Exercise Guide
Mid Row (Machine)
The seated row machine found in every commercial gym — chest against the pad, handles pulled to the midsection. The chest support takes the lower back and hips out of the movement, so the mid back does the work.
Illustrations by Bryl Lim for Workout Guide, after Everkinetic. Used unchanged under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Primary Muscle
Middle Back
Equipment
Machine
Difficulty
Beginner
Category
Strength
Force
Pull
Mechanic
Compound
Secondary Muscles
- 1
Set the seat height so the handles sit level with your mid chest, and the chest pad so you can reach the handles with your arms straight without your shoulders rolling forward.
- 2
Sit down, plant your feet, and press your chest into the pad. Take a handle in each hand — neutral grip on the vertical handles, overhand on the horizontal ones.
- 3
Start with your arms straight and your shoulder blades allowed to travel forward. This is the starting position.
- 4
Pull the handles to your midsection, driving your elbows back past your ribs and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- 5
Hold the squeeze for a beat, then let the handles travel back under control until your arms are straight and your shoulder blades are stretched forward again.
- ★Keep your chest on the pad the whole set — rocking back to move the stack turns it into a bent-over row done badly.
- ★Lead with the elbows, not the hands. Think of your arms as hooks and your back as the muscle pulling them.
- ★A neutral (palms-facing) grip hits the mid back and rear delts; an overhand grip with elbows flared higher biases the rear delts and traps.