Seated Row Wide Grip

The seated row is a highly effective and therefore popular exercise targeting the back muscles. It can be performed in many ways. This variation uses a wide grip. This changes the position of the elbows and thereby results in greater involvement of the shoulder muscles (deltoids) and the smaller stabilizing muscles of the shoulders. It is also possible that the trapezius and rhomboids are engaged more to pull the shoulder blades backward.

Seated row wide grip execution

Choose the appropriate weight in the cable station and make sure the pin is securely fastened. Attach the V-bar to the cable.

Sit down with your legs slightly bent and your feet on the designated footplate.

Grasp the V-bar. The first time, you will need to bend forward with your entire upper body to do this.

Now bring your upper body into the starting position by sitting upright with your arms extended and leaning slightly backward.

Begin the exercise by pulling your elbows toward and past your sides.

Controlled, bring your hands back to the starting position by extending your arms.

Seated row wide grip

Primary muscles:

Latissimus dorsi (the large back muscle)
Deltoids ('delta-shaped' shoulder muscle, especially the rear)
Trapezius (trapezius muscle, especially the middle portion)
Rhomboids (diamond-shaped muscles beneath the trapezius)
Biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis (flexion of the arm)
Rotator cuff (stabilizing shoulder muscles: supraspinatus, subscapularis, teres major, teres minor)

Seated row wide grip technique

You can often see two different variations of the seated row:

Fixed upper body
Moving upper body.

When the upper body moves forward and backward during the exercise, the erector spinae and muscles in the lower body that bring the upper body into alignment with the legs, such as during a deadlift, perform more work. These include muscles such as the glutes and hamstrings. This can be viewed as a more functional variation of the exercise, in which you also train coordination between the muscles in the lower and upper back. For example, when training for an actual rowing competition.

The fact that all these muscles in the lower back and glutes assist does, of course, come at the expense of the relative involvement of the latissimus dorsi. If the lower body initiates the movement and creates momentum, the latissimus dorsi only has to complete the movement. To isolate the latissimus dorsi as much as possible, you should therefore keep your upper body still and focus only on pulling your elbows backward. Keep your body tilted slightly backward to prevent an excessive arch in your lower back.

You can increase or decrease the involvement of the trapezius and rhomboids by respectively moving or not moving the shoulder blades along with the movement.

At a glance