One Arm Cable Row

Why Should You do One Arm Cable Row?

This exercise is not completely common in the gym, but it is fantastic as it gives such good results because your muscle on the back (lats) stretches out much more than with a dumbbell row. Just lift one arm towards the ceiling and feel how much your lats are stretched out on the back. This means that you get a long trajectory in the exercise that gives good muscle growth. The other advantage of the exercise is that you can pull your elbow very far behind your body, unlike barbell rowing, where the movement is stopped when the bar hits the body.

Exercise Details for One Arm Cable Row

  • Primary Muscle
    Lats
  • Secondary Muscle
    Middle back, Biceps , Rear Delt
  • Equipment
    Cable
  • Level
    Easy

Performance

The bracket of the cable machine should be set high up. Grab the handle with one hand. Moreover, take three small steps back and stand with your feet parallel. Bend at the knees. Lean back slightly, and you need this. Your back should be in a neutral position. Extend the arm that holds the bracket to the cable machine. The arm should be straight, and your shoulder blade should be pulled forward. In this position, you should feel a good stretch in the entire back. Your spine should be straight and not curved. You are now in the starting position.

Pull your arm back toward your armpit as far as you can. Your elbow should end up behind your body. When you have pulled your elbow back as far as you can, squeeze the shoulder blades together in this top position for a few seconds. You can rotate the upper body very slightly away from the machine in this position. Then slowly return the arm to the cable holder while letting the shoulder blade pull out when the arm is straight.

Perform the exercise slowly and stretch out forward and squeeze the shoulder blade all you can when you have pulled the weight back.

Tips for One Arm Cable Row

  • This is one of the best exercises for your lats because the muscle is stretched out completely
  • Your shoulder blade should also be pulled forward in the starting position
  • Pull your arm back towards your armpit but the movement should be lead by the elbow 
  • The elbow should end up as far behind the body as possible
  • Perform a short rotation in the top position to squeeze your shoulder blades extra much
  • Hold for a few seconds in the top position
  • Lower the weight in a slow and controlled manner since you are very strong in this movement and thus the fold provides good eccentric training

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Related Exercises

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Seated Leg Curl

Ring Row

Ring rowing, or rowing in rings, is a perfect exercise for strengthening the shoulders and back. The exercise is similar to Inverted Row but it is performed using rings instead of a bar. This gives you greater flexibility in your grip. You can run with a prone, overhand grip, just like Inverted row with a bar, but you can easily turn the palms of your hands towards each other, so-called neutral grip. When you do this, the elbows will be able to be pulled closer to the body and your lats for a greater load than the upper muscles of the back. A neutral grip is also more gentle to your shoulders.

Power Snatch

The Power Snatch involves lifting as much weight as quickly as possible from the ground up over your head. It is an advanced and challenging exercise to set the technique correctly before you start running with a lot of weight. Preferably talk to an instructor or experienced lifter before starting doing it yourself. Unlike the usual snatch, you should not go down entirely in a squat when you catch the bar. This makes the exercise a little easier to perform, but you will not lift as much weight as snatch.