Afternoon everyone, hope you’re having a good Monday. Thought I’d do another training tips today where I look at a specific exercise and explain how small changes can either protect you from injury or create more optimal training. I’ve spoken before how important unilateral exercises are, we all have a dominant side which will grow quicker and bigger than the other. So training your left & right separately can help eradicate or reduce this. One exercise we look to for this is the one arm dumbbell row so that we don’t have an imbalance with our lats (back muscle).
Before I delve in todays blog, if you’ve never heard or performed the exercise before head to the links at the bottom and it’ll explain properly how to set up. Then come back here and read what I got to say.
The problem with training your back is that you can cause serious damage to your spine if you don’t lift correctly. If you don’t choose a weight that’s suitable and you can manage you’ll end up rounding your lower back and shoulders to cope with the excess weight. When performing this exercise we want to keep our back straight and parallel to the bench we’re resting on. This will target the lats more whereas the more upright you go the more you target your traps (upper back muscles).
When setting up the exercise you need to open up your lat to make sure you create the space to get the full range of motion. You do this by putting your feet far back and stretching your support hand far out in front. When pulling, pull with your elbow backwards until you hit about 90 degrees make sure you stretch your lats by straightening your arm on the decent.
If you can’t do any of this you’ll probably have some mobility issues, incorporating some stretches in your warm up routine will help solve this problem. Maybe some foam rolling for your back or some good dynamic stretches (check out my ‘Warming Up, What Is the Actual Aim’ blog post for some warm up routines).
Now this exercise is actually one of the number one causes of hernias for men. However, before some people skip past this bit because they don’t think it applies. I’m a firm believer that no mater what gender you are or whether it applies to you or not. Everyone should be aware of the optimum training for each other and the common mistakes. Yes you may never do this exercise but you could have a friend who’s a beginner start off and now you’re in a position to help them stop any potential injuries, increase the speed of their progress and not make the same mistakes you and I did. 1/4 men will suffer a hernia in their lives and this puts the Boyd in a vulnerable position which causes it.
I mentioned at the very beginning of this blog, if more people have the correct information that means there are more people out there who can help. Anyway, bit of a side point but I thought it was worth mentioning.
When you have one foot on ground and one foot on the bench, you asymmetrically load your body. A hernia is created when a horizontal force occurs the same time as a vertical force. So when you have one foot on the floor and one on the bench your groin muscles end up pulling to the side during the exercise which then creates the tear. The solution is quite simple, don’t put a leg up the bench, straddle the bench. This creates an even load so you’re less likely to get a hernia. Having both feet on the ground keeps the force vertical from your legs to your abdomen.
Those are my tips for the one arm dumbbell row, hope you learned something new. If you enjoyed it please like and subscribe to the blog. Always makes my day when I get a notification.
Enjoy your week.
Cameron
Additional Sources:
Athlean X - Stop Doing Dumbbell Rows Like This!
Athlean X - This Exercise CAUSES Hernias (IT'S VERY POPULAR!)
Jeff Nippard - How To Do Dumbbell Rows: Build a Thicker Back With Proper "Cheating"
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