What's going on everybody? Schuyler Diehm here! Men's weight loss and fitness coach.
And in today's video we are going to be going over the dumbbell row. Let's get into it!
So the dumbbell row is one of those things that has a million different types of variations
right? There's the two-handed dumbbell row there's the one-handed dumbbell row there's every single
angle possible that you could imagine. There's different grip sizes different grip directions.
And so in this video we're really going to keep it simple and we're going to focus both
on the single arm dumbbell row, and the bent over dumbbell row which I like to call the statue row
it's the double arm. And so we're going to talk about some mistakes that people make as well as
basically the cues to keep in mind to get the most out of this exercise to make sure you're
doing the form right you're getting the most muscle activation and you're not putting yourself
at risk of injury. and so the benefits of this exercise because we're using dumbbells is
we get this natural plane of motion that allows each individual side to work individually
rather than using a barbell where you would be using the same plane of motion and your
hands would be locked in place and so today we're really going to be going over both the single arm
and the statue dumbbell row the technique and the cues of these exercises are going to be the same
so we're going to go over the technique first and then we'll walk through each exercise
now as far as the variations here if you are a complete beginner it's probably a good idea
to start with the supported one arm row so that's basically going to be in a supported position here
because once you get into the bent over two hand dumbbell row you're going to have to activate your
spine here and you want to make sure that you're not doing anything that's going to put your spinal
column at risk right you don't want to be doing anything that could lead to potential injury
and especially if you're starting off and you're using more weight than you should be
and you're you know jerking the exercise you're definitely going to put yourself in a position
where you may get injured so we really want to focus on proper technique here we really want to
focus on proper form and of course proper control we want to make sure we're using a weight that we
can fully control so let's talk about a couple different cues so really when we're doing the
row i like to focus on five separate things that really make sure that everything is in position
number one is going to be the tight core now when you're doing the one arm dumbbell row or even when
you're doing the two arm you have the ability here to bend up you have the ability to bend your spine
and these are absolutely things that we want to avoid right with both of these exercises whether
we're using one arm or we're using the two arm we want to make sure that we have a straight spine
so when we're flat we want to flat back we don't want to be arching up we don't want to be bending
over we also don't want our head to be pointing up our head to be pointing down we really want
to make sure that whatever position we're in we keep that flat back we keep that spine straight
and that we're in a very safe and tight position so keeping that core tight keeping the back
straight and making sure that we aren't bending to try to muscle up the weight technique number
two here is going to be staying in place now there is a time and place for swinging the body
but what most guys do in the gym especially if they're beginners is they twist their body to get
the weight up and while that can benefit you in some areas and we'll talk about that in a minute
when we're doing this exercise we want to be locked into position we don't want our spine
to be twisting we don't want to be swinging our entire body up same thing goes for the bent over
we want to be in a very specific position the third strategy here that we really want to focus
on is we want to retract our shoulder blade and we want to make sure our shoulders stay down so
especially when people start working with heavier weight what they tend to do is they can
tend to bring their shoulder to their ear we want to make sure that we are staying down and then
the other thing is before rowing because what most people do is they'll stretch and then they'll row
we actually want to retract our shoulder blade before even pulling the row up
meaning if you were to picture a pencil in the middle of your spine
you would want to bring your shoulder blade up as if you were going to break that pencil
right so before even rowing instead of rolling from this position even though it's a very small
shift you can see it right it's just it's moving an inch or two but you're still getting into a
more proper position so when you pull you're now going to be activating the back at a much higher
level the third cue here is we really want to make sure that we are pulling with our elbow now what
most people tend to do if they're basically trying to mimic other people who are doing the exercise
is their goal is to bring their hand and bring the weight up to their chest right to go like this
that is not the focus we want to have this is a really good cue to get that
mind muscle connection to make sure that you're connecting with your back and actually using it
is to pull up with your elbow and what you'll find especially with the one arm bent over row is that
instead of coming straight up the weight is now traveling at a diagonal angle right so rather than
coming straight up and trying to pull the weight to your chest now you're pulling the weight back
and in the process again you're going to feel much more a much higher activation of the lat
and then the final aspect of this strategy is once you have all those things in place once you've
pushed yourself and you've exhausted yourself if you're looking to take it one step further that's
when you can add some cheat reps in now cheat reps are going to be very very important here with the
one arm row it's not going to put you in a very vulnerable position so it should be pretty safe
but you're allowed to swing a little bit right as long as you're still maintaining that activation
as long as you're still pulling with that elbow you should be in a pretty good position to allow
yourself to swing with the statue row however if you're coming here you want to make sure you're
not jerking the back because again that can put you in a very vulnerable position which could
injure your spine so when you get to this point and you're fully exhausted the muscle just use a
little up and down right you're not jerking you're not doing anything quick just a little up and down
to allow your muscles to get in some extra work so those are the five cues there we've got tight
core straight spine we've got staying in place not twisting until you really want to get those cheat
reps in we've got retracting your shoulder blades keeping your shoulders away from your ear also
making sure that you're pinching that pencil with your shoulder blade and that's something for you
to reset after every single rep and then number four is pulling with your elbow and number five
is cheating when needed so let's kind of walk through these two exercises right single arm
and then the double bent over keeping those cues in mind so first is the single arm now you want to
make sure that your knee and your hand on the same side are on the bench and then your foot
is in a position where you feel very stable right you because you're only having three points of
contact here so whether that's far back for you whether it's out but obviously we don't want the
need to be in the range of motion of the dumbbell so you're most likely going to be out a little
bit then next step of course so from here we want to pick up the dumbbell and just go through those
cues right tight core shoulder blade in position before you roll it up retract that scapula and
then basically row now i can even tell just because i'm sewing my head my knee was in the
wrong position there so we want to reposition that and if it helps you can actually bring this knee
in a little more you just want to make sure your back is flat so obviously get in that position
where you feel very stable very safe pick up the dumbbell tight core shoulder blade retracted
pull up with the elbow drop reset tight core shoulder blades retracted pull up with the elbow
shoulder blade retracted pull up with the elbow shoulder blade retracted pull up with
that elbow now if i get to rep 8 and i'm just absolutely burnt little swing is okay
and basically from this position that's what you just repeat on the other side right you can
swing the dumbbell to the other side or you can just turn around same position hand knee leg out
grab the dumbbell tight core shoulder blade retracted
shoulder blade retracted row shoulder blade retracted row retract row
retract row and then once it's time cheat a couple so there's your one arm
statue row is going to be the exact same thing so you're going to get in position so i would
pick the dumbbells up put your legs at about shoulder width you don't want to go too wide or
too thin here and then you're going to bend over now what's important here is you're not coming
completely parallel to the ground you want to be up a little bit tight core keeping that spine safe
shoulder blade retracted elbows up down shoulder blade retracted elbows up up retract row all right
guys now with that alone you're gonna see massive changes in overall activation of the muscle you're
going to see a better pump you're going to feel more safe you're going to be at a lower risk
for injury and you're going to allow yourself to really get some extra reps in with those healthy
and safe cheats so i recommend you get out and try this right even if you're at home right now pick
up a bag pick up something that you can to really practice on pulling that elbow and activating that
lat and the more you do it the more you're gonna notice that awesome pump so with that being said
i'm curious do you have a favorite type of row let me know in the comments but besides that make sure
to subscribe if you're looking for more awesome fitness content and of course as always make sure
to eat smart move more sleep deep and be grateful for this moment i'll see you in the next video!