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If you know about bent over row alternative exercises, you might want to add variations to your workout routine to engage the same muscles on days you don’t want to lift extremely heavy.
Usually, the bent over row is a compound exercise that exerts immense pressure on the lat muscles. While there are alternatives that focus on intensity over volume, some of them are more focused on volume.
Bent Over Row Alternative Exercises
The following are some of the bent over row alternative exercises that can allow you to engage your lat muscles while ensuring you activate the smaller muscles as well.
On that note, here's a look at five bent over row alternative exercises for men:
1) Inverted Row
An inverted row is a bodyweight movement. This bent over row alternative requires you to have a power rack to do it.
Adjust the height of the barbell near your waist. Slide yourself underneath the barbell, and grip it with your palms, and extend your legs outwards.
At the starting position, your chest will face the barbell. From there, pull yourself towards the barbell using your lat muscles, and squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top of the motion. Try to control the negative as you lower yourself.
2) TRX Row
Another bodyweight exercise, the TRX row uses a similar motion as the inverted row but employs TRX suspensions.
It’s better to begin this exercise slowly so that you do not lose grip and injure yourself. Preferably, you can build some grip and forearm strength before incorporating TRX rows into your workout routine.
3) T-bar Row
If you’re searching for a compound bent over row alternative, you can turn your focus to T-bar rows.
Moreover, if you want to get a proper squeeze on your lat muscles, this is the exercise you want to focus on. That's because a T-bar row can be done using a wide grip as well as a short grip.
If you don’t have access to a T-bar machine or a landmine machine, you can adjust a barbell to a corner, and use the v-bar as a grip for the exercise.
4) Dumbbell Row
Whenever you’re working on a muscle group, you must train each side individually as well. Therefore, dumbbell rows are a good bent over row alternative and serve as a unilateral exercise.
You can work with each side at a time, which can help fix any strength and muscle imbalance. Find the guide for dumbbell rows here.
5) Chest-supported Incline Bench Row
Another exercise that allows you to work on each side at a time is the incline bench rows.
To do this exercise, adjust the bench in the incline position, and rest your chest on the bench. Next, hold the dumbbells in each hand, and pull them towards yourself, replicating a rowing motion.
Bottom Line
When you’re trying to build your back, you must do exercises that impact the muscles of your upper, middle, and lower back. It’s important to select a weight that doesn’t result in failure.
From the beginning, you should use lower weights with higher reps to give your muscles the time to adjust to the movement.
