Barbell rows

rampartsjake

My wrists hurt when I use a pronated grip. But feels good using a supinated grip. It’s a reel limiting factor for me when doing rows. Any tips to help this?

Azdak

Use a supinated grip. Problem solved.

Or—Do your rows with dumbbells. Most people cannot do barbell rows correctly anyway. The barbell row has no inherent superiority to other types of rowing exercises that make it worth spinning your wheels.

If your wrist hurt using a pronated grip it usually means one of two things—you aren’t used to doing the exercise so you feel fatigue/discomfort in that area temporarily while you adapt to the exercise (less likely) OR you aren’t using proper form and you are trying to “pull” with your hands instead of from the lats (much more likely). If your wrists bending at all when you are doing the row, you are not using proper form.

If you haven’t mastered basic rowing technique, then you should not be doing barbell rows—and IMO it is much more difficult to learn proper technique because of the nature of the lift.

Do seated cable rows, single arm dumbbell rows, even standing cable low rows and master your technique first.

riffraff2112

There are other exercises that target the same muscles (a few mentioned above). You can also alternate between grips (and maybe reduce weight a bit on the pronation reps) until your wrists adapt to the movement. Perhaps complete avoidance may need to occur if you have a physical issue with that type of grip, I get that way when I do upright row, it doesn't matter how light, there is just something about the movement that makes my wrist and forearm hurt when I use a barbell. So I use dumbbells.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

Azdak wrote: »

Use a supinated grip. Problem solved.

Or—Do your rows with dumbbells. Most people cannot do barbell rows correctly anyway. The barbell row has no inherent superiority to other types of rowing exercises that make it worth spinning your wheels.

If your wrist hurt using a pronated grip it usually means one of two things—you aren’t used to doing the exercise so you feel fatigue/discomfort in that area temporarily while you adapt to the exercise (less likely) OR you aren’t using proper form and you are trying to “pull” with your hands instead of from the lats (much more likely). If your wrists bending at all when you are doing the row, you are not using proper form.

If you haven’t mastered basic rowing technique, then you should not be doing barbell rows—and IMO it is much more difficult to learn proper technique because of the nature of the lift.

Do seated cable rows, single arm dumbbell rows, even standing cable low rows and master your technique first.

How are you defining proper technique? I see a lot of different styles of bar bell rows in the gym.

Azdak

cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »

Azdak wrote: »

Use a supinated grip. Problem solved.

Or—Do your rows with dumbbells. Most people cannot do barbell rows correctly anyway. The barbell row has no inherent superiority to other types of rowing exercises that make it worth spinning your wheels.

If your wrist hurt using a pronated grip it usually means one of two things—you aren’t used to doing the exercise so you feel fatigue/discomfort in that area temporarily while you adapt to the exercise (less likely) OR you aren’t using proper form and you are trying to “pull” with your hands instead of from the lats (much more likely). If your wrists bending at all when you are doing the row, you are not using proper form.

If you haven’t mastered basic rowing technique, then you should not be doing barbell rows—and IMO it is much more difficult to learn proper technique because of the nature of the lift.

Do seated cable rows, single arm dumbbell rows, even standing cable low rows and master your technique first.

How are you defining proper technique? I see a lot of different styles of bar bell rows in the gym.

And that’s part of the problem. Other people-whether its Rippetoe or Athlean X are more skilled in coaching the nuances of barbell row so I would direct people to them if you are serious about perfecting the exercise (personally, I don’t care enough about it to bother).

But the general setup is that the back needs to be horizontal to the floor and the bar over the middle of the foot. With the usual “base of support” with the abs, glutes and hamstrings. (Again, however, many people cannot get into that position—ever—which is another reason why you see so many form issues).

In general, when doing any rowing exercise (or Pulldown for that matter), the key form element is ensuring that you are generating the pull from the lats, and not from the arms. In the modern world with so little physical activity, most people have lost contact with their back muscles; they really don’t know how to activate them.

So when they do a “pulling” or “rowing” exercise, people pull with their arms (and in the case of a lat Pulldown, their chest and shoulder muscles as well).

When doing pulldowns or rows, the hands should be passive.

I know he is kind of a goof, but I do think that Cavaliere does a pretty good job of coaching lifts. Here is his video on the row:

https://youtu.be/T3N-TO4reLQ

Chieflrg

Use the grip that your comfortable with.

Don't over think it. It really isn't that important when we think long term.