Seated Cable Wide Grip Row
Also known as: Wide-Grip Seated Cable Row, Wide Grip Cable Row, Wide Grip Seated Row
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Description
Sit at a cable row station and pull a long bar to your lower chest with a wide overhand grip: the wide-grip seated cable row, for a thicker upper back. Your elbows travel out near shoulder height, so the middle and lower traps do most of the work, along with the small muscles over your shoulder blades and your rear delts; the teres major and lats help. Pick it over the regular Seated Cable Row when your mid-back and rear delts matter more to you than moving a heavy stack. The seat and foot plate hold you in place, so it is easy to learn at any level.
How to Perform
- Clip a long straight bar (a lat pulldown bar works) to the cable of the seated row station.
- Sit facing the stack, feet on the foot plate and knees bent to about 90°, so you can sit tall without your hips tipping back.
- Grip the bar overhand near its ends, about 1.5 shoulder widths apart, and sit back until your arms are straight and the plates lift.
- Set your torso vertical: chest up, ribs down, lower back neutral. The bar is in front of your chest at shoulder height, the cable roughly level.
- Draw your shoulder blades back, then drive your elbows out and back, upper arms about 60–80° from your sides.
- Pull the bar to your lower chest, just under the pecs, so your elbows finish behind your torso. Hold that squeeze for a second.
- Return the bar over 2–3 seconds until your arms are straight and your shoulder blades spread. Your torso stays still.
- At the end of the set, bend your knees and bring the bar back to the foot plate with a flat back before you let go.
What Muscles Work
Primary Muscle:
Secondary Muscles:
Tips
- Sets of 10–15 reps suit muscle building, 6–10 suit strength; below 6 the torso usually starts rocking.
- Add reps at the same weight until all sets reach the high end with your elbows still wide, then move the pin down one plate (usually 2.5–5 kg) and go back to the bottom.
- Feel for the work between and below your shoulder blades and at the back of your shoulders. A pinch at the front of the shoulder means your elbows are too high: lower them to about 45–60° from your body and stop the bar just short of your chest.
- Before the next jump in weight, make each rep harder with a 2-second squeeze at the chest or a 3-second return. Can't keep your torso still? Learn the wide pull on the Wide Grip Chest Supported Row first.
- Substitutes: Seated Cable Row (close handle, tucked elbows, more lats and more weight), Wide Grip Chest Supported Row, Barbell Incline Wide Grip Row, and Barbell Rear Delt Row as the free-weight step up, holding a hip hinge.
Common Mistakes
- Elbows sinking to your ribs as the set gets hard. That turns it into a regular close-grip row; keep the upper arms near shoulder height, think of pulling your elbows toward the walls behind you, and drop the weight if they keep falling.
- Leaning back to finish each rep, or rocking to get the stack moving. Your torso stays vertical; if the bar only reaches your chest with a lean, the weight is too heavy.
- Pulling the bar down to your stomach. With a wide grip that bends your wrists and drops your elbows; aim at the lower chest so your forearms stay in line with the cable.
- Letting the stack drag you forward on the way back until your lower back rounds and the plates crash. Take 2–3 seconds and let only your shoulder blades slide forward while your chest stays up.
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