TRX Inverted Row
What Is the TRX Inverted Row?
TRX Inverted Row is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back and also engages the biceps, the rear shoulders and the core. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you hang almost flat beneath suspension straps, with your heels on the floor and your body straight, and row your chest up to the handles with an overhand grip.
It is easy to confuse with the TRX Row, but the setup is different. In the TRX Row you stand with your feet planted and lean back at an angle, so your legs support much of your weight. Here you lie nearly horizontal under the anchor with only your heels touching the floor, so your back and arms lift a far larger share of your body weight on every rep. It is the strap version of the Barbell Inverted Row, with handles that hang free instead of a fixed bar.
Because the handles can move, your shoulders and trunk also have to keep the straps steady and hold a straight line from head to heels while you pull. That makes it a test of body control as much as pulling strength, and it is why the hips are usually the first thing to give way when a set gets hard. Pulling the shoulder blades back and down before the elbows bend helps keep the work in the mid back rather than the arms.
It suits anyone who wants a heavy horizontal pull without a barbell or cable stack, including people training at home, outdoors or while traveling, and it builds back and arm strength that supports Pull-Up training. Body angle is the dial: standing more upright makes it easier, and the TRX Bent-Knee Inverted Row shortens the lever further, so build up there first if you cannot do several clean reps at the near-flat angle. The TRX Inverted Row (Underhand Grip) turns the palms up, which keeps the elbows closer to the sides.
Muscles Worked
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Primary
- Rhomboid Major
- Primary
- Upper Trapezius
- Primary
- Biceps Brachii
- High
- Deltoid
- High
- Teres Major
- High
- Brachialis
- Medium
- Brachioradialis
- Medium
- Lower Trapezius
- Medium
Instructions
- Lengthen the straps so the handles hang low enough for you to lie under them with your arms straight and your back just clear of the floor.
- Hold one handle in each hand with an overhand grip, palms facing your feet and hands about shoulder-width apart.
- Lower yourself under the anchor and walk your feet forward until you hang from the straps with your arms straight, the straps close to vertical, your legs straight and only your heels on the floor.
- Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your head, hips and heels form one straight line.
- Draw your shoulder blades back and down, then pull the handles toward the sides of your chest, driving your elbows back at about 45 degrees from your body.
- Keep your body rigid as it rises and pivots on your heels, and finish with your hands beside your chest and your shoulder blades squeezed together.
- Lower yourself under control until your arms are straight again, keeping the straps taut and your hips level.
- Repeat for the planned reps. To make it easier, step your feet back so your body is more upright; to make it harder, rest your heels on a box.
Common Mistakes
Sagging hips
Letting the hips drop toward the floor bends the body into a hammock shape, shortens the pull and loads the lower back.
Rounded or shrugged shoulders
Pulling with the shoulders rolled forward or hiked toward the ears takes work off the mid back and crowds the front of the shoulder.
Pulling with the arms only
Bending the elbows without first drawing the shoulder blades back turns the row into a curl and leaves the back underworked.
Slack straps and momentum
Letting the straps go loose at the bottom or swinging up from the hips removes tension and makes each rep jerky.
Straps pressing on the forearms
Straps that rub the arms at the top usually mean the shoulder blades are not squeezing back, so finish with the handles beside the chest and the straps clear of the arms.
Cutting the range short
Stopping well before the hands reach the chest, or never straightening the arms at the bottom, trains only part of the movement.
Injuries
TRX Inverted Row is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The load is your own body weight, the handles let your wrists find a comfortable angle, and any rep can be made easier by standing more upright. The bigger hazard is the setup: an anchor or strap that slips drops you onto your back, so check the anchor with a hard pull, inspect the straps for fraying before each session, keep them off sharp edges and train on a non-slip floor.
Strain tends to show up at the front of the shoulder when the shoulders roll forward or shrug toward the ears at the top of the rep, and at the elbows and forearms when the arms do the pulling instead of the back. Leading each rep by drawing the shoulder blades back and down, stopping when the hands reach the sides of the chest and keeping the wrists straight keeps the load where it belongs. A sagging midsection shifts stress to the lower back, so reduce the angle as soon as the hips start to drop instead of grinding out more reps.
If the near-flat angle is too hard, step your feet back so your body is more upright, or switch to the TRX Bent-Knee Inverted Row or the standing TRX Row. Once you can do 15 clean reps, progress by resting your heels on a box or moving to the Feet Elevated Ring Row. Stop if you feel sharp or pinching pain in the shoulder, pain at the elbow, or numbness or tingling down the arm, and see a clinician if it does not settle.
- Primary Focus
- Back
- Equipment
- Suspension trainer and body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How is the TRX Inverted Row different from the TRX Row?
In the TRX Row you stand and lean back with your feet planted, so your legs carry much of your weight. In the TRX Inverted Row you hang almost flat under the anchor with only your heels on the floor, so your back and arms lift much more of your body weight on every rep.
- Q: Is the TRX Inverted Row as effective as a barbell row?
For many people it can be. In a study of 12 trained male athletes, the TRX inverted row done with the feet on the floor, straps vertical and an overhand shoulder-width grip produced middle trapezius and biceps activity similar to a lying barbell row loaded to the same force during moving reps, with differences showing up only in isometric holds. Body weight does cap the load, though, so very strong lifters will find a barbell or dumbbell row easier to keep progressing.
- Q: Do the unstable straps make it work more muscle than a bar inverted row?
Not clearly. A review of suspension training studies found that suspension versions of exercises such as the push-up, prone bridge and hamstring curl generally activated more muscle than their stable counterparts, but the inverted row was the exception. Choose straps or a bar based on what you have and what feels better on your shoulders and wrists.
- Q: How many sets and reps should I do?
Most people program it like any other row, with 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 15 controlled reps. Set your body angle so the last two or three reps are hard while your body stays straight, and make it harder once you can do 15 clean reps.
- Q: Will the TRX Inverted Row help me get my first pull-up?
It helps by building the back, biceps and grip strength a pull-up needs, but it trains a horizontal pull rather than a vertical one. Pair it with vertical-pull practice such as the TRX Pull-Up for the most direct carryover to the Pull-Up.
- Q: Should I use an overhand or underhand grip?
Both work the back well. The overhand grip shown here lets the elbows travel a little wider, while the TRX Inverted Row (Underhand Grip) keeps them closer to your sides, so pick the one that feels better on your elbows and shoulders or alternate between them.