What's going on Nation? Today we're going to be discussing the seven
dumbest mistakes from performing the barbell bent over row that's
Sabotaging your back gains now the barbell bent over row is like the barbell bench press for your back in this exercise
We're going to be targeting your upper back and we're going to be focusing on the Overhand version
And it's because we're focusing on the overhand version that we're targeting more of the upper back [muscles] like your traps
rhomboids and rear delts now
We will be activating lats doing this exercise as well
But the primary focus here is going to be mid in lower traps
Which is great because these are muscle groups that are often neglected in workouts
Another great thing about this exercise [is] that because we're targeting the upper back. We're basically counter balancing
what the barbell bench press does for your chest and shoulders [and] another great thing is [that] we're going to be helping your
Posture as well, no more walking around with shoulders like this
We're going to strengthen that upper back
Everything's pulled back nice and tight like this, and we're going to be improving your posture and one more benefit
Is that we're also going to be getting a lot of core and lower body activation now the exercise
Might be bending over and pulling like this
but if you're pulling a substantial amount of weight number one you get to engage your core as hard as
[possible] in order to keep yourself from going into flexion and
Number two in order to hold this weight you're going to have to engage the muscles in your lower body like your glutes quads
Hamstrings and calves for stability as well, but before we get started if you guys haven't turned on video notifications yet
Make sure you do so you never miss another video upload if you want to see the rest of the videos in [my] dumbest mistake
Series, I'll post a link down in the info section below [alright] guys
So mistake number one is having straight legs during the lift
Before I show you guys what this means real quick when approaching the barbell to perform this movement
I want you guys to grab it just outside of shoulder width apart
in fact
Because like I said this is like counter balancing what the bench press does for your chest and shoulders it might be worth your while
To use the same with grip that you use on [the] barbell bench press when grabbing the bar
So I'm gonna get my outside shoulder width grip on here. I'm going to take a step back
Just like this and now as far as foot position on this exercise guys you can stand with your feet about shoulder width [apart] you
can go a little bit outside of shoulder width or
You can do what I like to do which is a bit wider stance like this
So as I perform the movement I can sit between my legs and have more stability
Especially as I start lifting heavier weight now
What's going to happen if you have straight legs during this exercise?
It's going to completely throw off your center of balance
and it's going to bring all of the weight and
Transfer it to your lower back causing you to go into Lumbar spinal flexion
which can cause a serious injury what I mean by [that] is if you keep your [legs] straight and
Just bend over like this the point at which you're bending is all right here
So everything [all] this weight is being held in the air by
Your lower back and your lower back isn't going to be able to handle
225, 255 or 315 pounds for a set of [8-10] repetitions
so what happens when your legs are straight, and you bend over like this you're going to go into spinal flexion
And you're going to hurt [yourself], but if you sit between your legs
And you out your back a bit you can see just from this movement. I can stay in the exact same position
Straight legs. I'm in Flexion. If I just bend my knees and lower my hips and sit back
It's like my back just fixes itself just from doing that one movement
so mistake number one straight legs
Don't do it mistake number two is not bending over enough when you do this exercise
Like I said in the intro guys this movement. Yeah, we're going to be hitting a bit of our lats
We're hitting our traps and rhomboids
But we want to primarily utilize this movement to make sure we're targeting the mid to lower traps because not too many exercises
Target this area, and we don't want to be neglecting that we can do a lot of exercise as a target the upper traps
But the mid to lower, we're kind of limited so when you perform this movement guys you're going to get into position
but if you're only bending over like this and pulling the
barbell up
You're activating mostly upper traps when you do this now the reason why
Most people do that range of motion is because they can lift more weight
So it's more like ego lifting and your ego isn't going to do shit for your mid to lower traps what you need to do
is lower the weight bend over pretty much parallel to the floor and
Then pull and you guys are going [to] see I'm getting a lot more mid to lower trap engagement
And I'm pulling the barbell pretty much to my sternum. You can go between your belly button and sternum
Whatever feels more comfortable for you
Just make sure you're getting that mid to lower trap engagement and make sure you're feeling it on every single repetition
Mistake number three is that you guys are standing up while performing your repetitions
And this can happen for one of two reasons [the] most common reason is because you're lifting weight
That is way too, heavy, and you're using momentum
so you start off like this bent over like you should be and then you use momentum to bring the bar up
And you're just doing this and everyone's looking at you, and they're laughing because they don't know what you're doing besides
Not actually trading your muscles properly now the second reason why you might be doing this is because
You're just starting to fatigue and like I said earlier
It's easier to pull
from here to here with more weight than it is totally bent over and parallel to the floor and pull here to here, so
You guys might be doing proper range of motion for the first three or four repetitions
And as you fatigue you might be trying to compensate by slowly standing up
So you can keep pulling the same weight
But before you know it the sets over and you're almost standing up completely almost standing straight up
Where you started down here, and you end right here
So if you notice that's happening to you
What you need to do is just adjust for your rep range
The whole point of this is the target the mid to lower traps and if the weights too heavy
Just put it back lower it
And then make sure you can do all of your reps with the proper form for [the] rep range of trying targets that easy guys
Mistake number four is that you're putting too much [tension] and your neck and spine
And the reason why this happens to most people is because let's just face it
We like to look in the mirror and we like to see all the muscles moving
We like to see how big we look and how pumped we look but when doing an exercise like this
