# Reverse-Grip Barbell Row: how to do it

- Main muscles: lats, upper back
- Also works: biceps
- Equipment: barbell
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/underhand_barbell_row/f1387cded9/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Hold the bar with palms facing forward, hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Soften your knees and push your hips back until your chest leans forward.
3. Brace and let the bar hang close to your thighs.
4. Pull the bar to your lower stomach, elbows tight to your sides.
5. Lower it slowly until your arms are straight.

## Cues

- Elbows tight, drive them back.
- Bar to your belly button.
- Keep your back flat and still.

## Common mistakes

- Standing up as you pull: keep your trunk angle fixed.
- Flaring your elbows: keep them brushing your sides.
- Bending your wrists back: keep them straight and grip firmly.

## Starting position

Feet hip- to shoulder-width apart, toes forward. Underhand grip (palms facing forward / up), hands about shoulder width apart, thumbs wrapped, wrists straight. Knees soft (about 20°). Push the hips back until the trunk is about 40° from vertical, a little more upright than the overhand row. Back flat from pelvis to head, stomach braced, gaze at the floor about 2 m ahead.

## The movement

Only the arms and shoulder blades move. The bar rises in a near-vertical line close to the thighs, drifting back a few centimetres towards the hips as it reaches the stomach. Elbows travel straight back along the ribs. Hips, knees, trunk and head stay still.

## End position

Bar touching the lower abdomen, just below the navel to just above it. Elbows tucked close to the sides and driven back behind the trunk: elbow flexion about 110°, upper arm about 40° behind the trunk line. Shoulder blades squeezed together and down. 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Grip width | 1.0 × shoulder width | 0.9–1.2 × |  |
| 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° |  |
| Bar contact at the end | lower abdomen | navel to 5 cm below |  |

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/underhand-barbell-row