Exercise Guide

Chest Supported Row

A row done face-down on an inclined pad. The chest support removes the lower back and hips entirely, so every rep is the mid back and nothing else.

BeginnerStrengthPullCompound
Form
Chest Supported Row - Start position
Start
Chest Supported Row - Mid position
Mid
Chest Supported Row - End position
End

Illustrations by Bryl Lim for Workout Guide, after Everkinetic. Used unchanged under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Details

Primary Muscle

Middle Back

Equipment

Machine

Difficulty

Beginner

Category

Strength

Force

Pull

Mechanic

Compound

Secondary Muscles

BicepsShoulders
How to Perform
  1. 1

    Set the pad height so your chest rests on it with your arms able to hang straight down to the handles.

  2. 2

    Lie face-down against the pad, plant your feet, and take a handle in each hand.

  3. 3

    Pull the handles toward your hips, driving your elbows back and squeezing your shoulder blades together.

  4. 4

    Lower under control until your arms are straight and your shoulder blades have travelled forward.

Tips
  • Chest stays glued to the pad. Peeling off it turns this into a worse bent-over row.
  • Because there is no cheating available, use less weight than you would standing - that is the point of the exercise.