Movement of the month: the barbell row

Most days are full of pushing and reaching forward: keyboards, steering wheels, phones. The row is the opposite. You hinge forward, let the bar hang, and pull it to your lower ribs, using the muscles across the back that hold the shoulders in place.

What it trains

• →The upper and middle back (lats, rhomboids, rear shoulders), which pull the shoulder blades back and down.
• →The biceps and grip, which hold and bend the arm.
• →The hamstrings and lower back, which hold the hinge still while the arms work.

Why it comes up in the research

Resistance-training programmes used in weight-loss trials are built to train every major muscle group, which means a push and a pull for the upper body. The row is the most common pull. Exercise guidelines, including the American College of Sports Medicine's position stand, recommend programmes built from both multiple-joint and single-joint exercises, and the row is a multiple-joint pull. Our guide to is the weight you're losing fat? covers what the GLP-1 trials measured during weight loss.

Where to start

• →With a coach, if you can. The hinge is the hard part, and it's the same hinge as the deadlift.
• →With support. A dumbbell row with one hand on a bench takes the lower back out of it while you learn the pull.
• →With the hinge first. Hips back, chest forward, back long, knees soft. Hold that angle for the whole set.
• →With a pull to the ribs, not the chest. Lead with the elbows and squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top.

Safety and sense

If your back rounds or your torso rises to move the bar, the weight is too heavy. Stop if you feel sharp back pain or pain that travels down a leg. People with a disc or lower-back history often do better with a supported row; ask a physiotherapist.

What this feature isn't

It isn't a plan. We don't give loads, sets or repetitions. Next in the series: the overhead press.