Dumbbell Row

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and hinge at your hips to lean your torso forward. Open your chest and brace your core to lock in your torso angle, then keep your knees slightly bent to stabilize yourself with your legs.

Pull the dumbbells toward your sides as you send your elbows back. Think of your elbows leading the movement, rather than your hands, to help put more force into your back.

Briefly squeeze your back at the highest point, then lower the dumbbells slowly. If you suddenly relax your shoulders on the way down, the next repetition will shift toward your arms, so keep your back engaged during the descent.

This fundamental movement is great for building back thickness as your lats and mid-back contract together. If it feels like you are pulling only with your arms, reduce the weight and drive your elbows farther behind you.

If you use momentum to raise your torso or pull with your wrists curled inward, your forearms and lower back will fatigue first. If the two sides rise to different heights, the tension will shift to one side, so check your symmetry in a mirror or video.

Inhale before you pull to brace your torso, then exhale slowly as you row. Inhale again while lowering to help keep your torso angle and intra-abdominal pressure consistent on every repetition.

Dumbbells let you fine-tune the movement of each hand more precisely than a barbell. Once you find the elbow path that gives you the strongest back contraction, focus on reproducing it identically every repetition before adding weight.