Stronglifts Q: Substitute for Rows

jayche

Considering Stronglifts, but not a fan of traditional/pendlay rows. Just looking for exercise substitute suggestions.

JoRocka

pull ups?

lat pulls/seated rows/over head pulls/ cable fly

I mean they are good for you- why would you skip them anyway?

Roadie2000

Well, what are you a fan of that involves some sort of pulling motion?

Of_Monsters_and_Meat

Starting Strength doesn't have rows, maybe check that one out?

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Dumbell rows?

Why don't you like them?

jhc7324

There's a "starting strength" template called "Practical Programming" that removes power cleans from the program and replaces them with pullups and chinups, making it similar to what you're looking for. It rotated things around a lot, so there were 6 different "workouts"

Squat
1 of Bench or OHP
1 of Chins, Pullups or Deadlifts.

I did the weights starting strength style, 3x5. On the chins and pulls I did 3 sets to failure. When I hit 10+ on the first set I started adding weight to them and continuing with 3 sets to failure.

timbrom

Could learn power cleans. That's what they do in Starting Strength, which is one of the reasons I feel that Starting Strength is (slightly) superior to the Stronglifts 5x5 program. They're harder to learn though.

A more direct substitute would be chin/pull ups, or Kroc rows (a dumbbell row). Jim Wendler is a big fan of them, and I've started with them recently as an assistance exercise, much better than a barbell row which I also hate.

jayche

Not sure if Starting Strength's linear progression will work for me, I was planning on running Madcows sorry if I was misleading.

As for why I don't like Pendlay Rows, I just don't.

Thanks everyone for contributing so far Power Cleans seem to be my best bet right now but I'm still open to suggestions!

Edit: Also concerned about potential muscular imbalances that may be the result of pressing with no antagonistic movement such as rowing. Chin-ups/Pull-ups don't seem to have the same explosiveness to it. Maybe Kroc Rows.

jimmmer

Isn't Madcows basically Bill Starr's routine with rows subbed for power cleans anyway?

I think running it with power cleans is a great idea.

jayche

Isn't Madcows basically Bill Starr's routine with rows subbed for power cleans anyway?

I think running it with power cleans is a great idea.

Now that you mention it .... it is lol

JoRocka

Not sure if Starting Strength's linear progression will work for me, I was planning on running Madcows sorry if I was misleading.

As for why I don't like Pendlay Rows, I just don't.

Thanks everyone for contributing so far Power Cleans seem to be my best bet right now but I'm still open to suggestions!

Edit: Also concerned about potential muscular imbalances that may be the result of pressing with no antagonistic movement such as rowing. Chin-ups/Pull-ups don't seem to have the same explosiveness to it. Maybe Kroc Rows.

meh- suck it up butter cup.

I hate benching.

Still do it because it's wildly useful and it's to big of a thing to leave out. leaving out lateral raises is one thing- but leaving out an entire 1/4 of your body is a little silly.

SezxyStef

I don't like rows either...least favorite lift but I do SL regardless...

Why because it's a good program.

Rows are one exercise out of 5 that is done once or twice a week....eh I agree with JoRocka suck it up buttercup.

SJ46

I agree with the power cleans suggestion.

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Clean_Videos
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Lifts#The_Powerclean

From the above link:
The benefits of this lift are many. Explosive Olympic lifts create the highest level of Central Nervous System activation. The result is that they recruit the highest percentage of muscle fibers. Because they are a highly skilled lift, they require a high degree of fine motor control. The combined effect is an improvement in speed, balance and overall coordination. Speed and correct form are more important than weight with this lift. Done correctly the lift occurs in the blink of an eye and therein lies its Power. Speed x Strength = POWER.

Powercleans are great for:

Incredible traps
Great explosiveness which helps in deadlifts and squats
Grip and forearm development
Deltoid development
Deadlift assistance
Variety

juliewatkin

Try dumb bell rows. I'm not a fan of bb rows either because it just feels awkward to me but I love db rows.

jwdieter

"Don't like" usually means "should do".

jayche

Not sure if Starting Strength's linear progression will work for me, I was planning on running Madcows sorry if I was misleading.

As for why I don't like Pendlay Rows, I just don't.

Thanks everyone for contributing so far Power Cleans seem to be my best bet right now but I'm still open to suggestions!

Edit: Also concerned about potential muscular imbalances that may be the result of pressing with no antagonistic movement such as rowing. Chin-ups/Pull-ups don't seem to have the same explosiveness to it. Maybe Kroc Rows.

meh- suck it up butter cup.

I hate benching.

Still do it because it's wildly useful and it's to big of a thing to leave out. leaving out lateral raises is one thing- but leaving out an entire 1/4 of your body is a little silly.

Except 1/4 of my body (in my case particularly its probably closer to 1/2... lol) isn't being left out, rows are just being substituted for another back exercise. My pulling strength is wildly out of proportion to my other lifts (in a good way) without doing [pendlay] rows, I don't see the need to incorporate them now.

Matter of fact I dislike benching too, but I still do it because of the lack of available substitutes for that particular exercise/muscle group that are suitable for my goals.
Rows/Back tends to have a lot more substitutes to choose from, whether it be pull-ups, chin-ups, db rows, rack pulls, power cleans, etc. Why would I force myself to do an exercise I don't like doing when there are other exercises I can do that fulfill the same purpose?

Edit: I digressed a tiny bit, hopefully we can go back on topic.
Seems like the overall consensus is power cleans. I might put in some db rows as extra accessory work if I feel it necessary.

timbrom

Heck, even Mehdi recommends doing the power clean if you're sufficiently motivated (http://stronglifts.com/do-you-make-these-15-common-mistakes-on-stronglifts-5x5/ , Paragraph 3)

LiftAllThePizzas

Considering Stronglifts, but not a fan of traditional/pendlay rows. Just looking for exercise substitute suggestions.

Kroc rows.

cwolfman13

Power Cleans...the rows in SL are actually subs for Power Cleans. Power Cleans or Hang Cleans rock.

wheird

Pullups and face pulls.

JoRocka

Matter of fact I dislike benching too, but I still do it because of the lack of available substitutes for that particular exercise/muscle group that are suitable for my goals.
Rows/Back tends to have a lot more substitutes to choose from, whether it be pull-ups, chin-ups, db rows, rack pulls, power cleans, etc. Why would I force myself to do an exercise I don't like doing when there are other exercises I can do that fulfill the same purpose?

curious if you knew all that why bothering asking?

I mean I get it if you don't like it don't do it- and there are other options. but meh
you know what nm.

Shawshankcan

Not sure if Starting Strength's linear progression will work for me, I was planning on running Madcows sorry if I was misleading.

As for why I don't like Pendlay Rows, I just don't.

Thanks everyone for contributing so far Power Cleans seem to be my best bet right now but I'm still open to suggestions!

Edit: Also concerned about potential muscular imbalances that may be the result of pressing with no antagonistic movement such as rowing. Chin-ups/Pull-ups don't seem to have the same explosiveness to it. Maybe Kroc Rows.

meh- suck it up butter cup.

I hate benching.

Still do it because it's wildly useful and it's to big of a thing to leave out. leaving out lateral raises is one thing- but leaving out an entire 1/4 of your body is a little silly.

This, there are a lot of things I don't like to do, but I do them out of necessity.

trojan_bb

DB rows, Kroc rows. Meadows rows. T bar rows. supported rows. v bar pulley rows. hammer strength rows.

No reason to do BB rows if you prefer other exercises. I probably do them once every 3 months simply because there are SO many ways to hit back with rowing movements.