BB ROWS..Help!!

[bignate73]

just as an add on to supreme's post.

when he says "head down" it doesnt mean "head forward". keep your chin tucked and look in the direction that your chest is facing. if you drop your head on a row, 7 out of 10 times you'll get a twinge up your neck and wont do it again. quickest way to pull a cervical spine extensor. lengthen them extremely and then contract your upper back. i've done it more times than i can count, just because i got sloppy.

 

[supreme]

Yep Nate is right, what I should have said was head in neutral I.E. not protrouding forward or rotated back. To help keep your head in neutral especiallyif you have weak cervical flexors; swallow and when your tongue goes to the roof of your mouth, apply pressure & keep it there, breathe through your nose. Pushing your tongue to the roof of your mouth closes the anterior flexor chain & activiates your deep cervical flexors (infra & suprahyoids) these muscles keep your head in axial alignmnet and prevent it from dropping forward or rotating backwards. (great during squats, deads and especially any crunch type movements)

S

 

[anthrax]

In plain English does that mean that if you're doing BB rows in front of a mirror, you can't look at your reflexion but to the floor, 2 metres in front of you ?

 

[Illuminati]

Yep Nate is right, what I should have said was head in neutral I.E. not protrouding forward or rotated back. To help keep your head in neutral especiallyif you have weak cervical flexors; swallow and when your tongue goes to the roof of your mouth, apply pressure & keep it there, breathe through your nose. Pushing your tongue to the roof of your mouth closes the anterior flexor chain & activiates your deep cervical flexors (infra & suprahyoids) these muscles keep your head in axial alignmnet and prevent it from dropping forward or rotating backwards. (great during squats, deads and especially any crunch type movements)

S

huh? too many technical words. can you break this down into something we can understand?

 

[ChinkNasty]

ok, thanks supreme/nate...so you guys do do underhanded rows? I always feel like I can cheat too much with bis/shoulders when doing this movement like so...

CN

 

[supreme]

Well if you feel your cheating, you probably are. The weight should come up smoothly, and your body should not jerk or spasm like you have the hiccups. This ususally indicates that you are prematurely contracting your scapular retractors and not getting full ROM. When you do it right the bar should hit your lower abdomen at the same time you reach complete contraction of your back muscles. If the bar stops before the abdomen you are overusing scapular humeral muscles and decreasing the ROM of your scapular adductors by training them in a shortened position. You need to lighten the weight for a few workouts until form improves and possibly do some flexibilty work if you have shortened your muscles.

Underhand hits more of the lats & the Bi's (no way to eliminate the bi's) and a prone (overhand) grip works more of your scapular adductors. The higher up the body you pull the bar to and the more the elbows flare out, the more of your upper back you are working.

Anthrax, you are right on where to look during the exercise.

Sorry if it sounds technical but it is and thats the way I learned it. Bascially you have to stabilize your core by pulling in your abdominal wall (NO BELTS!) and push your tongue to the roof of your mouth to turn on the deep muscles in your neck to stop your head from dropping forward or rotating up & back - neither is good for your cervical spine. These neck muscles are not activated unless the tongue can't move (closed anatomical chain) They are normally in an open chain so you can speak & eat.

S

 

[bignate73]

ok, thanks supreme/nate...so you guys do do underhanded rows? I always feel like I can cheat too much with bis/shoulders when doing this movement like so...

CN

i dont do underhand rows, ive always heard bad stories about biceps getting injured with them. plus it puts some serious torque on my wrists. i always keep it overhand and just vary the width. but i do bb rows quite regularly.

 

[ChinkNasty]

ok...so much shit to process...haha ill give it a run on next back day

thanks yall

peace,
CN

 

[JKurz1]

I use heavy dbell rows with much better results......