BARBELL ROWING [For the Latissimus dorsi]

Barbell rowing or heavy barbell rowing is for the serious and experienced body builder. Beginners who have not learned to focus on the latissimus dorsi while working out may not benefit at all from this exercise. It requires great deal of concentration, effort, skill and a certain mental toughness to do this exercise. 

EXECUTION

1. Warm up your lower back, upper back, biceps and forearms thoroughly well before you attempt do this exercise.

2. Bend forward, always remembering to keep your back straight, and hold the barbell with a shoulder wide grip.

3.Bendforward only until the upper body is parallel to the ground and that is the position you have to maintain while doing this exercise.

4. Pull the weighted barbell towards your abdomen. Always remember to thrust your chest and shoulder up and keep your lower back straight. [The word straight is actually a misnomer. The spine is slightly arched inwards at the lower back region when you stand up straight and you have to maintain that arch even when you bend down].

5. Slowly bring the weight down until your hands are fully stretched and gently dip your hands a little bit to give that extra stretch to the lats.

6. During the execution of this exercise, it is normal for the body to move up and down from the hips a little bit, but to attempt to do violent bursts of such motions can and will eventually lead to serious back injuries.

VARIATION FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

Barbell rowing hits the lower back, trapezius, biceps and forearms hard besides the main muscle group, i.e., the latissimus dorsi and so any of these muscles other than the main muscle group getting tired first would severely affect the efficacy of this exercise. The only solution is to do an exercise that does not involve the biceps, trapezius and forearms a lot first and then proceed to do barbell rowing. The bent arm pullover is the only exercise that fits the bill. Also doing bent arm pullover first to tire out the lats would mean that you cannot go too heavy on barbell rowing , which is not very bad, when you consider what a back breaking exercise this is.

MUSCLES INVOLVED

The main muscle group is the latissimus dorsi and the supporting muscle groups are the biceps brachii, brachialis, brachioradialis, flexor and extensors of the forearm. The trapezius and the serratus anterior also work hard help in the movement. The lower back perhaps works as much or even more during this exercise as it has to maintain the bent position throughout the exercise and so doing heavy barbell rowing would also mean developing the strength of the lower back..

Barbell rowing is for developing the latissimus dorsi or the muscles you call “wings” and heavy barbell rowing is for the serious body builder.   Though this may be included in the regular aerobic exercise routine, barbell rowing really flexes its wings only when the going gets tough and only for the tough who like it when it gets tough , i.e., for the best effect go heavy on this exercise.