Single-Arm Cable Row

Start

Finish

How to do it

Sit or stand facing a low pulley with one handle, let the cable pull your arm and shoulder forward into a stretch, then row the elbow past your ribs and finish by driving the shoulder blade toward the spine.

Muscles worked

Primary: back · Also works: biceps, rear delts

Equipment

Cables, Full gym

Common mistakes

• Rotating the torso open on the pull and closed on the return, so the back barely moves
• Stopping the pull at the elbow rather than adding the extra inch of shoulder-blade retraction
• Locking the shoulder blade down the whole rep, which removes the protraction stretch at the front

Variations

• Half-kneeling single-arm cable row
• Single-arm cable row with a two-second stretch at the front

Can't do this one? Swap it for

• Seated Cable Row
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
• Resistance Band Row

Related exercises

• Pull-Upback
• Lat Pulldownback
• Barbell Bent-Over Rowback
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Rowback
• Resistance Band Rowback
• Inverted Rowback