Elevated Cable Rows — start position
Start
Elevated Cable Rows — end position
End

Back / Intermediate / Compound (multi-joint)

Elevated Cable Rows

A cable exercise for the lats, with the upper back, upper traps and forearms assisting.

At a glance

Primary
Lats
Secondary
Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps), Upper traps, Forearms & grip
Equipment
Cable station
Movement pattern
Row, Shoulder-blade squeeze
Level
Intermediate
Type
Back, Compound (multi-joint)

How to do it

  1. Get a platform of some sort (it can be an aerobics or calf raise platform) that is around 4-6 inches in height.
  2. Place it on the seat of the cable row machine.
  3. Sit down on the machine and place your feet on the front platform or crossbar provided making sure that your knees are slightly bent and not locked.
  4. Lean over as you keep the natural alignment of your back and grab the V-bar handles.
  5. With your arms extended pull back until your torso is at a 90-degree angle from your legs. Your back should be slightly arched and your chest should be sticking out. You should be feeling a nice stretch on your lats as you hold the bar in front of you. This is the starting position of the exercise.
  6. Keeping the torso stationary, pull the handles back towards your torso while keeping the arms close to it until you touch the abdominals. Breathe out as you perform that movement. At that point you should be squeezing your back muscles hard. Hold that contraction for a second and slowly go back to the original position while breathing in.
  7. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

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Muscles worked

Neck (Front)Upper traps — secondary (Front)Front delts (Front)Side delts (Front)Chest (Front)Serratus anterior (Front)Biceps (Front)Forearms & grip — secondary (Front)Abs (Front)Obliques (Front)Hip flexors (Front)Quads (Front)Adductors (Front)Shins (tibialis) (Front)Calves (Front)Outer shins (peroneals) (Front)Feet (arch & toes) (Front)Neck (Back)Upper traps — secondary (Back)Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps) — secondary (Back)Rear delts (Back)Side delts (Back)Rotator cuff (Back)Lats — primary (Back)Lower back (erectors) (Back)Triceps (Back)Forearms & grip — secondary (Back)Hip abductors (glute med) (Back)Glutes (Back)Hamstrings (Back)Adductors (Back)Calves (Back)
FrontBack
  • Primary: Lats
  • Secondary: Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps), Upper traps, Forearms & grip

Best for

How specific this exercise is to each movement.

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Photos and instructions: free-exercise-db (github.com/yuhonas/free-exercise-db), public domain.