How is this different from a barbell bent-over row?

Your hands sit at your sides with the palms facing each other instead of gripping a straight bar in front of you, so nothing bumps your thighs or stomach and your elbows can travel further back. Many lifters find the neutral grip easier on the elbows and wrists. Both build the same back muscles, so the Barbell Bent-Over Row is a fair swap when no trap bar is free.

How far forward should I lean?

Lean until your torso is at about 45 degrees to the floor, or further toward parallel if you can keep a flat back, and hold that angle for the whole set. A more horizontal torso makes the row more of a straight pull for the back but asks more of the lower back.

Why does the bar tip forward or back as I row?

Your hands are off the middle of the handles, so one end of the bar outweighs the other. Reset with your grip centered on each handle, and the bar will hang level and your forearms will tire less.

Where should the handles finish at the top?

Pull them toward your hips with the elbows close to your sides until your elbows pass your torso, which keeps the lats doing most of the work. Stop there rather than lifting your torso to pull the bar higher.

What can I do if this row bothers my lower back?

Switch to a row that supports the torso, such as the Chest-Supported T-Bar Row or the Dumbbell Incline Row. Come back to the trap bar row with a lighter load once your hinge feels solid.

Trap Bar Bent-Over Row

What Is the Trap Bar Bent-Over Row?

Trap Bar Bent-Over Row is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back and also engages the rear shoulders, the biceps and the muscles that hold the hip hinge. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you stand inside a loaded trap bar, also called a hex bar, hinge forward from the hips and row the bar toward your hips with your palms facing each other, then lower it under control.

The main purpose is horizontal pulling strength and upper back size. Rowing balances the pressing work in most programs and builds the back muscles that keep the shoulders set and the upper back upright. What the trap bar changes is where the load sits. The handles are at your sides instead of in front of you, so there is no straight bar to bump your thighs or stomach and stop the pull before your elbows finish traveling back. Many lifters also find the neutral grip easier on the elbows and wrists and can row more weight with it than with a straight bar. The row usually sits after the main lift of an upper-body or full-body session, often paired with a press.

The latissimus dorsi does most of the pulling, helped by the rhomboids, the middle trapezius, the teres major and the rear deltoids as the elbows travel back and the shoulder blades draw together. The neutral grip brings in the brachialis and brachioradialis along with the biceps, and the forearms work hard to hold the bar level. The lower back, glutes and hamstrings work without moving to hold the hinge for the whole set. Keeping the elbows close and pulling toward the hips favors the lats, while letting the elbows drift wider shifts more of the work to the upper back and rear shoulders.

The Barbell Bent-Over Row uses the same hinge with an overhand grip on a straight bar in front of the body. The Dumbbell Bent-Over Row and the Kettlebell Bent-Over Row share the neutral grip and the pull along the sides, but each hand controls its own weight. The trap bar ties both hands to one load that is easy to make heavy with plates, which suits lifters who have outgrown their dumbbells or kettlebells.

This row suits lifters who can already hold a flat-backed hip hinge with a load in their hands. The Trap Bar Deadlift teaches you to pick up the bar and hinge inside it, and a supported option such as the Chest-Supported T-Bar Row or the Dumbbell Incline Row builds rowing strength without the lower back holding the position.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Latissimus Dorsi: Primary
Deltoid: High
Rhomboid Major: High
Teres Major: High
Upper Trapezius: High
Biceps Brachii: Medium
Brachialis: Medium
Erector Spinae: Medium
Lower Trapezius: Medium
Biceps Femoris: Low
Brachioradialis: Low
Gluteus Maximus: Low

Instructions

Load the trap bar and step inside it with your feet about hip-width apart, centered between the handles.
Bend your hips and knees with a flat back, grip the middle of each handle with your palms facing each other, and stand up with the bar as you would in a trap bar deadlift.
Soften your knees and push your hips back until your torso leans forward to about 45 degrees, with your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders.
Keep your back flat and your neck in line with your spine, eyes on the floor a short distance in front of your feet.
Brace your core and set your shoulders down and back, away from your ears.
Row the bar by driving your elbows up and back close to your sides until the handles reach your hips and your elbows pass your torso.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together briefly at the top without lifting your torso.
Lower the bar under control until your arms are straight, keeping the same torso angle and knee bend.
Repeat for the desired reps, then bend your knees and hips to set the bar down with a flat back.

