Upper back exercise
Inverted RowHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Upper back, Lats
- Also works
- Biceps, Rear delts
- Equipment
- Smith
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Inverted Row?
- Set the bar at hip height and lie under it, bar over your chest.
- Grip it overhand, hands just wider than your shoulders.
- Straighten your legs, heels down, and lift your hips into a straight line.
- Pull your chest to the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades.
- Lower slowly until your arms are straight.
Cues
- Body stiff like a plank.
- Chest to the bar.
- Shoulders down, neck long.
Common mistakes
- Hips sagging: squeeze your glutes and brace before each rep.
- Reaching with your chin: keep your head in line and pull your chest up instead.
- Shrugging: set your shoulders down and back first.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Smith bar locked at about the athlete's standing hip height (about 0.9 m for a 1.75 m athlete), safeties set. Lie face up under the bar with the bar over the lower chest. Overhand grip, hands a little wider than the shoulders (about 1.2 × shoulder width), thumbs wrapped. Legs straight and together, heels on the floor, toes up. Squeeze the glutes and brace so the body is one straight line from heels to head; chin slightly tucked.
The movement
The whole body rotates as one rigid plank about the heels; the heels do not slide. The chest travels up towards the bar in a short arc. Hands stay fixed on the bar. The head stays in line with the trunk; the hips neither sag nor pike.
End position
Lower chest touching (or within 2 cm of) the bar. Body still one straight line, now about 35° up from the floor. Elbows behind the trunk, about 45° out from the sides (top view), elbow flexion about 125°. Forearms close to vertical. Shoulder blades squeezed together and down. Pause 0.5 s.
Tempo
Pull 1 s / squeeze 0.5 s / lower 2 s, then 0.3 s at straight arms.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bar height | standing hip height | 0.85–1.0 m for a 1.75 m athlete | |
| Grip width | 1.2 × shoulder width | 1.0–1.5 × | |
| Hip flexion (sag or pike) | 0° | under 10° either way | |
| Knee flexion | 0° | 0–5° | |
| Elbow flexion at the start | 0° | 0–5° | |
| Elbow out from the side at the end (top view) | 45° | 30–60° | |
| Chest-to-bar gap at the end | 0 cm | 0–2 cm, lower sternum | |
| Heel slide | 0 cm | none |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Inverted Row is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
