What's going on Nation? Welcome to another installment of my VS
Series in these videos I compare popular exercises to help you decide
Which is best for your gains if you missed any of my previous episodes?
I will link the entire playlist down in the info section below as for today
We'll be comparing the barbell bent over row VS.
The T-bar row to see which exercise will help you build a more muscular back, but before we get started
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For all my 12-week muscle building programs that are guaranteed
To help you guys seeing some serious gains now while both
Exercises are amazing compound movements to include in your back workouts
They constitute a very similar pulling pattern which means including them both in the same workout can become
Redundant so if I only had to choose one which would it be and why?
Well first of all let's take a brief look at the anatomy of the back the biggest muscle in the back is the latissimus Dorsi
Or lats for short the lats
Originate in the lower spine and insert all the way up into the humerus upper arm bone and as for building muscle
most people have mentally linked lat training and growth to vertical pulling movements such as
pull-UPs
And pull-downs and in the same way they've linked mid-back growth and thickness to Rowing movements to take it a step further
people usually equate training for back with two vertical pulling movements and
training for back thickness to Rowing movements which actually could it really be follows from the truth the truth of the matter is that
Proper Rowing utilizing exercises such as the T-bar row or the bent over row?
Can build both the thickness and width of the back depending on your form this is because there are slight adjustments
You can make to either exercise to target your lats or your upper back which includes traps rhomboids and rear delts
And we'll take an in-dePth look at those adjustments in this video
But first let's go over proper form for each movement
First up is the barbell bent over row and it can be performed several different ways
But the best way to target your entire Lap is to use an underhand grip
This is because an overhand grip will bring a lot more upper back traps and delt into the movement now an underhand grip
Will activate a bit more biceps as a secondary muscle group
But it will also take the majority of the upper back muscles out of the equation during the movement
Additionally you will be much stronger with an underhand grip and you'll be able to move more weight
remember guys moving more weight means more overload for the less and
Consequently more growth in the long run now
I have done a full video covering proper form and seven most common mistakes
Associated with bent over Rows, and I will link to it down the info section below
But let's get into it quickly here as well alright guys
so the most
Important aspect of this exercise is going to be to set up before you even touch the barbell and this will make or break how
Much weight you can lift
when doing this movement you see a lot of people in the gym when they go to approach the Bible for bent over Row is
they stand pretty stiff like this put a slight bend their knees and they bend over and they stop performing the movement like this and
What you'll quickly notice is that as you bent over like this?
You know your chest is basically over your toes you start to feel a lot of fatigue throughout your lower back
Extremely fast especially if you're using heavier weight the most important thing to keep in mind when doing this exercise
No matter what variation of it. You're doing you've got to sit between your legs like this
So you're almost pushing your hips back as you bend over and if you want to think about it mentally like this
Think that your chest should be kind of in line with your feet. So not over them more in line with them
there's a big difference between doing this and
Then doing this you'll be a lot more stable lift a lot more weight and be able to handle a lot more repetitions
Now to perform the movement with the actual barbell like I said
Our goal is not upper back. So we're not going to do Overhand
We're going to do underhand and you want to hold the barbell
Just outside of shoulder width so you have plenty of room to stand with your legs five pot the hands are too close
They're going to get in the way of your legs obviously so grab just outside of shoulder width
And then once you get into place
You're going to sit back
Bring it down like this get that nice deep stretch at the bottom on every single repetition
You're going to pull the weight into your belly button
and
then come back down get that nice stretch at the bottom and
Then pull into your belly button, and if you want to use strict form you're not using momentum
You're not pushing through your feet
You're not swinging back and forth
You're just using your arms to complete the movement and make sure when you pull to the top
Get a nice tight squeeze in your back and actually feel your last engaging on every single repetition
again guys the
underhand Grip barbell bent over row will enable you to better target the lower lats because the body travels closer to your hips and you're
Pulling it towards your belly button, but the overhand grip variation has its place as well as it still activates your last
But this variation will focus more on the upper lats
And it will also heavily activate the upper back muscles like the rear delts traps and rhomboids as I said earlier
So choose the variation that goes best with the rest of the exercises in your workout
for example if you begin your workout with weighted chin-ups
Which we know target to lower last you might want to use an overhand grip when you move on to the barbell bent over row?
Knowledge is power guys, and you need to be smart about your training finally believe it or not there is actually a third
variation of the Barbell bent over row, and it's called the yates row and the yates Row coined by Dorian yates is
Practically advent over Barbell row without really the bending over component
So your torso will be almost upright maybe about a twenty to Thirty degree bend
And this way you'll be able to handle much heavier weights since you won't be limited by your posterior chain strength however
This exercise is something in a league of its own since it will mainly target your upper back rather than your lats, so to recap
If you want to target your labs with any variation of the bent over row
Be sure to bend over as much as possible
Ideally until you're parallel to the floor now
Let's move on to the T-bar row and the mechanics of this exercise are almost identical to the barbell bent over row
But this time you'll need a close grip attachment to pull the weight to your torso to set up to the T-bar Row
You're going to be using basically the same four mechanics as you did for the barbell bent over row one thing
I forgot to mention with that exercise guys
Whenever you're doing rowing movements like this you want to be as parallel to the floor as possible
You don't want to be doing the barbell bent double row standing up like this because you're reducing the range of motion getting less muscle
activation you want to be as
parallel to the floor as possible with your chest same goes for this exercise now as you can see I
Have a slightly wider stance when doing this movement mainly because I'm straddling the barbell
But it's all the same guys in terms of sitting back convening between your legs like this versus bending over like that
You don't want your chest going past your toes you want your chest pretty much in line with your toes
And then for this movement to remember, we're trying to hit the last as hot as possible
So that when you pull this barbell up
You want to pull it into your belly button as much as you can you don't want to be pulling it into your upper chest
Like this activating more upper back and rear delts, so step forward a little bit if you need to
And once you're into position get your attachment palm facing in get a nice tight grip
Pull that weight into your torso as much as you can squeeze for a second
Bring it back down make sure you get a nice deep stretch in your last
Pull up and repeat this movement for repetitions until you complete your entire set also
One thing you should know about the close grip attachment
Is that because your hands are in a neutral position and close together?
