Complete Guide to the Underhand Barbell Row for a Bigger Back

Why Your Rows Aren't Building a Bigger Back (And the Underhand Fix)

This complete guide to the underhand barbell row for a bigger back will show you why pulling with your elbows, not your hands, is the secret to engaging your lats and finally building real back thickness. You're probably frustrated. You've been doing rows for months, maybe even years. You load up the bar, pull for dear life, and all you get is a sore lower back and pumped-up biceps. Your back, meanwhile, looks exactly the same. You see people at the gym with backs that look like road maps, and you're doing the same exercises, so what gives? The problem isn't your effort; it's your angle of attack. The standard overhand barbell row is a great exercise, but it primarily targets the upper back-your traps, rhomboids, and rear delts. If you want that wide, thick, V-taper look, you need to target the latissimus dorsi, the massive muscles that run down the sides of your back. The underhand grip, often called a Yates Row, isn't just a minor tweak. It fundamentally changes the mechanics of the lift. By supinating your grip (palms facing up), you force your elbows to stay tucked into your sides as you pull. This elbow path is the most direct way to engage the lats. Instead of pulling the bar up, you're driving your elbows back, turning the exercise from an arm and upper-back movement into a powerful lat-builder. This is the key you've been missing.

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The "Elbow Path" Secret: Why Underhand Beats Overhand for Lats

So why does this one change-flipping your hands over-make such a monumental difference? It’s all about biomechanics and the path your elbows travel. Think of your lats like giant, fan-shaped muscles originating from your spine and inserting onto your upper arm bone (humerus). Their primary function is to pull your arm down and back towards your body. When you use an overhand (pronated) grip, your elbows naturally flare out to the sides. This flared path is great for engaging the muscles of your upper back, like the rhomboids and trapezius, which are responsible for pulling your shoulder blades together. It's a fantastic movement for density between the shoulder blades. But it's not optimal for lat width. When you switch to an underhand (supinated) grip, your anatomy forces your elbows to stay tucked in close to your torso. As you row the bar towards your lower abdomen, your elbows travel straight back, perfectly in line with the fibers of the latissimus dorsi. This is the single most important concept to grasp: You are not lifting the weight with your hands; you are driving your elbows behind your body. Imagine your hands are just hooks. This mental cue shifts the tension from your biceps directly onto your lats. The number one mistake people make with any row is initiating the pull with their biceps, essentially turning a heavy back exercise into a sloppy, swinging curl. The underhand grip helps fix this, but only if you focus on the elbow path. This is the difference between moving weight and building muscle. One gets you tired; the other gets you a bigger back. You know the concept now: drive the elbows back, keep them tucked. It sounds simple. But answer this honestly: what was the exact weight and rep count on your row 8 weeks ago? If you don't have that number, you aren't applying progressive overload. You're just exercising.

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The 4-Step Underhand Row Setup for Zero Back Pain

Executing the underhand barbell row with perfect form is non-negotiable. Bad form not only kills your gains but also puts your lower back at serious risk. Forget about the weight for a moment and master these four steps. Start with an empty 45-pound barbell until this feels automatic.

Step 1: The Stance and Grip (Your Foundation)

Your setup determines 90% of the lift's success. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, with the middle of your feet directly under the barbell. Hinge at your hips-push your butt back as if trying to touch a wall behind you-and keep your back perfectly flat. Do not squat down. Your torso should be at roughly a 45-degree angle to the floor, not parallel like a Pendlay row. This more upright posture protects the lower back and is characteristic of the Yates-style row. Grab the bar with an underhand grip, about shoulder-width apart. A grip that's too wide will strain your wrists, and one too narrow will limit your range of motion.

Step 2: The Pull (Driving the Elbows)

Before you lift, engage your core and pull your shoulders down and back. This is called "packing your lats." Take a deep breath and brace. Initiate the movement by driving your elbows back towards the ceiling, not by curling the weight with your biceps. The bar should travel in a slight arc towards your lower stomach or belly button, not straight up towards your chest. If the bar is hitting your chest, you are using your arms and upper traps. If it's hitting your belly button, you are using your lats. Keep your head in a neutral position, aligned with your spine. Don't look up at the ceiling.

