Inverted RowMuscles Worked
The inverted row works your upper back, pulling your shoulder blades together as you lift your chest to a bar, with your lats helping. It is a bodyweight row you can make easier or harder just by changing how upright your body is.
PrimaryUpper Back
SecondaryLats
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Set a bar in a rack or Smith machine at about waist height and lie underneath it.
- Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width and hang with straight arms, heels on the floor and your body straight from head to heels.
- Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs so your body moves as one piece.
- Pull your chest up to the bar, driving your elbows back and pinching your shoulder blades together.
- Pause at the top, then lower yourself slowly until your arms are fully straight.
Form tips
- To make it easier, raise the bar or bend your knees; to make it harder, lower the bar or elevate your feet.
- Keep your hips up in line with your shoulders rather than letting them sag on the way up.
- Reach the bar with your chest, not your chin, so your shoulder blades finish the rep.
Why it made the list
No. 6 of 12
Best Upper Back Exercises
Bodyweight horizontal pull. Great for beginners and as a warm-up. Progressable by changing body angle.
More upper back exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Inverted Row sets in KasMaker and watch your upper back and lats fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
