Seated Cable Low Row Neutral Grip

Also known as: Neutral Grip Seated Row, Neutral Grip Cable Row, Close-Grip Seated Cable Row

StrengthPull

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Body Part: Back

Description

Sit tall at a cable row station and pull a close, palms-facing handle to your upper stomach to build your lats and mid-back. With your elbows brushing your ribs, the lats do most of the pulling, followed by the lower traps and the small muscles around your shoulder blades (infraspinatus, teres minor, teres major); the middle traps, rear delts and forearms help. The neutral grip is easy on wrists and elbows and the seat spares your lower back, so it suits any level as a main back exercise. Pick it over the wider-grip cable rows when lats and a heavy stack matter more than rear delts.

How to Perform

Clip a close neutral-grip handle (V-bar) to the cable, sit facing the stack and put your feet on the foot plate, knees softly bent.
Hold both grips with your palms facing each other and slide back until your arms are straight and the plates you're using lift off.
Sit tall with your torso vertical, chest up, ribs down and lower back neutral. The cable runs roughly level from the pulley to your hands.
Draw your shoulder blades back first, then drive your elbows straight back along your ribs, upper arms about 20–30° from your sides.
Bring the handle to your upper stomach, just below the ribcage, elbows ending just behind your torso. Hold that squeeze for a second.
Take 2–3 seconds to let the handle forward until your arms are straight and your shoulder blades glide forward into a lat stretch.
Keep the plates off the stack until the set ends, then bend your knees and lower the handle to the foot plate with a flat back.

What Muscles Work

Primary Muscle:

Secondary Muscles:

Tips

Row 8–15 reps for muscle and 6–10 for strength; any heavier and the torso usually starts to rock. Add reps at the same weight until all sets reach the top of the range with a still torso, then move the pin down one plate (often 5 kg, about 10 lb; 2.5 kg on small stacks) and build the reps back up.
Expect a stretch down the sides of your back at the front of each rep and a squeeze below your shoulder blades at the finish. If your forearms give out first, keep your wrists straight, treat your hands as hooks and pull with your elbows.
Before the next weight jump, add a 2-second squeeze at your stomach or a 3-second return. Can't keep your torso still even with a light stack? Learn the pull on the Lever Low Row, where a chest pad holds you; once this version is solid, the One-Arm Low Cable Seated Row gives each side a longer reach.
Substitutes: Seated Cable Row (short straight bar, overhand), Lever Low Row, Dumbbell Neutral Grip Incline Bench Row, and Dumbbell Bent Over Row if you want a free-weight version.

Common Mistakes

Rocking: you lean forward to reach, then lean back to finish, so your hips move the stack. Keep your torso vertical and get the stretch from your shoulder blades; if the handle only reaches your stomach with a lean, drop the weight.
Pulling the handle up to your chest. Your elbows rise and flare and your shoulders creep toward your ears; aim just below the ribs and let your elbows skim your sides.
Never reaching all the way forward. Bent arms and pinned shoulder blades mean the lats never stretch, so straighten your arms and let the blades slide forward before each pull.
Yanking the elbows too far back until your shoulders roll forward and the front of the shoulder pinches. Stop with the elbows just behind your torso, shoulders down and back.
Locking your knees. With straight legs your pelvis tips back and your lower back rounds; keep a soft bend, and bend more if you still can't sit tall.