Upper Back · Barbell
How to do the Pendlay row: the dead-stop barbell row for upper-back thickness
Every rep starts with the plates dead on the floor, which means the bar moves because your mid-back moved it, not because the last rep gave you a bounce.
Illustration adapted from Everkinetic via workout-guide, CC BY-SA 4.0. Full credits.
| Equipment | Barbell |
|---|---|
| Back zone | Upper Back · Lat Width · Lower Back |
| Muscles | Rhomboids · Lats · Erectors |
| Level | Advanced |
| Typical work | 3 × 5–8 |
| Where | Gym |
What is the Pendlay Row?
The Pendlay row is a barbell row performed from a dead stop on the floor with the torso held parallel to the ground. Each rep starts with the plates resting, so the lats and rhomboids move the bar without a bounce, while the erectors hold the flat-back position for the whole set.
The one cue that matters: Reset the bar dead on the floor each rep and row explosively with a strict flat torso.
Why the Pendlay Row is worth doing
- Every rep starts with the plates at rest, so a weak first inch off the floor cannot hide behind bar momentum
- The torso stays parallel for the entire set, which keeps the pull horizontal instead of drifting into a half-shrug as you tire
- Five to eight explosive reps from a standstill train pulling speed, not just the ability to move a bar slowly
- Holding a bent-over position under a hanging barbell gives the erectors a long isometric without adding another hinge movement to the day
How to do the Pendlay Row
- Set the bar height Load full-size plates so the bar sits at standard pulling height. Stand with your mid-foot under the bar, feet about hip width.
- Hinge to parallel Push your hips back and take a double-overhand grip just outside your knees until your torso is parallel to the floor. Lock that angle; it does not move again until the set ends.
- Row to the sternum Drive your elbows back and up and pull the bar into your lower sternum as fast as you can. The bar leaves the floor and touches you in one motion, with no drift out in front.
- Squeeze, then check Hold the touch for a beat with the mid-back fully squeezed. Before you lower, confirm your hip crease is still at the height it started at.
- Return it to dead Lower under control and let the plates settle fully on the floor. No bounce, no hovering an inch up: the weight is genuinely still before the next rep.
- Rack it standing End the set when the bar slows off the floor or the hips start rising to help. Stand up with the bar to finish rather than grinding one more rep out of position.
Muscles worked
The Rhomboids (rhomboid major and minor) are the reason this row exists. Because the bar restarts on the floor every rep, the shoulder blades begin fully spread with no residual tension, so retraction has to start from scratch. That first inch, from spread to squeezed, is where the mid-back thickness comes from.
The Lats (latissimus dorsi) drive the elbow back and past the ribs. Pulling to the lower sternum rather than the belt keeps the upper arm at roughly forty-five degrees from the torso, which is a lat-dominant path with the rhomboids finishing the rep. Lat Width is a secondary zone here, not the target.
The Erectors (erector spinae) never shorten. They hold your torso parallel to the floor for the whole set against a loaded bar hanging at arm’s length, which is a long lever and a long isometric. That is why a set of eight leaves the lower back feeling worked without a single hinge rep.
| <a href=”/back-muscles/rhomboids/”>Rhomboids</a> | Rhomboid major & minor — Thickness between the blades, and the ridge down the middle. |
|---|---|
| <a href=”/back-muscles/lats/”>Lats</a> | Latissimus dorsi — The V-taper itself. Width from the armpit down to the waist. |
| <a href=”/back-muscles/erectors/”>Erectors</a> | Erector spinae — The Christmas tree either side of the spine, and the base of every heavy pull. |
Form tips
- The floor is the rep counter. If the plates never fully unload, you are doing a touch-and-go barbell row with extra steps. Wait until the bar has actually stopped moving on the floor before you pull again.
- Grip just outside the knees. A grip barely wider than your legs keeps the forearms vertical when the bar touches your sternum. Go wide and the bar path arcs out in front of you, which is where the pull gets heavy.
- Full-size plates only. Bar height off the floor is set by plate diameter. Small plates drop the bar several inches lower and force you to reach for it, which is how a flat torso becomes a rounded one.
