Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row

How to perform the Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row

1. Set an incline bench to around thirty degrees and lie face down with your chest on the pad and feet braced on the floor or footplate.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand hanging straight down off the sides of the bench, palms facing each other or slightly back.
3. Because the pad supports the torso, drive entirely from the back with no hip or torso English available.
4. Row both dumbbells up toward your hips by driving the elbows back and up alongside the ribs, retracting the shoulder blades.
5. Squeeze the mid-back at the top without peeling the chest off the pad to gain a few extra inches.
6. Lower the dumbbells under control to a full stretch at the bottom, letting the shoulder blades spread before the next rep.

Suggested working range: 8–12 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Lifting the chest off the incline pad to heave the dumbbells with body English.
• •Setting the incline too flat so the range and the line of pull no longer suit a chest-supported row.
• •Pulling with the biceps first rather than retracting the shoulder blades to drive the elbows back.
• •Cutting the bottom short so the dumbbells never reach a full stretch at arm extension.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in a related movement if equipment, recovery, or progression demands it.