# Seal Row: how to do it

- Main muscles: upper back, lats
- Also works: rear delts
- Equipment: barbell, bench
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/seal_row/760eb9dea4/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Set a bench high enough that the bar hangs off the floor with your arms straight.
2. Lie face down, chest at the end of the bench, bar under your shoulders.
3. Grip the bar overhand, just wider than your shoulders.
4. Pull the bar up until it touches the underside of the bench.
5. Lower it slowly until your arms are straight, without touching the floor.

## Cues

- Chest stays on the bench.
- Pull until the bar hits the bench.
- Shoulders down, neck long.

## Common mistakes

- Lifting your chest to heave the bar: lighten it and stay flat.
- Stopping short: pull all the way to the bench every rep.
- Letting the plates touch down: raise the bench or use smaller plates.

## Starting position

A flat bench raised so the top of the pad is about 90 cm off the floor for a 1.75 m athlete: high enough that, with straight arms, 45 cm plates hang about 15 cm clear of the floor. (Purpose-built seal-row benches are about 113 cm, which suits tall athletes or a cambered bar.) Lie face down along the pad, the top of the chest level with the front end, chin just over the edge, neck in line with the spine. Legs straight and together along the bench, feet resting on it. Bar under the shoulders. Overhand grip a little wider than the shoulders (about 1.2 × shoulder width), thumbs wrapped, wrists straight.

## The movement

Only the arms and shoulder blades move; the body stays flat on the bench and the head stays still.

## End position

Bar touching the underside of the bench, below the lower chest. Elbows driven up and back above the line of the back, about 45° out from the sides (front view). Elbow flexion about 125°. Shoulder blades squeezed together. Chest, hips and legs still on the pad. Pause 0.5 s.

## Tempo

Pull 1 s / touch 0.5 s / lower 2 s, then 0.3 s at full stretch, plates still off the floor.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plate clearance at full stretch | 15 cm | 5–30 cm |  |
| Grip width | 1.2 × shoulder width | 1.0–1.3 × |  |
| Trunk angle from vertical | 90° | on the pad, constant |  |
| Elbow flexion at the start | 0° | 0–5° |  |
| Elbow out from the side at the end (front view) | 45° | 30–55° |  |
| Bar at the end | touching the bench underside | within 2 cm |  |

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/seal-row