Vary Grip and Hand Spacing During Seated Rows
When performing seated cable rows, gym members will often settle on using just the pulley attachment most commonly found on the machine, such as a V-handle. You can perform many more exercises on these machines to get more from rows.
Charles R. Poliquin approached workouts with the mindset that the best exercise is “the one you’re not doing.” That is, to avoid training plateaus, you need to change exercises frequently. This variety can be minimal, such as using a wider grip or changing hand position. Also, adjusting the angle of the pull (on those machines with adjustable pulleys) enables you to attack the back from different angles.
Whatever attachments are used on a lat pulldown machine can often be used on a seated row. For example, the V-handle, wide parallel grip bar, short straight bar, EZ curl bar, single cable handle (for one-arm rows), and the rope with knotted ends (great for face pulls, a favorite postural-correction exercise of the Strength Sensei). Add more variety with overhand or underhand grips, and Fat Gripz® adapters to challenge your grip.
The upper body muscles tend to adapt more quickly to a specific exercise than the lower body muscles. A good rule of thumb is to change the type of seated cable row you perform every two weeks or six workouts.
BOTTOM LINE: Perform a variety of seated cable row exercises. (TSS)