- Hips are the tell. Film one set from the side and watch your hip crease, not the bar. If it rises between rep one and rep five, the torso angle is doing the lifting and the load is too heavy.
Common mistakes
- Letting it become a Yates row
- As the set gets hard the hips rise and the torso climbs toward forty-five degrees, which converts a horizontal row into an upright pull and takes the rhomboids out of it. Cut the weight until you can hold parallel for every rep.
- Bouncing the bar off the floor
- A bounce returns free energy through the hardest part of the pull, so the rep gets easier exactly where it should be hardest. Add a full second on the floor between reps until the habit is gone.
- Rowing to the belly button
- Pulling low drags the elbows behind the ribs and turns the movement into a lat row you cannot load. Aim the bar at your lower sternum so the elbows finish out and back and the blades actually retract.
- Chasing load before you can reach the bar
- If you cannot set up parallel with a flat torso, your position is the limit and no amount of weight fixes it. Row from rack pins set a few inches high and lower them over weeks.
Sets, reps and where it fits
Put the Pendlay row first or second in a session, while you can still hold a flat parallel torso under load. BackMaxx programs three sets of five to eight, and that range is deliberate: the dead stop removes the stretch reflex, so reps past eight turn into slow grinds with a rising torso. Do not run it after Romanian deadlifts or good mornings, because the erectors set the ceiling on this movement and once they are cooked the position goes first. It sits naturally at the front of an Upper Back day.
Position earns the load, not the other way round. When all three sets reach eight reps and the last rep looks like the first from the side, add weight and drop back to five. When the bar gets heavy enough that the reset between reps takes real effort, add a fourth set instead of a fifth rep. In a Thickness Block it works as the lead horizontal pull, with a cable or machine row behind it for volume.
No barbell? Do this instead
No barbell means no two-handed dead stop from the floor, but the idea survives. Do a One-Arm Dumbbell Row with your free hand braced on a bench and the dumbbell set fully down on the floor between every rep, not tapped and not hovered. You lose the bilateral load and the erector isometric; you keep the honest concentric from a standstill. Match the work per side: three sets of five to eight.
Variations and similar exercises
- Barbell Row
- The continuous version, where the bar never touches down between reps, so tension lasts the whole set and total volume goes up: pick it when you want eight to twelve reps rather than heavy fives.
- Meadows Row
- One arm on a landmine with the torso across the bar, which trades the parallel-torso hold for a longer arc and a hard stretch at the bottom: pick it when the two-handed setup keeps rounding you forward.
- Chest Supported Row
- Puts a pad where your erectors were, so the mid-back gets the same horizontal pull with nothing asked of the bent-over hold: pick it later in a session, or on a day you already deadlifted.
7 Pendlay Row alternatives, by equipment and level →
Compared: Pendlay Row vs Barbell Row
Frequently asked questions
Is the Pendlay row better than a barbell row?
Neither is better; they load different things. The Pendlay row kills momentum by resetting the bar on the floor, so it builds starting strength and a strict parallel torso at the cost of total reps. A continuous barbell row keeps tension for the whole set and lets you use more volume. Run the Pendlay row heavy for five to eight, the barbell row for eight to twelve.
Why does the bar have to touch the floor every rep?
Because the dead stop is the exercise. A bar that hovers or bounces stores elastic energy in your body and the floor, and that free energy carries you through the hardest inch of the pull. Letting the plates settle removes it, so every rep starts from a genuine standstill and the rhomboids do the first inch of work themselves.
Do Pendlay rows carry over to the deadlift?
They carry over to the position more than the pull. Holding a parallel torso for five to eight loaded reps makes the deadlift setup feel less like a fight, and pulling explosively from a dead stop trains the same intent off the floor. Program them on a different day from heavy deadlifts, because both tax the erectors hard.
How much weight should you use on Pendlay rows?
Load it by torso angle, not by ego. Pick the heaviest bar you can pull to your lower sternum for eight reps with your hip crease at the same height on rep one and rep eight. If the hips climb, the weight is wrong. Most people row noticeably less here than on a touch-and-go row, and that is expected.
Should the Pendlay Row be in your plan?
BackMaxx scores your upper back from one photo and builds the week around whatever is lagging — so the Pendlay Row only shows up when it is the right call.
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