Dumbbell Single Arm Bent Over Row

Description

How to Do Dumbbell Single Arm Bent Over Row

1. 1
   Setup

   Place a dumbbell on the floor beside a flat bench. Position your non-working knee and hand on the bench, ensuring your torso is roughly parallel to the floor.

2. 2
   Setup

   With a neutral spine, reach down and grasp the dumbbell with an overhand grip, allowing it to hang directly below your shoulder. Keep your feet firmly on the floor.

3. 3

   Engage your core and upper back, then pull the dumbbell straight up towards your hip, keeping your elbow close to your body.

4. 4

   Focus on squeezing your shoulder blade at the top of the movement, feeling the contraction in your lat muscle.

5. 5

   Slowly lower the dumbbell back to the starting position with control, fully extending your arm and feeling a stretch in your lat. Exhale as you pull up, inhale as you lower.

Tips

• Maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement; avoid rounding your back to prevent injury and maximize lat engagement.
• Focus on initiating the pull with your back muscles, specifically the lats, rather than just your biceps, to get the most out of the exercise.
• Keep your elbow tucked close to your body as you row; flaring it out reduces lat activation and puts more stress on the shoulder joint.
• Control both the concentric (lifting) and eccentric (lowering) phases of the movement to maximize muscle time under tension and improve strength.

Common Mistakes

• ×Rounding the back during the row can lead to spinal injury; maintain a flat, neutral spine by engaging your core.
• ×Using momentum to swing the weight up reduces muscle engagement; control the movement by pulling with your back and not jerking.
• ×Shrugging the shoulder instead of pulling with the lat shifts the work away from the target muscle; actively depress and retract your scapula as you pull.