Seated Cable Rows
Also works: Biceps · Lats · Shoulders
A seated row on a low pulley with a neutral-grip V-bar, feet braced on the platform and the torso held upright while the handle travels to the navel. The cable keeps tension on the mid-back at both ends of the rep, which no free-weight row does — a dumbbell row goes weightless at the stretch.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set your feet flat on the platform with a soft bend in the knees; locked knees turn the seat into a see-saw.
- Slide the seat so that at full arm extension your torso is still near-vertical and the stack has not touched down.
- Lean forward to collect the handle with a flat back, then sit up to a vertical torso before the first rep counts.
- Set your chest tall and pull your shoulder blades down away from your ears — not squeezed together yet, just unshrugged.
- Take the slack out of the cable and hold it for a second so you start the set against load, not against a jolt.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale as you pull, inhale on the return. One second to pull, one second held at the abdomen, two seconds to let the handle travel back out.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start light enough that you can pause a full second at the abdomen — for most people that is well under half the plate number they could jerk. A useful marker: rowing your bodyweight for 10 strict paused reps. Add a plate only when every rep in every set ends in a held contraction with a vertical torso; otherwise add reps first.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Cut the weight by a quarter and film yourself from the side. Fix your torso angle at vertical and let only the arms and shoulder blades move; if the plates cannot rise without a lean, they are not your weight yet.
Pull to the navel, not to the sternum, and keep the collarbones wide. Think of stuffing your shoulder blades into your back pockets before the elbows bend.
Move the seat back a notch so full extension is possible without the stack bottoming out, then count a two-second return and touch full lockout on every rep.
The stretch belongs to the shoulder blade, not the lumbar spine. Keep the pelvis upright, let the scapulae protract, and stop reaching once your lower back wants to move.
Why bother
A cable pulls in a straight line the whole way. In a bent-over row gravity only resists you at the top of the pull, so the stretched position is nearly unloaded; here the stack still fights you with your arms fully extended, which is exactly where the mid-back lengthens. That is the case for keeping this movement even when you already row with a barbell.
The V-bar's neutral grip sets your elbows to travel close to the ribs, which biases rhomboids, mid-traps and the lower lat over the rear delt. Swapping to a wide straight bar and flaring the elbows to 45 degrees changes the job to upper back and rear delt — same machine, different exercise. Pick one per block instead of alternating at random.
Where it fits
Second or third pull of a back day, after chin-ups or a barbell row, for 3-4 sets of 8-15. Because your lower back is supported by the seat rather than holding a hinge, it stacks well on a day that already included deadlifts — you get back volume without another dose of spinal loading.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
Asked and answered
Why do I feel seated rows in my biceps and forearms instead of my back?
Almost always because the elbows start bending before the shoulder blades move. Drop the stack by a third and spend a set doing nothing but sliding the shoulder blades back with the arms locked straight — about 5 cm of travel, no elbow bend. Then add the elbow pull back in behind it. If the arms still dominate, switch to straps for a block so your hands stop fighting for the rep.
V-bar or wide bar?
They are different exercises. The neutral V-bar keeps elbows tight to the ribs and loads rhomboids, mid-traps and lats. A wide pronated bar with flared elbows shifts work to rear delts and upper back. Run one for a training block, not both in the same session, unless the wide version is your rear-delt work.
Can this replace a barbell row?
For back size, largely yes — the cable gives better tension at the stretch and none of the lower-back tax. For general strength and bracing under load, no. If your program has no other hinge-and-hold movement, keep a barbell row or a deadlift somewhere in the week.
Do I need straps?
Not below about 10-12 reps. Grip usually outlasts the mid-back on a supported row. If your hands fail before your back on genuinely heavy sets of 6-8, strap up for the top sets and train grip separately rather than capping your back work.