Step 3: The Squeeze and Control (Where Growth Happens)

At the top of the movement, when the bar touches your abdomen, squeeze your back muscles as hard as you can for one full second. Imagine trying to crush a walnut between your shoulder blades. This peak contraction is where you stimulate the most muscle growth. Do not just let the weight drop. Lower the barbell under control over a 2 to 3-second count. This controlled negative (eccentric) portion of the lift creates significant muscle damage, which is a key trigger for hypertrophy. The person who controls the negative will build a bigger back twice as fast as the person who just drops the weight.

Step 4: Programming for a Bigger Back

For the goal of building a bigger back (hypertrophy), your programming is simple. Perform 3 to 4 sets of 8-12 repetitions. The weight should be heavy enough that the last 2 reps of each set are challenging, but not so heavy that your form breaks down. Start with a weight you can handle perfectly, even if it feels light. For an average man, this might be 95-135 pounds. For an average woman, 45-75 pounds. Only increase the weight by 5 pounds when you can successfully complete all prescribed sets and reps with perfect form. Perform this exercise once or twice per week as a primary back movement.

What Your Back Will Look Like in 90 Days (If You Do This)

Progress isn't instant, but with consistency, it is predictable. Here’s a realistic timeline for what you can expect when you correctly implement the underhand barbell row.

Weeks 1-2: The Awkward Phase

The movement will feel strange. You will likely need to use less weight than you did with your sloppy overhand rows-maybe 20-30% less. This is normal. Your goal here is not to lift heavy; it's to build the mind-muscle connection. You should feel a deep soreness in your lats the day after, a feeling you probably haven't had before. This is a sign you're doing it right. Focus entirely on form and the 3-second negative.

Month 1: The Connection Clicks

By week 4, the movement will feel natural. You'll be able to engage your lats from the very first rep without thinking about it. You should have been able to add 5-10 pounds to the bar while maintaining perfect form. Your back will start to feel denser, and you'll notice your posture improving outside the gym.

Months 2-3: Visible Changes

This is where the visual reward comes in. When you look in the mirror, you'll start to see your V-taper taking shape. Your back will appear wider from the front and thicker from the side. Your starting weight of, say, 95 pounds for 10 reps might now be 115 or 125 pounds for 10 reps. This steady, measurable progress is the foundation of long-term muscle growth. A key warning sign that something is wrong is if you feel persistent lower back pain. This means you are lifting with your ego, rounding your back, or using too much momentum. Drop the weight immediately and fix your form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Underhand vs. Overhand Row: The Real Difference

The underhand (supinated) grip forces your elbows to stay tucked, which better isolates the latissimus dorsi for back width. The overhand (pronated) grip allows the elbows to flare, which targets the upper-back muscles like the rhomboids and trapezius for thickness between the shoulder blades. Both are good; they just have different primary targets.

Correct Weight to Start With

Start with just the 45-pound barbell to master the form. Once you can do 3 sets of 12 perfect reps, add weight. A good starting point for men is often between 65-95 pounds, and for women, 45-65 pounds. The right weight is one that allows you to complete 8-12 reps with perfect form, feeling the last two reps as a real challenge.

Managing Lower Back Discomfort

Lower back pain during a row is almost always a sign of bad form. The two main culprits are rounding your lumbar spine or using momentum to jerk the weight up. To fix this, lower the weight, keep your chest up, and maintain a flat back throughout the lift. Bracing your core as if you're about to be punched in the stomach is essential.

Alternatives if You Don't Have a Barbell

You can replicate the movement pattern with dumbbells. A two-arm dumbbell row with a neutral or underhand grip is a great alternative. You can also use a T-bar row machine or a seated cable row with a V-grip handle, focusing on pulling the handle to your lower abdomen while keeping your elbows tucked.

How Often to Include This in Your Routine

For most people, performing the underhand barbell row one to two times per week is optimal for muscle growth. If you train back twice a week, you could make this your primary lift on one day and focus on a vertical pull (like pull-ups or lat pulldowns) on the other day. Allow at least 48 hours of recovery before training your back again.