Correct & Proper Exercise Form for Bent-Over-Rows

A common mistake with back training is the proper for for bent over rows. What exactly are we doing wrong? We aim to develop thick and muscular back muscles yet most of us get a sore lower back and pumped up biceps.. what to do to fix this?

If you're getting a better pump in your biceps than in your lats, you must be making your biceps work harder than your lats. You'll have to change this practice to make your lats grow. Undoubtedly you're using too much weight, yanking and pulling too much with the hands and biceps to get the bar off the floor instead of rowing it smoothly into the lower abdomen using lat power.

First I recommend you reduce the weights you are using by about one-third. Get the form right and then slowly but surely build your poundages back up. Did you know it is impossible for your lats to contract ([the lower back is rounded? I'll bet that s why your lower back is so sore - you're rounding it during a set instead of keeping it arched. You must keep the lower back arched and your back flat through the set ([you want to contract the lats. Do not allow your head to duck down, your butt to come up, or your lower back to hump over as you pull the bar into your body.

Let's get your rowing form right. Picture a 747 jumbo jet coming in for a landing. Does a jet come in flat as it lands? No, the nose is up, the tail is down, the flaps on the wings are down, the wheels are down, and the jet is tilted on a 30-degree angle from nose to tail as it floats in on a cushion of air Got that image in your mind? Good. Okay now make your body like a landing jet. Imagine your nose is the nose of the jet, your butt is the tail end, your flexed knees are the wheels, and your arched lower back is the tilted angle of' the jet from nose to tail as it lands.

Keep your knees flexed, your lower back arched, your back flat and your head up. Keep your butt end low - below the level of your torso in almost a sitting-down position. You're bent over at the waist, but your body is above parallel by 10 or 15 degrees because of the low butt, arched lower back and flexed knees. The angle from the top of your head to your tailbone should be tilted in the same way the jet is tilted from its nose to its tail as it comes in to land.

Now stay in this position. Keep your upper body down and over the bar throughout the set. Do not allow your torso and butt to rise as you pull the bar into your gut. Don't stand up with the weight as if doing a deadlift. By staying down and over the weight you are in a perfect position to row the bar into the lower ab area for maximum lat contraction, If you find you're dropping your chest to meet the bar; or your butt is coming up and your head is ducking down so the lower back rounds over; or you're standing up with the weight, you re using too much weight for good form.

The plane of motion on which the bar travels is slightly tilted, it does not move straight up and down. Lower the bar away from the body until you feel your lats spread and stretch. Then row it back up and into the body pulling your elbows as far back as possible while tensing the lats hard for a good contraction. Imagine that you're pulling the bar up with your elbows instead of pulling it with your hands.