# Bent-Over Dumbbell Row: how to do it

- Main muscles: upper back, lats
- Also works: biceps, rear delts, lower back
- Equipment: dumbbell
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/two_arm_dumbbell_row/bb43aa0365/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing each other.
2. Soften your knees and push your hips back until your chest leans forward.
3. Brace and let the dumbbells hang under your shoulders.
4. Pull both dumbbells to your waist, elbows close to your sides.
5. Lower them slowly until your arms are straight.

## Cues

- Elbows back, along your ribs.
- Chest stays down, back stays flat.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top.

## Common mistakes

- Standing up as you pull: keep your trunk angle fixed and use a lighter weight.
- Rounding your back: brace and hinge from your hips, not your waist.
- Flaring your elbows: keep them within a hand's width of your sides.

## Starting position

Feet hip- to shoulder-width apart, toes forward. One dumbbell in each hand, neutral grip (palms facing each other), wrists straight. Knees soft (about 20° flexion). Push the hips back until the trunk is about 55° from vertical. Back flat from pelvis to head, stomach braced, gaze at the floor about 1 m ahead.

## The movement

Both arms move together and mirror each other. The hands rise in a near-vertical line, finishing just behind where they started. Elbows travel back along the ribs, not out to the sides. Hips, knees, trunk and head stay still.

## End position

Dumbbells beside the waist / lower ribs, forearms close to vertical, dumbbells under the elbows. Elbows tucked close to the sides and driven back past the line of the back: elbow flexion about 90°, upper arm about 35° past the trunk line. Shoulder blades squeezed together. Trunk angle unchanged. Pause 0.5 s.

## Tempo

Pull 1 s / squeeze 0.5 s / lower 2 s, then 0.3 s at arm's length.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Stance width | hip width | hip to shoulder width |  |
| Trunk angle change during the rep | 0° | under 5° |  |
| Elbow flexion at the start | 0° | 0–5° |  |
| Elbow out from the side at the end (front view) | 10° | 0–20° |  |
| Dumbbell height at the end | beside the waist | lower ribs to hip crease |  |
| Left/right difference | 0 | under 3 cm |  |

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/two-arm-dumbbell-row