Inverted Row with Straps
Trains the Rhomboids and Middle Trapezius.
- Equipment
- A suspension trainer
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a pair of straps or rings so the handles hang at about hip height.
- Take a handle in each hand and walk your feet forward until your body is at an angle, arms straight.
- Set your body in one line from heels to head and brace your stomach.
- Pull yourself up until your hands reach your ribs, driving the elbows back.
- Let the shoulder blades pull back and together as you rise.
- Lower under control until the arms are straight and the shoulder blades have come apart.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag. The body is a plank for the whole set; when the hips drop, the trunk has stopped holding and the range gets shorter without anyone noticing.
- Walking the feet forward until it is too easy or too hard, then staying there. Foot position is the load setting on this exercise — the more horizontal you are, the harder it is — and it is the thing to adjust rather than the repetition count.
- Pulling with straight-line arms and no shoulder blade movement. The blades travel; if they do not, the arms are doing a movement the back is supposed to lead.
- Letting the straps swing. Rings and straps move where a bar cannot, and controlling that is part of the exercise rather than a distraction from it.