Common Mistakes

Rounding the lower back
Letting the lower back curve under a heavy trap bar shifts the strain from the back muscles onto the spine, so keep the back flat and the core braced from the first rep to the last.
Standing up to row
Raising the torso on each pull turns the row into a heave and shrinks the work for the back, so hold the same forward lean throughout the set.
Gripping off center
Holding the handles toward the front or back makes the bar tip with every rep and tires the forearms early, so grip the middle of each handle so the bar hangs level.
Shrugging toward the ears
Pulling the shoulders up instead of back moves the work into the upper trapezius and neck, so keep the shoulders down and drive the elbows back.
Curling the bar up
Bending the elbows first and pulling mainly with the arms lets the biceps take over, so treat the hands as hooks and lead with the elbows.
Craning the neck
Lifting the head to look ahead arches the neck out of line with the spine, so keep your eyes on the floor a short distance in front of your feet.

Injuries

Trap Bar Bent-Over Row is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The torso stays bent forward with the bar hanging from the shoulders for the whole set, so the lower back is the main area under strain. In a study of seven healthy men, a standing barbell bent-over row put the largest load on the lower spine of the three rows tested, ahead of an inverted row and a one-arm cable row. The trap bar version was not part of that study, but it holds the torso in the same bent-over position. Because the trap bar is easy to load heavily, the usual problems are a weight that rounds the lower back, a torso that jerks up to heave the bar, and a set that runs long enough for the hinge to sag. The shoulders and elbows can also get irritated when the bar is shrugged toward the ears or yanked up with the arms.

To stay safe, pick the bar up with a flat back as you would in a trap bar deadlift, grip the middle of each handle so the bar stays level, brace before every rep, and keep the torso angle and knee bend fixed while the arms move. Choose a weight you can row without the torso rising, lower the bar under control, and end the set when your back starts to round or your hips start to rise. Set the bar down by bending the knees and hips rather than dropping it from a rounded position.

To regress, take some of the load off the lower back with a supported row such as the Chest-Supported T-Bar Row, the Dumbbell Incline Row or the Barbell Inverted Row. To progress, add weight, pause for a second at the top of each rep, or slow the lowering phase.

Stop if you feel sharp or shooting pain in the lower back, pain that spreads into the leg, pinching at the front of the shoulder, or numbness or tingling in the arms or hands.

Overview

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

Alternative Exercises

Other Names for the Trap Bar Bent-Over Row

The Trap Bar Bent-Over Row is also known as:

Hex Bar Bent-Over Row
Hex Bar Row

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is this different from a barbell bent-over row?: Your hands sit at your sides with the palms facing each other instead of gripping a straight bar in front of you, so nothing bumps your thighs or stomach and your elbows can travel further back. Many lifters find the neutral grip easier on the elbows and wrists. Both build the same back muscles, so the Barbell Bent-Over Row is a fair swap when no trap bar is free.
Q: How far forward should I lean?: Lean until your torso is at about 45 degrees to the floor, or further toward parallel if you can keep a flat back, and hold that angle for the whole set. A more horizontal torso makes the row more of a straight pull for the back but asks more of the lower back.
Q: Why does the bar tip forward or back as I row?: Your hands are off the middle of the handles, so one end of the bar outweighs the other. Reset with your grip centered on each handle, and the bar will hang level and your forearms will tire less.
Q: Where should the handles finish at the top?: Pull them toward your hips with the elbows close to your sides until your elbows pass your torso, which keeps the lats doing most of the work. Stop there rather than lifting your torso to pull the bar higher.
Q: What can I do if this row bothers my lower back?: Switch to a row that supports the torso, such as the Chest-Supported T-Bar Row or the Dumbbell Incline Row. Come back to the trap bar row with a lighter load once your hinge feels solid.