Upper back exercise
Smith Machine Bent-Over RowHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Upper back, Lats
- Also works
- Biceps
- Equipment
- Smith
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Smith Machine Bent-Over Row?
- Set the safeties at knee height and grip the bar just wider than your shoulders.
- Unhook the bar, soften your knees and push your hips back until your chest leans forward.
- Brace and let the bar hang at arm's length.
- Pull the bar to your lower ribs, elbows driving back.
- Lower it slowly until your arms are straight.
Cues
- Flat back, chest stays down.
- Bar to your lower ribs.
- Hips still; only your arms move.
Common mistakes
- Standing in the wrong spot: set your feet so the bar meets your lower ribs.
- Standing up as you pull: keep your trunk angle fixed.
- Rounding your back: brace before each rep and hinge from the hips.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Safeties set just below the bottom of the rep (about knee height). Stand facing the bar, feet hip-width apart, toes forward. Overhand grip a little wider than the shoulders (about 1.2 × shoulder width), thumbs wrapped. Unhook the bar, soften the knees (about 20°) and push the hips back until the trunk is about 50° from vertical. Stand so the vertical track runs about 5 cm behind the line of the shoulders: the bar then meets the lower ribs at the top. Back flat, stomach braced, gaze at the floor about 1.5 m ahead.
The movement
The bar moves straight up and down in the fixed vertical track; there is no forward or backward drift. Only the arms and shoulder blades move. Hips, knees and trunk angle do not change and the trunk does not rise to help the bar up.
End position
Bar touching the lower ribs / upper abdomen. Elbows behind the trunk and pointing up and back, about 30–45° out from the sides (front view). Elbow flexion about 115°, upper arm about 45° behind the trunk line. Shoulder blades squeezed together. Trunk angle unchanged. Pause 0.5 s.
Tempo
Pull 1 s / pause 0.5 s / lower 2 s, then 0.3 s at arm's length.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grip width | 1.2 × shoulder width | 1.0–1.5 × | |
| Trunk angle from vertical | 50° | 45–60° | |
| Trunk angle change during the rep | 0° | under 5° | |
| Bar path | vertical | 0 cm horizontal drift (machine-fixed) | |
| Elbow flexion at the start | 0° | 0–5° | |
| Bar contact at the end | lower ribs | bottom of the sternum to the navel |
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 Smith Machine Bent-Over 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.
