Exercises / Seated Cable Row

Seated Cable Row

Also known as: Cable row, Seated row, Close-grip cable row

A seated cable pull to the torso. The elbows drive back while the trunk stays tall.

Primary muscles
Back (latissimus dorsi), Back (rhomboids)
Secondary muscles
Biceps (biceps brachii), Shoulders (posterior deltoid)
Equipment
Cable (seated cable row, V-handle or straight bar)
Pattern
Horizontal Pull
Difficulty
Beginner
Line diagram of a Seated Cable Row.
Diagram: Fytniz. License: original-placeholder (Fytniz).

Stills

Close-grip V-handle seated cable row near the start position.
Woman using a seated cable row machine at the gym.jpg by Miguel Angel Omana Rojas. CC0 1.0. Via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC0. Source.
Line-art finish position of a seated cable row.
Cable-seated-rows-2.png by Everkinetic, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA (share-alike). Source.

Cues

  1. Sit tall, brace the feet, and take the handle with the arms long and the chest up.
  2. Start the pull by setting the shoulder blades, then drive the elbows back toward the ribs.
  3. Bring the handle to the lower chest or upper abdomen; do not lean so far that the stack moves from hip drive.
  4. Return until the arms are long and the lats stretch, without letting the weight yank you forward.
  5. Keep the ribs down; a slight hip hinge is fine, a full rock is not.

Common mistakes

  • Rocking the torso so the stack moves from momentum.
  • Shrugging the shoulders to the ears at the end of the pull.
  • Rounding the low back as the arms reach forward.

Safety

  • Do not yank the torso backward to move the stack.
  • Keep a load you can return to the stretch without a swing.