Lever High Row
Also known as: Machine High Row, Seated High Row
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Description
Sit chest-to-pad on a plate-loaded high row machine and pull the handles from above your head down to your upper chest to build your lats and upper back. Your teres major and lats along the sides of your back do most of the work, helped by the lower traps low between your shoulder blades and the small infraspinatus and teres minor behind each shoulder. The chest pad and thigh roller lock you in, so your lower back rests and nothing swings. The high-to-low angle sits between a pulldown and a flat row, with more lat and lower-trap work than the Chest Supported Machine Row.
How to Perform
- Set the seat so you reach the handles with almost straight arms while your chest is on the pad.
- If you have to shrug or rise off the seat to get them, raise it.
- Lock your thighs under the roller pad just above the knees, feet flat on the floor and knees bent about 90°.
- Your lower chest rests on the vertical pad and stays there until the set is over.
- Take the vertical handles with a neutral grip, palms facing, about shoulder-width apart. Wrists straight: your hands are just hooks.
- Begin each rep by pulling your shoulders down, away from your ears, before your elbows bend.
- Drive your elbows down and back toward your back pockets, so the handles sweep in an arc from above your forehead to your upper chest.
- At the finish, your hands are at upper-chest height and your elbows just behind your torso, about 30–45° from your sides. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and down for a second.
- Take 2–3 seconds on the way back, until your arms are long and your shoulder blades spread. After the last rep, ride the handles to the start before you let go.
What Muscles Work
Primary Muscle:
Secondary Muscles:
Tips
- Do 3–4 sets of 8–12 reps (up to 15), or 6–8 when the goal is strength. Add reps at the same load until you get 12 on every set with a full reach and a one-second squeeze, then add 2.5–5 kg in total and go back to 8. Plate jumps are big, so if the next one is too much, add a 2-second hold at the chest first.
- The sides of your back under the armpits should work, along with the area low between your shoulder blades and the back of each shoulder blade. A burning neck means you're shrugging; arms tiring before your back means you're pulling with your hands. A sharp pinch at the front of the shoulder in the top stretch means stop the return a little short of full reach.
- Can't feel your shoulder blades move? Go lighter and pause for a second at the chest on every rep. When the machine feels easy, slow the return to 3 seconds or move on to the One-Arm Lever High Row.
- Substitutes: Cable Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown (same grip and elbow path, finer weight steps), Chest Supported Machine Row (a flat pull with more mid-back) or One-Arm High Row Cable when your gym has no high row machine.
Common Mistakes
- Elbows already bent at the start, or shrugging and rising off the seat to reach the handles. Reset the seat until your arms are almost straight at full reach with your chest on the pad and thighs under the roller.
- Peeling your chest off the pad and leaning back to finish the rep. Your breastbone stays on the pad for every rep; if it can't, take a plate off.
- Curling the wrists and hauling the handles to your chin. Treat your hands as hooks, lead with the elbows and stop when your hands reach your upper chest.
- Half reps at the top: the arms never get long and the lats never stretch. Let the handles rise until only a soft bend is left in your elbows and your shoulder blades spread.
Recommended Exercises
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