Everyone Should Row Daily (Simple Guide)

These are such lowhanging fruit for building your back muscles, I'm surprised not everyone does them. I've experimented with doing bodyweight rows daily to build the traps and assist in pull-up strength. It works well, and because your hands are fixed in place, much like a pull-up, you initiate the movement with activating the scapula. This added stability is the reason I've made far better gains with a simple body weight row than when I used to load up a barbell or dumbbell to do rows. Most likely, this is due to a better mind muscle connection. But truthfully, it's also because good rows lead to good pull-ups. The potent combination of these two lead to an impressive back without ever setting foot in a gym. Let's face it, we've all probably developed our push muscles much more than our backside. We must row for posture, a balanced physique, and ultimately a superhero backside. The beauty is in the simplicity, which is why they're overlooked. These are push-ups for the back. They're gentle on the body, so if done properly, anyone could do them daily or even multiple times a day. And just like with push-ups, the rep range we're looking for is higher, 10 to 20 reps. With this higher rep range, the physiological benefits for the physique are immense. Full engagement of the lats and upper back. Mid and low back working hard to stabilize the spine. The arms get a huge pump, especially the brachiialis, which is often overlooked. These are the muscles that set apart your average gymgoer from the elites in pulling like calisthenic athletes or climbers. But maybe more importantly, in pull-ups, we're so focused on getting our chin over the bar, we barely feel our back muscles. Rose teach us the mind muscle connection that you can then carry over to all other pulling exercises. Josh and I both prefer this version, even though we had never spoken about it before making this video. torso horizontal, knees bent to 90 degrees. Even though other versions may be harder, this one seems to give you the most control to really max out the row gains. Full protraction at the start, even rounding the spine to add range of motion. Initiate the movement by engaging the core and lats at the same time. A mistake is to immediately retract the shoulders and arch the back. Many coaches and trainers put too much emphasis on squeezing the scapula together. Don't do this. shoulders down away from the ears. Drive the elbows back, feeling the whole back side of the body engage. The shoulder blades will naturally retract as you pull and the spine will naturally extend into a slightly arched position, but keep the core engaged. Don't just arch as hard as you can, and the movement isn't over until you feel like you literally can't pull any further. Don't drop to the bottom. Control is the key. Eccentric contractions build slabs of muscle while allowing you to create even better mind muscle connection. Rows are literally one of the safest exercises you can do, so you can push yourself hard and not worry too much about injury or imbalances. If you're at the gym, rings, or a fixed bar are easy to come by, and honestly, either works. If you're at home, you need to dial in your setup. Get creative. Find anything with a stable ledge. The end of a heavy table, a trampoline, a low tree branch. Cheap dip bars from Amazon get you rows, dips, and push-ups in one. But realistically, you should own some rings. They're cheap and you can do any gym exercise at any level. A lot of people don't do rows because they think they're too easy. We all want to rush to doing pull-ups because they're the real challenge, but this is actually the reason they're so potent. Over the years, I've tried doing pull-ups daily, and they can be pretty hard on the body. I've developed elbow tendonitis from pull-ups in the past, but rows are gentler, especially on the elbows. If you lay a strong foundation of lots of rows, you'll avoid these overuse injuries by building up a huge capacity in the upper back, lats, and all the pulling muscles in the arms like the biceps, brachiialis, and even the forearms. Take on the challenge of a set of rows daily. One set to near failure. 10 to 20 reps a set. Torso more vertical is easier. Torso more horizontal is harder. Elevating the feet and straightening the legs adds even more. And if you're quite strong, adding a weight vest or a plate to the chest makes this incredibly challenging. If not daily, do around six to eight sets per week divided into your workouts. Rows are a main staple in Move Strong. Now, we're going to give it away free to the top comment. If you want to check it out, it's the first link in the description. Stay tuned for an ancient daily mobility practice video next week. All right, until next