Inverted Row

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Also called the Australian pull up, the inverted row is the pulling equivalent of a push up. It is commonly used as a way to build up the strength for pull ups, but is also an incredible exercise in its own right. It works virtually every upper body pulling muscle, can improve your shoulder health and posture, and requires minimal equipment.

The Basics

The inverted row is primarily used as a strength exercise. It is classified as a horizontal upper pull movement. It is more generally classified as a upper pull movement. Since it involves significant activation of multiple muscle groups, it is considered a compound exercise.

Form

Set Up

• Set the bar height so that your back doesn't touch the ground when your arms are fully extended
• Lie or sit underneath the bar
• Grasp it with an overhand grip with your hands just outside shoulder width apart
• Extend your legs so that your arms are hanging just about straight down from the bar
• Keep your body straight
• Keep your shoulder blades held slightly back

Execution

• Pull your chest towards the bar by pulling your elbows back and hands towards you
• As you pull yourself up, pull your shoulder blades together
• Try to touch the bottom of your sternum to the bar at the top of the rep
• Lower yourself under control, allowing your shoulder blades to come apart

Common Mistakes

Flaring the Elbows

When performing the inverted row, try to keep your elbows within about 45 degrees of your torso. Any wider puts your back in a much less advantageous position to pull and puts your shoulders in a more vulnerable position.

Letting the Hips Drop

Part of the challenge of doing inverted rows comes from keeping your body held in a straight line. This requires some core and leg strength and is important because keeping your body straight plays into how much work your back and arms have to do to pull you up. The less straight your body is, the easier it will be.

Keeping the Shoulder Blades Locked

With the inverted row, the shoulder blades should not be locked into place. Rather they should be held slightly back at the bottom of the rep and brought together at the top of the rep. This allows you to engage and work more muscles in your back.

Additional Info

How much of my bodyweight am I moving?

When doing an inverted row, you're pulling about 70% of your bodyweight. You can decrease this to about 54% by doing bent knee inverted rows, or increase this all the way up to 75% by then elevating your feet about 30cm. This would be with your body parallel to the ground at the top position of the inverted row.

Making it Easier

There are two primary ways to adjust the difficulty of the inverted row. The first is the height of bar that you're holding onto in relation to your feet. The closer in height that the bar and your feet are, the harder the move will be since more of your bodyweight has to be moved by your back and arms.

The second and often quicker way of adjusting the difficulty is moving your feet closer to you by bending your knees. This allows you to support more of your body weight on your feet, making it easier to pull yourself up.

Making it Harder

The inverted row can be progressed by adding weight. Weight vests or simply putting the weight on your chest work up to a certain point. However, a solid longer term solution is getting a sturdy backpack that can be worn backwards.

The inverted row can also be progressed without weight using the more difficult variations. In most cases, this involves working towards a one arm inverted row or front lever rows.

Minimal Equipment

For many people with home gym set ups, it's pretty easy to get in some upper body pushing exercises. All push ups need is some floor space. However, getting some upper body pulling can be a bit harder. The inverted row, however, doesn't require much. All you need is something the right height to hang off of. Using gymnastics rings or a rack with a barbell is ideal, but there are some creative options if you don't have access to either of those. A sturdy table with enough room for you underneath it is a good example.

Related Exercises

Reviews

Performance Standard Ranks

The ranks assume that you are generally healthy, with no underlying health conditions or injuries and have the mobility to perform the exercise correctly. You can determine your rank by comparing your numbers to the tables below. Your rank is also tracked automatically when using our Workout Log feature.

Strength Standards

The tables show the one rep max* in pounds needed to reach each rank at different body weights (also in lbs). The 1RMs on the table are based on world records, balanced ratios, and the average time needed to attain each rank. To see personalized strength standards for every exercise, check out the Strength Standards page. You can also find your Strength Score to see how you rank as part of our Fitness Score System.

*Added weight if positive, assistance if negative. The planche and levers are also notable exceptions as they show the moment at the shoulder, not weight. For more info, check out the Moment Calculator page.