T-Bar Row
Trains the Rhomboids and Middle Trapezius.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Load one end of a barbell and wedge the other into a corner or a landmine attachment.
- Straddle the bar and take a V-handle around it, just behind the plates.
- Push your hips back and bend forward until your torso is between forty-five degrees and parallel to the floor, knees slightly bent, back flat.
- Let the bar hang at arm's length, allowing the shoulder blades to travel forward.
- Pull the handle toward your stomach by driving your elbows back, then squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top.
- Lower under control until the arms are straight and the plates are just short of the floor.
Common mistakes
- Standing up as the set progresses. The torso creeping toward vertical shortens the range and shifts load to the upper traps and lower back. Hold the angle you started with.
- Loading it far heavier than a barbell row because the corner supports one end. The support makes the position easier to hold, not the row easier to perform — if the shoulder blades are no longer retracting, the weight is too heavy.
- Bouncing the plates off the floor between repetitions. The rebound removes the hardest part of each rep, which is starting from a full stretch.
- Using a narrow neutral grip and calling it an upper-back exercise. A close neutral grip keeps the elbows tight and biases the lats; a wider grip with the elbows out is what emphasises the rhomboids and middle trapezius.