The Barbell Row | Carl Raghavan

[stef]

You should drop the barbell row like a bad habit. It’s a lift that has been beaten to death, and by now it’s best left to the bodybuilders. Why, you ask? Below is my case.

Read more

[Thomas Rohner]

I always liked a rowing movement in the transverse plane as an auxiliary/ancillary exercise for the bench press, as mentioned in the article, to achieve better "scapular positioning strength" which helped a lot getting more stable on the bench before and during reps.
However, with barbell rows I often found the lower back fatigue earlier than the upper back (did the rows after the main lifts), so mostly went with a chest-supported row for that purpose.
Would be interesting to hear from the more experienced benchers, if pull-ups/chin-ups and deadlifts / cleans were enough upper back work to optimally support the bench progress beyond 365lbs.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Deadlifts don't get this done?

[Thomas Rohner]

On paper it should. Probably the rowing helps with proprioception (similar elbow end position) and the added volume building some additional upper back mass.