Can't feel lats with barbell rows

[Fast Twitch Fiber]

Why don't I feel a good pump in my lats when doing bent barbell rows? I pay close attention to form and do them exactly as Arnold's encyclopedia says, now swinging momentum and I bring the bar up to touch my stomach just as Arnold says. I just don't feel much.

 

[XbdawggX]

Maybe try keeping your elbows in? I read somewhere that you should try to envision touching your elbows together behind your back to get maximum contraction.

 

[IJ26]

Concentrate on bringing your shoulder blades together at the top and do a slow 6 second negative. ive never really felt them until I started doing them this way. I also used a wider grip and felt more lat stimulation. Hope this helps

 

[pwr_machine]

It often helps me to pre exhaust the muscle group by performing something like seated rows first. Then, I can feel the burn from bent rows.

 

[SofaGeorge]

I'm teh same, bro. If I do overhand grip with barbell rows... I don't feel them in my lats. I have to go on trust that they are working.

I feel them if I do Yates style or on the Smith machine... but I don't feel them overhand.

I have a high suspicion that barbell rows are probably the single exercise that is most often done in incorrect form.

 

[sk*]

.

 

[bds20002002]

i went down in weight to make sure im not hitcing with my shoulder. look around, you will see guys doing dumbell/barbell rows with weight they cant handle so they incorporate this jerking movement to get the weight moving. the problem hers is, they lose the resistance on the lat. when they do this, the only time emphesis is on the lat is when it is stretching at it hangs. lol. try decreasing weight and holding for one or two seconds at the top of the movement/as you squeeze your elbows towards each other. you will hv to decrease weight at first, but your lats dont know how much is on the bar. keep the emphisis on constant resistance on the target nuscke group, and the numbers will come.

 

[Liftbig]

the way i do them is to kinda squeeze the wieght up, i try not to pull with my arms at all, i pull with my lats and shoulder blades. you should start by pulling your shoulder blades together, the flex your lats and rear delts to bring the bar up. i feel it everytime. also bend over more and try to bring the bar to your belly not your upper chest. thats the way i do them

 

[Mike_Rojas]

Yeah, I can't feel them either. I'm hoping chinups and deadlifts will build everything back there.

 

[Debaser]

I'm the same way Liftbig.

When you guys do deadlifts, do you think (I'm going to pick up this bar with my arms)? No you're pulling with your back while your arms and grip are tight and secure.

Obviously you don't keep your arms stiff in the row, but I try to envision pulling the bar with my back rather than my arms. And I still don't always really feel it, except the next couple days after

 

[BodybuildingUniverse]

took me a while to feel em too.

Helps me to visualize trying to smash thru an invisible board behind my back with my elbows. The result is pulling with the back/elbow more, the arms are just hooks. a lot of guys just pull with the bi's too much.

 

[Lift Chief]

I wouldn't worry about it myself... i've always used good form but couldnt really feel it working in my back. I concentrated almost solely on increasing the amt of weight i was using... and as i progressed i got a lot more thickness in my back.

 

[spatts]

I feel them underhanded but not overhanded.

This was good advice:

Concentrate on bringing your shoulder blades together at the top and do a slow 6 second negative.

...as was the tip to prefatigue.

 

[SAGAT]

i feel them overhanded as well as underhanded, but can handle more weight when doing them underhanded. as others have said, bring your shoulder blades together at the top. you might also be pulling the bar too high, try pulling a little more to your waist next time and see what happens. does the trick for me!

 

[SAGAT]

I have a high suspicion that barbell rows are probably the single exercise that is most often done in incorrect form.

tied with one armed DB rows IMO, man i've seen those being done in the most horrible way known to man, i tell ya.

 

[Serea]

You know what usually hits my lats more than rows, are t-bar rows. I'm trying to hit my lower/medium traps and hit lats also. I thought rows were for upper back, not lats.

 

[Debaser]

Rows are actually a better choice than pullups/chins for back development, but there's no reason you can't include both (just lower the volume for each).

 

[SofaGeorge]

the way i do them is to kinda squeeze the wieght up, i try not to pull with my arms at all, i pull with my lats and shoulder blades. you should start by pulling your shoulder blades together, the flex your lats and rear delts to bring the bar up. i feel it everytime. also bend over more and try to bring the bar to your belly not your upper chest. thats the way i do them

Great descriptin - karma for you!

 

[SofaGeorge]

tied with one armed DB rows IMO, man i've seen those being done in the most horrible way known to man, i tell ya.

I don't even put one armed dumbell rows on the list because NO ONE does them right.

All you have to do to cheat is turn a 1/4 of an inch.

 

[Fast Twitch Fiber]

I can feel it great with one arm bumbell rows. I developed a technique where I even cheat a bit. I swing my back a bit when my biceps are about to give out. This lets me keep working my lats past the point where my bis have failed. I'll just keep working on the barbell rows. I've only done them a few times. I guess it may take a few months to develop my own method

 

[revexrevex]

FTF, update us if the lower volume program will work for you

 

[Debaser]

Also note that while doing rows of any kind, pull your shoulders down towards your feet, but this is assuming you are sitting or standing upright.

So if you were doing a bentover row, I guess you could say you're pulling them more backwards but you get my point.

 

[casualbb]

A vertical pulling motion is better for lats anyway. Rows are more mid trap and some other stuff.