Kneeling Single-Arm High Pulley Row
Also works: Biceps · Middle Back
One handle, one high pulley, both knees on the floor. You start with the palm facing forward and the arm extended overhead-forward, then row down to the torso while supinating the wrist so the palm finishes facing you. The rotation is the point: it lets the elbow finish tighter to the ribs than a two-handed version allows.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Attach a single D-handle to a pulley above head height and select a weight you can control for 12 clean reps.
- Kneel on both knees, directly facing the tower, about an arm's length plus a foot back from it.
- Stack the hips over the knees and squeeze the glutes so the torso is upright and immovable.
- Take the handle with the palm facing forward, arm fully extended up and forward, and let the shoulder blade rise with it.
- Rest the free hand on the same-side thigh so you can feel any twist through the torso instead of hiding it.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale as you pull down and rotate, inhale as the arm extends back overhead. One second down, one second held at the ribs, three seconds back up.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start around 10-15 kg on the stack — roughly what one arm handles for 12 reps with a full second's pause. Always start the set with the weaker arm and match the stronger one to whatever it managed; the number of reps you can do badly on the good side is not information you need. Add weight only when both sides pause cleanly at the bottom with square hips.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Set your free hand on your thigh and keep both hip bones square to the tower for every rep. If your chest turns, drop 5 kg and pull with the back rather than the whole body.
Turn the thumb toward your chest as the elbow passes shoulder height. The supination is what draws the elbow tight to the ribs and puts the load on the lat.
Return until the elbow is straight and the shoulder blade has travelled forward. Reset one full breath at the top before the next rep if you are rushing.
Glutes on hard, hips over knees, and pick a rep count you can hold that position for. A collapsing hip position is the signal to stop the set, not to grind out two more.
Why bother
Rowing one arm at a time doubles the range available at both ends. Nothing stops the working shoulder from reaching further forward at the top, and nothing stops the elbow travelling past the ribs at the bottom, because there is no second arm or bar setting a symmetrical limit.
The rotation is not decoration. With the palm facing forward the arm sits in a position where the elbow wants to travel out and away from you; turning the thumb toward your chest as you pull draws the upper arm in so the elbow can finish tight against the ribs. That elbow path is the whole difference between loading the lat and loading the rear delt, and it is why this beats the two-handed rope version for lat work.
Where it fits
Accessory work after your main vertical or horizontal pull, 10-15 reps per side, two or three times a week. Being unilateral, it is also the tool for a real strength imbalance: run three or four extra sets on the weaker side for a block, then retest. Two sessions a week is enough — the free hand makes it easy to over-row this one.
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
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
Is the wrist rotation actually important?
Yes. Supinating on the way down lets the elbow tuck close to the ribs, which is what puts the load on the lat rather than the rear delt. Keep the palm forward the whole rep and the elbow flares by default, and you have accidentally built a weaker version of a face pull.
Should I do both arms at once instead to save time?
The two-handed rope version is a different exercise — flared elbows, upper back emphasis. Do the unilateral one when you want lat range or you are correcting a side-to-side difference. It costs twice the time; that is the price of the extra range and the honesty about which side is weaker.
One knee down or two?
Two, for this. Half-kneeling adds an anti-rotation demand and is a decent variation, but it also gives you a rear leg to brace against and makes cheating with the hips easier to hide. Both knees down means the only thing that can move the handle is your back.
How far back from the tower should I kneel?
Far enough that with the arm extended the cable runs at roughly 45 degrees, not straight overhead. If the handle is above your head at the start you are too close and the movement collapses into a straight-arm pulldown. If the plates lift off the stack at the top, back off half a step.