The pull-up row (a.k.a. Inverted
Row), is a great bodyweight exercise for the back that you
can do using just about any low bar or rail.
THIS version adds resistance
to the movement, increasing it's value even further. And you
can load some very substantial weight onto it!
You'll need the a bar about
3 or 4 feet off the ground (this is where a rack comes in
handy - you can set the height of the bar - a Smith machine
bar will be perfect for this, too), a barbell and a bench
or chair.
Set things up like in the picture
below. The bar about 4 feet up (you'll have to play with bar
height to get it right for the exercise), the bench a few
feet away from the bar and a barbell on the floor in between.
If you have a barbell pad, put that on, too, but a towel around
the bar will work just as well.
Sit in the floor and slide your
legs under the bar.
Get the bar onto your waist
- right about where the hip bones are (where you bend).
Now reach up and grab the bar
in your pull-up grip (I'm using a close, underhand grip here).
Get your feet up on the bench.
Now you're ready to go!
Pull yourself up. As you can
see, if you didn't have the bench, the bar would just roll
down your legs - you need to maintain the bend in the waist
to keep the bar cradled.
You can also perform this exercise
with a wide, front grip. Use a lighter weight for this.
This weighted variation gives
you a nice way to load the pull-up row exercise, though I've
gotta be honest, in looking at these pictures, I should have
used a lighter weight and leaned back more...these look more
like pull-up positions more than a row.
Definitely got some great back
work out of it either way, though, and I know if you try this
one, you're going to feel it targeting your back extremely
strongly.
