What do two dumbbells change compared with a barbell?

Each arm is loaded on its own and follows its own path, so a stronger side cannot quietly take over, and with the palms facing in the dumbbells can travel past the line of your torso instead of stopping against it. You will usually handle less total weight than on the Barbell Bent-Over Row, so treat it as a swap rather than an upgrade.

Are dumbbells easier on the lower back than a barbell?

No. Both are unsupported standing hinges, and the spine holds the same near-horizontal position either way, so the only thing that reliably changes is how much total weight is hanging off it. If the lower back is your limit, move to a supported row rather than switching implements.

Should my palms face in or back?

The version shown here uses a neutral grip, palms facing each other, which keeps the elbows close to your sides and lets them travel further behind you. Turning the palms back opens the elbows out and hands more of the pull to the rear deltoids and mid back, which is a deliberate trade rather than a fault, but it is the harder position for the shoulder, so save it for lighter sets.

How far over should I bend?

The version shown here hinges until the torso is close to parallel with the floor, which gives the dumbbells the longest path and asks the most of the lower back. Starting nearer 45 degrees is easier to hold flat and is a fine place to begin, as long as every rep of the set finishes at the angle you picked.

Is Dumbbell 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 light, or build up with the bench-supported Dumbbell Single-Arm Bent-Over Row, which takes the hinge out of the equation.

Dumbbell Bent-Over Row

What Is the Dumbbell Bent-Over Row?

Dumbbell Bent-Over Row is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back, and it also loads the elbow flexors, the forearms and the spinal erectors that hold the hinged position. It is an intermediate-level movement, because two separate weights each have to be steered through their own path while the torso stays locked in a hip hinge.

It is the horizontal pull you can run with nothing but a pair of dumbbells, which is why it turns up in home and travel training as often as in a gym. Most pull or upper-body sessions put it early, while you are fresh enough to hold the bent-over position, and pair it with a vertical pull such as a Pull-Up or a Cable Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip). Size work usually sits around 8 to 12 reps and heavier work around 6 to 10, and the hinge tends to give out before the back does on very low-rep sets.

Two dumbbells change four things about the pull. Each arm carries its own load, so a stronger side cannot quietly take over the way it can on a bar. The hands are free to set their own angle, and the neutral grip shown here keeps the elbows close to the sides so the lats and teres major drive the pull through shoulder extension. Nothing spans the body, so the dumbbells can travel past the line of the torso instead of stopping against it. And the torso has to resist twisting toward whichever side is working harder. Turning the palms back instead flares the elbows out and hands more of the work to the rear deltoids and mid back, while the Barbell Bent-Over Row fixes both hands to one path and lets you load more total weight.

It suits anyone who can already hold a neutral spine in a loaded hinge, and it is a good pick for lifters who find a fixed bar uncomfortable on the wrists or shoulders or who want to even out a side-to-side difference. If the hinge is what fails first, build up with the bench-supported Dumbbell Single-Arm Bent-Over Row or the Barbell Inverted Row, where your own body weight sets the load, then come back to the standing version. Thinking about driving the elbow back into your hip pocket, rather than lifting the dumbbell, is the cue that most reliably keeps the work in the back.

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
Brachioradialis: Medium
Deltoid: Medium

Instructions

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
Turn your palms to face each other so each dumbbell runs in line with your body.
Bend your knees slightly, push your hips back and hinge until your torso is close to parallel with the floor.
Let the dumbbells hang at arm's length under your shoulders with your arms straight.
Set your chest, brace your core and keep your neck in line with your spine so your back stays flat.
Pull both dumbbells toward your lower ribs, leading with your elbows and keeping them close to your sides.
Drive your elbows back past your torso and draw your shoulder blades together at the top.
Lower the dumbbells under control until your arms are straight again, without letting your torso rise.
Reset your brace and repeat, holding the same hip and torso angle from the first rep to the last.

Common Mistakes

Losing the flat back
Once the lower back rounds, the load goes through the spine instead of the muscles meant to be holding it, and that is where this lift hurts people.
Standing up through the set
Letting the torso rise rep after rep turns the row into a partial deadlift and quietly takes the work off the back.
Flaring the elbows
With the palms facing in, letting the upper arms drift out to the sides shortens the pull the lats can make and leaves the front of the shoulder to carry the weight.
Rowing with the arms
Pulling with the hands and biceps instead of driving the elbows back past the torso leaves the lats and mid back barely working.
Uneven or twisting reps
Letting one dumbbell finish higher or earlier than the other, or letting the torso rotate toward it, hides exactly the side-to-side difference this exercise is good at exposing.
Swinging the dumbbells up
Snapping the hips to start each pull moves more weight than the back can control and loads the lower back at the worst point in the rep.

Injuries

Dumbbell Bent-Over Row is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The weights hang away from the body while the spine holds a near-horizontal position, 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, and swapping a bar for dumbbells does not change it, because the hinge is identical. 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. Brace before each rep, keep the spine neutral, and end the set when the torso starts to drift upward instead of grinding out one more.

The shoulder is the second strain point. Letting the elbows drift out to the sides pushes the upper arm into abduction and internal rotation, the position that most often leaves a loaded shoulder sore, so keep the elbows close to your sides and start each pull from a set shoulder blade rather than from a shoulder that has slid forward at the bottom. Because each dumbbell is held on its own, the wrists also have to keep the weights level, and letting one side tip or the torso twist toward the harder-working arm sends the load through the wrist and lower back at an angle.

If the lower back is what limits you, move to a pull that does not ask the spine to hold the position, such as the bench-supported Dumbbell Single-Arm Bent-Over Row, the Barbell Inverted Row or the seated Machine High Row. Add weight only once every rep of 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 an arm or a leg, and do not train through either.

Overview

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

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What do two dumbbells change compared with a barbell?: Each arm is loaded on its own and follows its own path, so a stronger side cannot quietly take over, and with the palms facing in the dumbbells can travel past the line of your torso instead of stopping against it. You will usually handle less total weight than on the Barbell Bent-Over Row, so treat it as a swap rather than an upgrade.
Q: Are dumbbells easier on the lower back than a barbell?: No. Both are unsupported standing hinges, and the spine holds the same near-horizontal position either way, so the only thing that reliably changes is how much total weight is hanging off it. If the lower back is your limit, move to a supported row rather than switching implements.
Q: Should my palms face in or back?: The version shown here uses a neutral grip, palms facing each other, which keeps the elbows close to your sides and lets them travel further behind you. Turning the palms back opens the elbows out and hands more of the pull to the rear deltoids and mid back, which is a deliberate trade rather than a fault, but it is the harder position for the shoulder, so save it for lighter sets.
Q: How far over should I bend?: The version shown here hinges until the torso is close to parallel with the floor, which gives the dumbbells the longest path and asks the most of the lower back. Starting nearer 45 degrees is easier to hold flat and is a fine place to begin, as long as every rep of the set finishes at the angle you picked.
Q: Is Dumbbell 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 light, or build up with the bench-supported Dumbbell Single-Arm Bent-Over Row, which takes the hinge out of the equation.