Videos of Heavy Pendlay Rows?

[u418936]

Just wondering if you guys have any videos of someone doing Pendlay rows with more than 300 pounds. I looked on YouTube, but the best video I found was some guy doing 250x5 with perfect form. Most people who went heavier made it look like a partial deadlift (i.e., they used their legs a lot), or they jerked their backs up really hard (i.e., they used their hips a lot).

I'm not sure what's considered "cheating", so I'd like to know what kind of form I need in order to count a rep as a rep.

 

[Nathan]

I wouldn't mind seeing that clip you found of the guy doing 250 x 5 with perfect form. I presume "Pendlay" implies a different hand-placement than regular bent-over rows?

 

[Kabeetz]

I wouldn't mind seeing that clip you found of the guy doing 250 x 5 with perfect form. I presume "Pendlay" implies a different hand-placement than regular bent-over rows?

Do a youtube search for pendlay rows. Glenn Pendlay, who they are named after, posts on this board, and most recently posted on my Jerk in the gym thread... it's an excellent movement that really builds a back.

 

[Nathan]

Do a youtube search for pendlay rows. Glenn Pendlay, who they are named after, posts on this board, and most recently posted on my Jerk in the gym thread... it's an excellent movement that really builds a back.

That is what I thought BB rows were. I usually use about 135-155 lbs and go for 8-12 reps, slow and controlled like everything else. Those are Pendlay rows then? BB rows are where you jerk the weight up I suppose?

What if you reverse your grip? What are those called? Also, I often pull in more towards my belly button which I feel more in my lower lats.

 

[blut wump]

The Pendlay row involves keeping the back parallel to the ground and deloading the weight on the floor between each rep. Each rep is done to accelerate the bar up to the sternum area.

Some slight back flexion and extension is expected but the hips should be kept out of the movement.

 

[Nathan]

The Pendlay row involves keeping the back parallel to the ground and deloading the weight on the floor between each rep. Each rep is done to accelerate the bar up to the sternum area.

Some slight back flexion and extension is expected but the hips should be kept out of the movement.

Thank you very much - I can see what you mean from some videos I found but it was hard to isolate specifically what made them Pendlay versus regular BB rows.

 

[jackangel]

word. i haven't done these. i just keep my bb rows relatively close to parallel and keep my form strict...except for the last rep, which i don't count.

nate, are you getting what you need from 135-155? granted, your volume is higher, but that's probably really light weight for you, innit? that's around what i do now, albeit in a lower rep range, and i'm weak as hell and i'm just a few months back in after a long layoff (i.e. re-n00b).

do you not depend on them much for you lat work? i could check your other thread(s), but i refuse.

 

[Protobuilder]

A big difference which people overlook is the intentional extension of the thoracic area at the top of the movement, while keeping the hips / lumbar still. The row is explosive. Deweighted each rep. And at the top, you arch your upper back strongly, as if you're trying to touch your ass w/ your shoulders. But you keep the lumbar / hips steady (as much as possible). You get some body english, but try to limit it.

Pendlay talks about rowing around 500 w/ this style and, IIRC, talks about doing them w/ Coan. I could be cornfused on this part though. Regardless, you can get some big weights moving w/ your lats on this row.

 

[Nathan]

word. i haven't done these. i just keep my bb rows relatively close to parallel and keep my form strict...except for the last rep, which i don't count.

nate, are you getting what you need from 135-155? granted, your volume is higher, but that's probably really light weight for you, innit? that's around what i do now, albeit in a lower rep range, and i'm weak as hell and i'm just a few months back in after a long layoff (i.e. re-n00b).

do you not depend on them much for you lat work? i could check your other thread(s), but i refuse.

I don't do them very often and find I need to go very light to really feel it in between my shoulder blades - it's the top of the movement where I fall apart. I can hold 135-155 for a good 3 seconds without any problems but if I go much heavier I can't squeeze that hard. For that exercise, I have been liking less weight and focussing more on form.

 

[al420]

Nate - try them in place of Deads for a week ro so - do deads week 1, then GP Rows week 2, and so on. Add weight like you would your DL, b/c it is not a 'feel' exercise, but more so for back depth - IMO.

Most of us row about what we bench w/ this variation

 

[Kabeetz]

touch your ass w/ your shoulders.

Excellent alterlative method to relieving an itch or wiping while reading muscle and fitness.

 

[u418936]

A big difference which people overlook is the intentional extension of the thoracic area at the top of the movement, while keeping the hips / lumbar still. The row is explosive. Deweighted each rep. And at the top, you arch your upper back strongly, as if you're trying to touch your ass w/ your shoulders. But you keep the lumbar / hips steady (as much as possible). You get some body english, but try to limit it.

Pendlay talks about rowing around 500 w/ this style and, IIRC, talks about doing them w/ Coan. I could be cornfused on this part though. Regardless, you can get some big weights moving w/ your lats on this row.