It's not necessarily the best thing for you to do when performing this movement guys
You want to have a neutral spine so you want to have your face
Facing [the] floor and pull like this if you're lifting a lot of weight
And you're forcing your head back like this and pulling and you're doing this just so you can look in the mirror
I mean even without weight just using the barbell and forcing my head up like this
You're creating all kinds of tension in your neck and spine and all kinds of tension in this area where you can
Easily pull a muscle especially [in] your neck and that doesn't feel too good, so when you do this exercise
focus on the movement
Keep a neutral spine and the less pressure and less things you're worrying about up here the more energy you can drive into the actual
movement
And the more weight you're gonna lift which is going to help your gains
Mistake number five is that you're not keeping your chest up
Throughout the Movement, and it might sound weird to you guys because you bent over like this
And you're staying parallel to the floor
But you still want to keep your chest up by keeping your chest up that's going to allow you guys [to] avoid going into Lumbar
Spinal Flexion now as you do in the movement you're pulling the barbell to your sternum like this
Keeping your chest up if the weights too heavy, and you start crumbling see how I go into flexion right here
That's taking a lot of this pressure and putting it directly on your back
It's going to transfer to your lower back and can possibly cause a lower back injury
So if you notice that throughout the movement you're not able to keep your chest up like this as you perform your repetitions
Then chances are you're going too heavy if you don't want to risk a lumbar spine injury
lighten the load and do your reps a proper form
Mistake number six is that you're not properly engaging your core
Throughout the lift now obviously depending on how much weight you're using is going to change
How you guys engage your core. So for example if I'm doing lighter weight more repetitions
Engaging my core is important
But I can get away with maybe not gauging it as much or [as] tight because the weights lighter
It's not going to pull me forward, but when you start doing your really heavy sets
Focusing on that core engagement keeping this area as tight as possible [is] going to make all the difference
It's going to make the weight feel you it's well heavy weight is still going to be heavy
But the way it's going to feel a lot heavier if you're crumbling at the core as you're trying to do the repetition
So what I mean by this is
when you get into place
And you bend over and you lifted heavy weight you want to take in a breath at the bottom of the movement
And as you take in your breath, that's when you're going to engage your core
You're going to keep all the air inside squeeze your abs as tight as you can [pull] up come back down
And then that's when you reset your breath
taking a breath
Keep it nice and tight boom come back down now
What a lot of people do is they breathe out as they bring the weight up
So if you're lifting a lot of weight and your core is nice, and tight right here, and you breathe out as you lift
the bar, so
You're breathing all of [the] internal pressure that's keeping you from falling over and going into spinal flexion
So if you guys want to lift heavy and not have to worry about spinal flexion and hurting your lower back
Take in that breath keep your core tight and don't release [it] until you get back to the bottom now if you have a hard time
With this internal pressure I'll post a link to a few videos down the info section below
that'll show you guys how to engage the core properly alright guys and the seventh mistake people make is
Probably the one you want to pay the most attention to, saving the best for last year
And this has a lot to do with mind muscle connection. So if you're a beginner, you need to listen up and really pay attention
Now this exercise okay when you perform this movement you do not want to be focusing on
Grabbing the Barbell and pulling with your hands and it might sound weird to you
But you have to really keep this in mind what you want to do is you want to focus on
Pulling with your elbows think of your hands as just hooks that are holding the weight
and you want to try to pull from here by pulling at your elbow that's going to disengage a
lot of your biceps that normally you would be activating of course you're still going to be using your biceps to perform the movement
But if you want to learn how to use more of the muscles in your back you have to visualize
Pulling from the elbows in order to bring that barbell to your chest now another big part of this movement is
You have to make sure that you're getting Scapula retraction, or else the exercise is useless
And that's a lot of times when I tell you guys don't use momentum
Especially on exercises like this is because you won't really get that scapular retraction
And you won't get that muscle activation that you're looking for and there's the whole reason why you're doing this exercise
And what I mean by that is
Once you have bent over like this, and [you] have the barbell in your hands
Try doing this as like a two part movement before you start lifting heavy even just use the barbell to practice this
Before you guys start getting really heavy with this exercise and what I want you to do is a two part movement
Where you retract your scapula first
And then as soon as you squeeze and retract the Scapula as much as you can
Then pull with your elbows and bring it to your sternum, and then repeat that the opposite way to bring it back down
so get a nice dip just like this keep your chest up proper form retract your Scapula and
Then pull the barbell to your chest and as you get better and better at it
You'll be able to do it in a fluid motion and still get that Scapula retraction with heavier weight
so if you have a hard time at mind muscle connection
That's the perfect time to practice it use light weight get the form down and don't make [those] crucial mistakes because your gain
Will suffer alright guys that wraps up today's video
I hope you enjoyed it if you want to see more dumbest mistake videos for other exercises
Leave your suggestions down the info section below as you guys know I'm always creeping on those comments and to be honest with you
It's been really fun showing you proper form on some of these movements by showing you what not to do
I think it goes a bit further into the exercise
Shows you guys exactly you're the reasons why you're not supposed [to] do specific things
You can take this knowledge with you to the gym [and] really improve [your] gains if you haven't already
Be should hit that like [and] subscribe button and for those of you who are looking for a full 12 week program
To build a muscle and strength make sure you click the link down [to] my transformation challenge down the info section below and as always
More good stuff coming soon. See you guys