You'll always be able to lift more weight with this exercise as this is the strongest possible position
You can be in when performing a row
Also keep in mind that you have more freedom with the range of motion of this movement
And if you pull the bottle towards your belly button you will target more of you relax
And if you pull the bible more towards your chest you'll try get more of your upper lats in mid back
Another quick tip for you guys you can also try using twenty five instead of 45 comm plates which are smaller in diameter
This will allow for a much greater range of motion because with the 45 your range of motion
Ends as soon as the plates touch your torso
But by using 25 palm plates you'll be adding 2 to 3 inches to the range of motion
Which will add up over the course of 8 to 10 repetitions
Remember every small detail like this counts, especially when you're a natural lifter, so now that we know how to properly and safely
Execute both exercises let's move on to some key differences
Which will ultimately help you decide which exercise is more Advantageous to include in your back workout first up
Muscle activation and versatility now depending on which muscles. You're specifically trying to Target
Both exercises will get you that the difference is that you'll have a lot more options when it comes to barbell bent over row
You can use either an underhand or Overhand grip as well as a narrow medium
Or wide grip which all affect how the muscles are targeted in your back?
Also guys you can easily switch between grips and even change the form you use per set if you're performing
multiple sets of this exercise in your workout
So it's easy to see that the barbell bent over row is a more versatile exercise to have in your workout routine
Next is equipment needed. This is a very obvious difference guys
But aside from the barbell and weights that is required for both exercises
You'll also need a neutral grip handle for the T-bar row as well as a way to
Anchor the Barbell to the ground during the movement granted
You don't have to use a landmine
Attachment to Anchor the barbell as sticking it into the corner of a wall with some weights on Top works just as well
But having said that the barbell bent over row is a fast is fast
Simpler when it comes to setting up so kind of wins this point as well
But now let's talk about lower back and posterior change strength requirements
We all know that the back muscles are very powerful and to properly train them for Growth
We need to over of them with a lot of weight
But the problem with the Bible bent over row is that the maximum amount of weight?
You'll be able to move is limited by your lower back and leg strength
This is because the weight is actually in front of your body when you bend over and stop pulling the barbell towards your torso
however with the T-bar row the Barbell stats behind
You and the weight is directly underneath the center of your body which means you'll be in a much more stable position
To move more weight without compromising your lower back
additionally the neutral grip
attachment will allow for a 5 greater lat and upper back stretch at the bottom of the movement and if we consider how
important the weighted stretches
We're growing in the back this makes for a very
Compelling point to pick the T-bar row out of the tube as for range of motion whether you're using 25 pounds
Or 45 pound plates the range of motion for the T-bar row will be slightly shorter than the barbell bent over row
This is because the barbell bent over row stops when the Ba hits your torso
But the T-bar row stops as soon as the plate hit your torso
Which results in a shorter range of motion so which is the better exercise for some serious muscle growth in your back?
Well to be honest guys both exercises are amazing compound movements
And you really can't go wrong with whichever one you end up choosing
The Barbell bent over Row is more versatile offers a bit more range of motion and it's simpler to perform
but if I had to choose right now which exercise I would add to my back workout it would be the t by Rho and
The deciding Factor for me is that I want to overload my back with as much weight as possible
And the T-bar row definitely has five more overloading potential guys
Overloading your muscles with a heavy weight is vital to getting them to adapt and grow
also with the T-bar row you'll be able to lift more weight without
Compromising your lower back and the maximum weight you'll be able to move won't be dependent on your posterior chain strength
This exercise also provides an amazing weighted stretch at the bottom of the range of motion and they can still be performed either
Upright to Target more of the upper back or completely bent over to hammer your lats
Lastly if your utilizing my cheat and recovery method of training the T-bar row will allow you to be a lot more explosive concentric
Li during the cheat because you can use your leg muscles to help with a bit of momentum
then when it comes to the recover reps
It's also much easier to peel off a few place and get right into those
So there you have it guys if you're looking to create a new badass back workout
I highly recommend you incorporate the T-bar row as these are the first or second exercise of the routine?
but if you don't have a way to perform T-bar Rows
The Barbell bent over row is still an excellent exercise if you use with an underhand grip to target those lats
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So I know which two exercises you want to see compare next and as always more good stuff coming soon. See you guys
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