So is this guy's form too "strict"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUg8nDVEFs&mode=related&search=

He's not arching his back sharply at the end of each rep, and he doesn't have any kind of body english.

It's really hard for me to imagine myself rowing anything close to what I can bench using his form.

 

[Protobuilder]

So is this guy's form too "strict"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUg8nDVEFs&mode=related&search=

He's not arching his back sharply at the end of each rep, and he doesn't have any kind of body english.

Those are great rows. I can't knock them at all. I think we're after a little more bar speed though. A more "aggressive" pull. The bar should accelerate all the way up, gaining speed. BUT he does keep his hips/lower back still, which is very nice. On the flip side, his upper back stays the same. There's no arch at the top. Notice his head position. I've found that if I consciously kick my head up at the top of the rep, my upper/middle back follows suit and my lats contract hard, pulling my shoulders back toward my ass, for lack of a better description.

 

[Protobuilder]

From "John Smith" on meso (who I think is Pendlay):

Well, the best way to do them is to start with the bar on the floor every single rep. Your middle back will have slight bend to it. You pull the bar off the floor quickly with the arms, and by a powerful arch of your middle back. You finish by touching the bar to your upper stomach or middle stomach. At no time is there any movement of the hips or knees, no hip extension at all, all that bends is the middle back and the shoulders and elbows.

This is hard to do and you have to have good muscular control to do it, or you'll end up straightening up at the hips along with the arching of the back. But if you can master doing them this way you will get a big back. This works because the lats actually extend (arch) the middle back in addition to other functions, just like with glute-ham extensions compared to leg curls…you always get a stronger contraction when you move both the origin and insertion of a muscle, flexing it from both ends so to speak.

The bar returns to the floor after each rep. The bent row is actually best done as an explosive movement and the bar is moved fast. I have trained many people who could do this exercise with 350 or more lbs. I myself have done reps with 425, Ed Coan, who also knows how to do them properly, has done reps with over 500lbs without his back ever coming above parallel with the ground. That is stronger than Dorian Yates or Ronnie Coleman, by the way.

I did rows with Coleman once, actually, and I was far stronger than he was. He could not do more than 350lbs strictly although he could do over 500lbs by standing almost all the way up at the completion of each rep. Ed Coan is probably the strongest person on these, although one power-lifter I trained did manage 525 for a double done strictly.

Rows look at an anatomy chart. if the scapula and upper arms are held in a constant position, shortening of the lats WILL result in arching of the middle and upper back. i AM NOT saying that the lats are primarily responsible for upper back flexion... what i am saying is that they can assist in this.

i also HAVE done EMG work on various different rowing techniques... and there is not doubt that rows performed as i describe them will activate the lats more completely than done any other way i have ever seen. i have done EMG work on a large quantity of people for rows... and ive always found that these kind of rows activate the lats most completely. and besides, even if you dont buy the fact that they activate the lats better, hell, you can always be content with the fact that your getting an erector workout.

trying to arch the upper spine as much as possible, thats really the key to get as much activation as possible, making the attempt to arch your back, upper back specifically as much as possible at the top, without extending the hips. . . . when you let the bar down, let the upper back relax, and if possible bend the spine a little and let the shoulders come forward, then as you pull the bar up, pull the shoulders back, arch the back, and pull with the arms all at the same time. looks simple, and really is simple to do once you do it once and see how it feels. with a guy . . . who cant bend his upper back that well, it doesnt look much different than any other row, but again, its the effort to pull tyhe shoulders back and arch the back as you pull that makes the difference, even though there will be more spinal and shoulder movement in some people than others.

one explosive movement, you pull the shoulders back, "scrunch" or arch your upper back, and pull with your arms. it all happens at once, and the bar hits you hard in middle of the abs. this is not a slow exercise, its a fast and powerfull contraction of all the muscles of the back, which causes all 3 things to happen simultaneously. different people look a little differently, depending on their mobility in those parts of their body. . . . no matter how mobile you are in these areas, it is the EFFORT you make to do all 3 of these actions at once, and quickly and powerfully that makes it work really well.

 

[youngguns]

word. i haven't done these. i just keep my bb rows relatively close to parallel and keep my form strict...except for the last rep, which i don't count.

nate, are you getting what you need from 135-155? granted, your volume is higher, but that's probably really light weight for you, innit? that's around what i do now, albeit in a lower rep range, and i'm weak as hell and i'm just a few months back in after a long layoff (i.e. re-n00b).

do you not depend on them much for you lat work? i could check your other thread(s), but i refuse.

You dont count the last rep?

 

[Protobuilder]

I often do the same thing and don't count the last rep b/c it's often getting sloppy or I rest too long or something like that. If form is too far off, or something is off, I won't count it.