop while the shoulder blades slide forward at the bottom leaves the front of the shoulder to catch the load, so control the lowering and start each pull from a set shoulder.

If the lower back is what limits you, regress to the Barbell Inverted Row, or to a pull that does not ask the spine to hold the position, such as the bench-supported Dumbbell Single-Arm Bent-Over Row or the seated Machine High Row. Add load only once every rep in a set finishes at the same torso angle it started at. Stop the set straight away if you feel sharp pain in the lower back, or any numbness or tingling running down a leg, and do not train through either.

Overview

Primary Focus: Back
Equipment: Barbell
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Intermediate

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is this different from a Pendlay row?: The Barbell Pendlay Row starts and finishes every rep with the bar on the floor, so each pull begins from a dead stop, while the bent-over row keeps the bar hanging for the whole set. That continuous tension is why the bent-over row is usually programmed for size and the Pendlay row for explosive pulling strength.
Q: How far over should I bend?: The version shown here holds the torso close to parallel with the floor, which gives the longest bar path and the hardest hold for the lower back. A more upright torso near 45 degrees is easier to keep flat and is a reasonable place to start, as long as the angle you pick stays the same for every rep of the set.
Q: Should I use straps for Barbell Bent-Over Row?: Straps are worth using on the heaviest sets, where the grip gives out before the back does and the row stops training what you meant it to. On sets your grip can hold, go without them so grip strength keeps developing alongside the pull.
Q: Is Barbell Bent-Over Row suitable for beginners?: It can be, but only once you can hold a neutral spine in a loaded hip hinge, because that position has to survive every rep of the set. Start with the Barbell Inverted Row or another supported pull and come back to the barbell once the hinge holds under load.
Q: Can I do this with dumbbells instead?: Yes, and Dumbbell Bent-Over Row lets each arm work through its own path and pass the line of the torso, which suits lifters who find the fixed bar uncomfortable or who want to even out a side-to-side difference. You will usually handle less total load, so treat it as a swap rather than an upgrade.