Cable Row
The seated cable row has you sit facing a low pulley, grab a handle, and pull it into your torso while keeping your back straight. It's one of the most direct ways to build pulling strength across your entire back, and it suits anyone from a first-time lifter learning to row to someone chasing more back thickness.
Why it works
Rowing pulls your shoulder blades together and your upper arms back, the core action your lats, middle back, and biceps all share. Sitting at a cable row station removes the balance demand of a free-weight row, so you can focus entirely on pulling with your back instead of stabilizing your spine, and the cable keeps tension constant through the whole rep instead of unloading at the top the way some plate-loaded machine rows do. That constant tension also means your back muscles stay under load during the transition between the pull and the stretch, a phase where a barbell row can briefly go slack if your hips shift.
Set up
- Sit at the cable row station with your feet braced against the platform and knees slightly bent.
- Grab the handle with both hands and sit up tall with a slight forward lean from your hips, not your spine.
- Straighten your arms fully so the weight stack lifts off the rest before you start pulling.
How to do it
- Pull the handle into your torso, leading with your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Keep your torso upright and avoid leaning back to help the pull.
- Pause briefly with the handle close to your body.
- Extend your arms back out slowly, letting your shoulder blades separate and your torso lean slightly forward.
- Repeat for the set, keeping the movement in your arms and back rather than your hips.
Form cues
- Pull with your elbows, not your hands, think about driving your elbows past your ribs.
- Keep your chest up and shoulders down through the whole pull.
- Avoid rocking your torso back and forth to add momentum.
- Let your shoulder blades protract fully on the stretch before starting the next rep.
Breathing: Exhale as you pull the handle in, inhale as you extend your arms back out.
Common mistakes
Rocking the torso back and forth to help move the weight.
Fix: Keep your torso still and let the pull come from your arms and shoulder blades, only your hips should hinge slightly to set the starting lean.
Shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears at the end of the pull.
Fix: Keep your shoulders pulled down and back, and think about drawing your shoulder blades toward each other rather than lifting them.
Rounding the lower back to reach for extra range.
Fix: Keep your spine neutral and stop the stretch where your back stays straight, even if that means a shorter range.
How to program it
- As a compound back exercise, this can carry real training loads, so two focused sessions a week is usually enough alongside other pulling work like pull-ups or lat pulldowns.
- Eight to twelve reps per set fits most goals, since the exercise handles moderate to heavy loads well.
- Place it early in a back-focused session, since fresh grip and back muscles let you pull with better form and heavier weight.
- If you're already rowing or pulling heavy elsewhere in the week, keep this exercise's load moderate rather than stacking two max-effort back sessions back to back.
Safety notes
- Keep your spine neutral throughout, don't round your lower back to chase a longer range of motion.
- Choose a weight that lets you control the return instead of letting the stack yank your arms and torso forward.
- Stop if you feel sharp pain in your lower back rather than muscular fatigue in your back and arms.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Compound
- Category
- Strength
Frequently asked questions
How many sets and reps of cable rows should I do?
Two or three sets of 8 to 12 reps works well for most people building back strength and size.
What muscles does the cable row work?
It targets your lats and middle back for the pulling motion, with your biceps assisting to bend your elbows.
Cable row versus bent-over barbell row, which is better?
A cable row is easier to load safely and keeps tension constant since you're seated, while a bent-over barbell row demands more lower back and hip stability and lets you load heavier once your form is solid. Both build the same pulling muscles well, so many programs use both across a training week.
Why does my lower back hurt during cable rows?
That usually means you're rounding your spine to reach for extra range or leaning too far back to help the pull. Sit up taller, keep your spine neutral, and shorten the range if needed.