What's going on nation? I'm Scott from Muscularstrength.com
and today we're going to cover the three golden rules for the single
arm bent over row.
Now this exercise is great for building an overall thick and muscular back
and because you can support yourself with your non-working hand,
you're greatly reducing the overall stress on your core and
lower back which will allow you to have more energy to pull more weight for more reps and guys anytime
you can push your limits to lift heavier.
That means you're in a better position to overload your muscles for more growth.
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Golden rule number 1, pull towards the hip, now depending on what area of the back you want to work on
there are many different variations of this exercise
but more often than not the majority of us are trying to utilize it for lat thickness and width
but are not pulling the dumbbell through the right movement pattern in order to do so.
So to maximize engagement for a thickness and width,
you need to pull the dumbbell as close to your torso as possible and
always toward the hip, but the problem is that most people approach this
exercise simply by bending over and pulling straight up
which typically results in pulling the dumbbell towards the upper abs.
Although your lats will still engage, more emphasis will be placed on the mid-back
or your rhomboids and lower traps.
Now you also have the option of pulling the dumbbell more towards your chest
and if you do this
you'll be mainly working your rear delts and upper and mid traps, which in my opinion
there are much better exercises suited for this. Golden rule number two, focus on full range of motion.
Guys,
remember that you break down the most muscle for growth during the negative and with the heavy
stretch which for this exercise is at the bottom of the movement if
anything you should actually try to pause for a second or two
to really feel that weighted stretch before going into the next repetition.
As for the Flex at the top of the movement this can only be maximized if you maintain
the proper position of your torso
without bending or twisting during the movement.
But unfortunately
most people increase their weight too fast with this exercise
and go from proper form at the top of the movement to basically
completely twisting their upper body to help lift the weight.
This greatly reduces the intensity of the flex at the top of the movement
and if this is you you need to lower the weight and fix your form and Golden rule number three,
'Proper form is a little too overrated' and now while it may seem that this rule contradicts rule number two.
Let me explain first, guys
you can't get caught up on perfect slow-tempo form all the time for this exercise.
It's generally a safe movement with a very minimum chance of injury
which can enable you to lift much heavier weights and shock your lats for more growth. However
slow tempo is still recommended for beginners.
And for those of you who may have been doing this exercise for a while
but have been doing it wrong.
It's not so much about the bottom of the movement though because that's quite easy to fix
as you just have to extend your arm fully. It's more about the top of the movement because
until you learn how to pull the weight up without twisting your upper body
you'll never maximize the Flex and you won't be able to take advantage of all the benefits techniques
like cheat and recover have to offer.
Remember that cheat reps will allow you to
overload to the max but you still need to be able to do them
with very little torso twist at the top of the movement.
Also while cheat reps do use momentum during the concentric portion of the rep
they are all about control during the eccentric or
negative
In fact, one thing I like to do for a bit of an extra stretch at the bottom of the movement
especially with really heavy weight is to do a slight torso twist
until I feel all the fibers in my back ripping and tearing apart.
So maybe give that a shot the next time you train with a single arm dumbbell row.
And now for a bonus tip, use a hook grip or wrist straps when doing this exercise.
Now generally, I don't recommend a hook grip or wrist straps when training
but for this exercise we want to disengage the biceps and forearms as much as
possible so we can keep all the focus on engaging the lats.
So be sure to utilize either technique and if you need a new pair of wrist straps
I will link to you the ones that I use in the pin comment below they even come in pink for all my lady
subscribers and if you want to incorporate this exercise in your next workout
I suggest doing it first on back day or
second after t-bar rows and all you need is six to eight sets of eight to ten reps per arm.
I hope you guys learned something new today
and if you're ready to take your gains to the next level be sure to check out my fat loss and muscle gain
programs on my website Muscularstrength.com
Guys, what you see on YouTube is just the beginning and I know that no matter how long you've been
training or how old you are
I have the tools to help you accomplish your goals and as always more good stuff coming soon.
See you guys