The Barbell Row: A Clarification

by Michael Jones, SSC | August 07, 2024

The perhaps-ill-begotten child of the stiff legged deadlift and the power clean is the barbell row. It is a valuable tool for beat-up guys who cannot power clean or snatch – you know who you are – or those with programming that has carefully determined it to be appropriate. If you cannot clean or snatch because you are un-coachable or un-athletic, that probably means you should learn to clean or snatch. It builds character.

Like the SLDL, the row begins with the barbell over mid-foot and beneath the scapulae with the knees more extended creating a more open knee angle and closed hip angle than in the deadlift. This mechanical manipulation raises the hips, which makes the back angle more horizontal. The initiation of both the row and the SLDL begins first with the quadriceps extending the knee, then the muscles involved in the posterior chain – hamstrings and glutes – for hip extension, even if that timing is subtle. If hip extension occurs first then the hips come forward, the knees come forward, and the bar must go around the knees to finish the rep. This is not a very efficient bar path. And whereas the SLDL must finish locked out at the top with the bar on the thighs, in the row the bar never touches the legs and the back angle will never become completely vertical.

Like the power clean, the row begins with the barbell over mid-foot, and accelerates the barbell using a knee extension with straight arms and rigid back. Then once the bar passes the knees, the hips and glutes facilitate hip extension, and the momentum imparted to the barbell aids to the finish of the lift. Unlike the power clean, in the final part of the movement the elbow flexes intentionally (rather than an artifact of having to rack the bar) involving elbow flexor contraction, the shoulder extends, engaging the lats and triceps, and scapulae retract using the traps and rhomboids. This results in what looks like a violent slamming up of the bar into the belly. When it is very heavy there is a tendency to use the weight of the bar to pull the chest and abdomen back down to meet the bar, finishing the rep from the top down.

Like both the SLDL and the power clean, the row also demands that the erectors keep the back in rigid extension off of the floor and throughout the rest of the exercise with a hard isometric contraction. This way you get the benefit of strength and stability by identifying and maintaining your back in the right position, as well as the rowing motion. In all three pulling movements, the hamstrings and glutes first act in isometric contraction anchoring the lower back muscles into contraction through the pelvis; but this is not all they do. As Rip observes in the blue book, “in complex human movement, muscles change actions during the course of the activity, starting off with one function and ending with another, and the function of the hip extensors during the barbell row is a good example of this shift” (SSBBT: 227).

The movement begins with straight arms, knee extension, and isometric contraction of the back, aided by the hip extensors to maintain the positioning. Then the “hand-off” from quads to hip extensors changes the primary role of the glutes and hamstrings from isometric contraction to concentric contraction in order to extend the hips. During this hand-off the elbows receive the momentum of the upward-moving barbell and finish it using the shoulders and scapulae with concentric contractions of the upper back and arms.

When it comes to programming the row, there are specific times and places for it. Whether it is on a novice’s way to a first chin-up or as a light pull in an advanced lifter’s deadlift specialization, it could be a valuable tool when done correctly. But maybe the most salient piece of advice I ever received about the row was from Rip: “Get your deadlift to 500; then you can develop an opinion about the row.”