Barbell Rows (video above) is one the best exercise to develop and define back muscles.

To understand in detail how to perform this exercise correctly check out instructional video below –

Barbell Rows  is one the best exercise to develop and define back muscles, if done regularly it can also help you gain some serious strength and also lose significant amount of body fat.

Let me show you how to perform this exercise correctly –

You start this exercise by keeping your feet hip-width apart and hands outside the thighs.

Bend at hip joint and lower the barbell till your upper back is parallel to the floor.

Now flex your elbows and pull the weight to your upper abdomen level.

From here reverse the movement and get the bar to the starting position by extending your elbows fully.

For starters you can perform two sets for 10 -12 reps.

Important points to keep in mind while performing this exercise –

1. Keep your body steady all through the movement and do not jerk your back up and down while performing this movement or else you can have a serious lower back injury.

2. Keep your core muscle tight and you’re your feet shoulder width a part which you help you maintain a steady balance while performing this exercise.

3. As far as the breathing pattern goes, you need to breathe out when you are pulling the weight up and breathe in when the weight is coming down.

4. Always warm up before you start this exercise or any other exercise or else you are increasing your chances of injury.I know lot of guys ignore warm up but trust me on this if your get an injury once it can easily last you a few months,although you may recover from it but you will still feel the discomfort even after the injury is gone and that I can tell you from my own experience.

Also a lot of you might have read that you are suppose to keep your back at a forty five degree angle while performing this exercise but personally i never found it effective instead i take my back all the way down and i keep it parallel to the floor and that’s when i really feel that my back is getting worked out ….plus with the 45 degree angle I feel more pain in my lower back so i avoid the 45 degree variation completely.

Overall Barbell Rows is a brilliant exercise and should be part of everyone’s workout routine.

Raghav Pande is New Delhi (India) based Fitness Consultant

He is a Certified Fitness Trainer,Sports Nutritionist and the Winner of “You Tube Next Trainer”

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