Cable Seated Row
The cable seated row is a horizontal pull: you sit at a low cable, feet braced, and pull a handle to your stomach while your torso stays upright. It trains the upper back and the lats, with the rear delts and biceps helping, and lets you load your back heavily while you sit upright instead of bending over a barbell.
How to do the cable seated row
Sit on the bench of the low cable station, brace your feet against the platform with soft knees and take hold of the handle.
Slide back until your arms are straight and you sit upright, with the cable taut and the weight lifted off the stack.
Brace your trunk, sit tall and let your shoulders reach forward a little with the weight.
Pull the handle toward your lower ribs, elbows close to your sides, as your shoulder blades move back.
Finish with your chest up and the handle at your stomach, without leaning back to get there.
Let the handle travel forward under control until your arms are straight and your shoulders reach forward again.
Setup at the cable station
Clip a close-grip V-handle to the low pulley and choose your weight. Sit on the bench and brace your feet against the platform with your knees slightly bent, so your legs can hold you in place without doing the pulling. Reach forward for the handle, then slide or sit back until your arms are straight and you sit upright. The weight should hang free of the stack at full reach; if it touches down, move back a little.
Bracing and breathing
Sit tall with a natural curve in your lower back and tighten your midsection. Breathe in as your arms stretch forward and hold the air while you pull, then breathe out at your stomach or on the way back. Your torso stays almost still: a slight lean forward at full reach and an upright position at the end is all the movement it needs.
Shoulder blades and elbow path
Each rep has two parts that blend into one. First, your shoulder blades move back from the forward-reaching position; then your elbows drive back past your torso, close to your sides, until the handle reaches your stomach. Keep your shoulders down, away from your ears. In an EMG study with isometric holds, consciously pulling the shoulder blades back did not raise the activity of the muscles between them, so a smooth, complete pull is enough; there is no need to force an exaggerated squeeze.
Tempo and range of motion
Pull with intent, hold the handle at your stomach for a moment and let it travel forward under control. At full reach, let your arms straighten and your shoulders move forward with the weight; that stretch is part of the exercise. Keep the same range on every rep, so the reps in your log stay comparable when you decide to add weight.
Muscles worked by the cable seated row
- Primary
- Upper back
- Lats
- Secondary
- Rear delts
- Biceps
- Forearms
The upper back and the lats do most of the work. The middle traps and rhomboids pull your shoulder blades together, and the lats pull your upper arms back to your sides. The rear delts help at the end of the pull, the biceps bend the elbows and the forearms hold the handle, while your lower back and legs keep the torso still. In an EMG study comparing pulldown and seated row variations, the seated row produced the highest activity of the muscles between the shoulder blades and a high ratio of lat to biceps activity.
Common seated row mistakes
Rocking back and forth
Swinging the torso uses your hips and lower back to move the weight. Keep the torso upright and let only a small forward lean happen at the start of each rep.
Pulling with the arms only
If your shoulder blades never move, the arms do more of the pulling. Let them glide forward at the start and back as you pull.
Shrugging toward your ears
Pulling with raised shoulders hands the work to the upper traps. Keep your shoulders down and think of driving your elbows back toward your hips.
Rounding the lower back
Folding at the spine to reach forward takes the load off the back muscles you want to train. Reach with your shoulders, not by bending your lower back.
Letting the weight snap back
A handle that flies forward skips the stretched half of the rep and can pull you out of position. Return it under control, with the plates never touching.
How Muscla coaches the cable seated row
- Warm up with two ramp sets: about 50% of your working weight for 8 reps, then about 75% for 3. Muscla adds them to every heavy compound lift.
- End working sets with about two reps in the tank, two to three when you train for strength and one more if you are new to training. Going to failure adds little or no extra muscle, but more fatigue.
- Rest about 3 minutes between sets for strength, 2 minutes for muscle and 90 seconds for other goals. In trained men, 3-minute rests built more strength than 1-minute rests.
- Once every set reaches the top of your rep range, add one step of about 2.5%, at least the smallest step of the stack, usually 2.5 kg or 5 lb.
- After the last set, Muscla asks “How heavy was that?” Light adds weight, Good keeps the normal progression, Heavy holds it, At the limit holds it or takes off one step.
Cable seated row sets, reps and rest
| Goal | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–6 → 2–5 → 4–8 | 3 min |
| Muscle | 6–10 → 8–12 | 2 min |
| Lose fat | 6–12 | 90 s |
| Fit | 8–12 | 90 s |
| Comeback | 8–12 | 90 s |
An arrow marks the range for the next 4-week block.
Muscla counts the cable seated row as a heavy compound lift, so it uses the ranges for heavy pulls and presses and the longest rests. In the gym it is the row new lifters get first. Each set counts fully for the back and half for the biceps in Muscla's weekly volume.
Estimate your seated row one-rep max
Filled in with example values. Replace them with yours.
Estimated 1RM
Brzycki 62.1 · Lombardi 61.6
Epley: 50 × (1 + 8 ÷ 30) = 63.3 kg
| Reps | Weight | % of 1RM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 62.5 kg | 100 % |
| 2 | 60 kg | 94 % |
| 3 | 57.5 kg | 91 % |
| 4 | 55 kg | 88 % |
| 5 | 55 kg | 86 % |
| 6 | 52.5 kg | 83 % |
| 7 | 52.5 kg | 81 % |
| 8 | 50 kg | 79 % |
| 9 | 47.5 kg | 77 % |
| 10 | 47.5 kg | 75 % |
| 11 | 47.5 kg | 73 % |
| 12 | 45 kg | 71 % |
Cable seated row alternatives
- Barbell Bent-Over Row
- Lever seated row
- One-Arm Dumbbell Row
- Lever t bar row
- Dumbbell incline row
- Dumbbell bent over row
- Kettlebell one arm row
- Barbell pendlay row
- Inverted row bent knees
- Inverted Row
Seated cable row questions
What muscles does the seated cable row work?
Mainly the upper back between the shoulder blades and the lats. The rear delts and biceps help, the forearms hold the handle and the lower back keeps your torso upright.
Which handle is best for seated cable rows?
The close-grip V-handle is the standard and lets you pull to your stomach with the elbows by your sides. A wide bar brings the elbows out and changes the angle of the pull; both train the back, so pick the one you control best.
Should you lean back on seated rows?
Only a little. A small forward reach at the start and an upright finish are fine; leaning far back at the end turns the row into a swing and shortens the work for the back.
Cable row or barbell row?
Both build the back. A meta-analysis found that machines and free weights built similar muscle, so choose what fits. In the gym, Muscla gives new lifters the cable row first; the barbell row is the standard once their level fits.
How much weight should I use on the seated cable row?
Muscla's first suggestion for a man new to training is about 0.4 times body weight, rounded down to the stack; for women it is about 30% lower. If you get clearly more reps than planned in your first set, the app raises the weight for the remaining sets.
Train it with Muscla
Muscla plans your sets, reps and rest, and sets the next weight after every session.
Coming to the App Store. Free to start.
Sources
- Lehman GJ, Buchan DD, Lundy A, Myers N, Nalborczyk A. Variations in muscle activation levels during traditional latissimus dorsi weight training exercises: an experimental study. Dyn Med. 2004;3(1):4. PubMed
- Haugen ME, Vårvik FT, Larsen S, et al. Effect of free-weight vs. machine-based strength training on maximal strength, hypertrophy and jump performance - a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2023;15(1):103. PubMed
- Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812. PubMed
- Refalo MC, Helms ER, Trexler ET, et al. Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2023;53(3):649-665. PubMed