Upper back exercise
Seated Cable RowHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Upper back, Lats
- Also works
- Biceps, Rear delts
- Equipment
- Cable
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Seated Cable Row?
- Sit with your feet on the plate and knees slightly bent.
- Hold the V-bar with palms facing, arms straight, back flat.
- Sit tall and pull the handle to your stomach, elbows brushing your sides.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together for a second.
- Let your arms straighten slowly, leaning forward only a little.
Cues
- Elbows back, not out.
- Chest up, shoulders down.
- Sit tall at the finish; no rocking.
Common mistakes
- Rocking back to move the weight: lighten it and keep your trunk upright at the finish.
- Rounding your back at the stretch: reach with your arms, not your spine.
- Shrugging at the finish: pull your shoulders down before you squeeze.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Sit on the bench facing the low pulley, feet on the foot plate, hip-width apart. Knees soft (about 20° flexion), never locked. Close neutral grip on the V-bar: palms facing each other, hands about 15 cm apart (about 0.4 × shoulder width). Wrists straight, thumbs wrapped. Chest up, shoulders down, spine neutral from pelvis to head.
The movement
The trunk rocks only from about 10° forward to upright, as one rigid piece pivoting at the hips. The handle travels in a near-horizontal straight line along the cable. Elbows slide back close to the sides, not out. Legs, feet and head stay still; the neck stays in line with the trunk.
End position
Handle touching the front of the stomach at about navel height. Trunk upright (0°, accept 0–5° back). Elbows tight to the ribs and just behind the torso: elbow flexion about 110°, shoulder extension about 40°. Shoulder blades squeezed back and down. Hold 1 s.
Tempo
Pull 1.5 s / squeeze 1 s / return 2 s, plus 0.3 s at the stretch with the stack still off its rest.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand spacing (V-bar) | 15 cm | 12–18 cm (about 0.3–0.5 × shoulder width) | |
| Elbow flexion at the stretch | 5° | 0–10° | |
| Handle height at the end | navel | lower ribs to navel | |
| Elbow distance from the ribs (front view) | 5 cm | 0–10 cm |
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 Seated Cable 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.
