Muscles worked
The inverted row is a bodyweight row: you pull your chest up to a bar instead of pulling a weight towards you. Your mid traps, rhomboids and lats do most of the work, with help from your rear shoulders, biceps and forearms. Your abs, glutes and hamstrings keep your body straight, as in a reverse plank. The angle sets the difficulty: the more upright you are, the easier it is. An underhand grip gives your biceps more to do.
Common mistakes
- The angle is too hard. Hanging almost horizontal before you are ready makes the reps short and your form slip. Start with the bar higher and lower it as you get stronger.
- Your chin leads the pull. To make it look as if your chest reaches the bar, many people stick their chin out. Keep your neck in line with your body and let your chest meet the bar.
- Hanging passively at the bottom. If your shoulders slump towards your ears between reps, every pull starts from a slack position. Keep a little tension in your shoulder blades even with straight arms.
Variations and alternatives
- The towel door row works at home without a bar and is usually easier, a good first step.
- Pull-ups pull vertically rather than horizontally and are the next bodyweight challenge.
- The barbell row when you have weights and want to load more than your own bodyweight.
Sets and reps
For most people, 6 to 12 reps over three or four sets works well, at an angle where the last reps are hard but still full. Keep the set going only while your body stays straight. For endurance, do 12 to 20 reps at an easier angle. See the guide to sets and reps for how the ranges differ.
Without weights, progressive overload comes through the angle. Lower the bar one notch, or put your feet on a bench, once you can do 12 to 15 good reps. You can also pause for a second with your chest at the bar or wear a lightly loaded backpack. Note the bar height alongside your reps, so the next session has something to compare against.