Inverted row
A horizontal pulling exercise where you pull your chest to a fixed bar while lying back beneath it.
Overview
The inverted row is a horizontal bodyweight pulling exercise. You lie back underneath a fixed bar set around waist height, grip it, and pull your chest up to meet it while keeping your body in a straight line, then lower back down. It is often described as an upside-down row.
The angle of your body sets the difficulty, so it scales from nearly upright and easy to almost horizontal and hard. This makes the inverted row a popular building block toward the pull-up and a friendly introduction to pulling movements.
The movement
- 1Set a bar around waist height and lie back underneath it.
- 2Grip the bar and hang with your body straight and heels on the floor.
- 3Pull your chest up toward the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades.
- 4Lower back down until your arms are straight.
Beginner notes
- The more upright your body, the easier the row starts out.
- A great building block on the way to a pull-up.
- The body stays in a straight line, like a moving plank.
A note on training information
Where it’s used
Sports this relates to:
Calisthenics
Bodyweight strength training — push-ups, pull-ups, dips and progressions you can do almost anywhere.
Fitness
Strength and general fitness training — the foundation that supports every other sport.
Functional Fitness
Varied, whole-body training built around everyday movement patterns like squatting, lifting and carrying.
Related exercises
Squat
A foundational lower-body movement where you bend at the hips and knees to lower down and stand back up.
Goblet squat
A squat variation where you hold a single weight close to your chest for balance and control.
Jump squat
An explosive squat variation where you spring off the floor at the top of the movement.
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Movement patterns
- PullDrawing a load or your own body toward the torso — horizontal rows and vertical pull-ups — building the lats, mid-back and biceps and balancing the push.
- PushPressing a load or the body away from the torso — horizontally or overhead — by extending the shoulders and elbows, developing the chest, shoulders and triceps.
- HingeA hip-dominant pattern: bend forward at the hips with a flat back, minimal knee bend, then drive the hips tall — powers pulling from the floor and jumping.
Movement comparisons
Techniques
Lifestyle
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Exercise
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-07-06
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