Controlled-ROM Cable Row

How to perform the Controlled-ROM Cable Row

1. Set a cable at torso height with a neutral handle, sit tall against a braced trunk, and fix the range you have been cleared for before the opening rep.
2. Begin with the arms extended only as far as that cleared range permits rather than reaching out to a full stretch.
3. Pull the handle toward your lower ribs by driving the elbows back, keeping the torso still and the shoulder blades gliding rather than shrugging.
4. Stop the pull at the near end of the cleared range even when you could travel further, and pause briefly at that endpoint.
5. Return along the same truncated path under control for the prescribed 10 to 15 reps, widening the range only once it has been cleared.

Suggested working range: 10–15 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Letting the range creep wider set by set until the movement is an ordinary row again.
• •Rocking the torso backward to move the stack once the arms reach the end of the cleared range.
• •Shrugging the shoulders toward the ears instead of drawing the blades back and down.
• •Loading the stack heavily enough that holding to the truncated range becomes impossible.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or the main lift has stalled.

Conventional Deadlift

Back · Barbell

Barbell Row

Back · Barbell

Pull-Up

Back · Bodyweight

Lat Pulldown

Back · Machine

Seated Cable Row

Back · Cable