One-Arm Dumbbell Row
The one-arm dumbbell row is a row for one side at a time: bent forward with a flat back, you pull a dumbbell from a straight arm up to your hip. It trains the lats and upper back, with the rear delts and biceps helping, while your trunk works to stop you from twisting. It needs only one dumbbell, so it is the standard row for training at home.
How to do the one-arm dumbbell row
Hold a dumbbell in one hand and rest the other hand on a bench or on your thigh for support.
Soften your knees and hinge at the hips until your torso leans well forward with a flat back.
Let the dumbbell hang straight below your shoulder, palm facing your body, and brace your trunk.
Pull the dumbbell toward your hip by driving the elbow back along your side, keeping your shoulders level.
Squeeze your shoulder blade toward your spine at the top without twisting your torso open.
Lower the dumbbell under control until your arm is straight and your shoulder blade glides forward; finish all reps, then switch sides.
Stance and support
Stand next to a bench with the dumbbell on the floor beside your working side. Rest your free hand on the bench, or put your knee on it too, and step the working-side foot back a little. Without a bench, take a staggered stance and rest your free hand on your front thigh. Hinge at the hips until your torso leans well forward, back flat, and pick up the dumbbell with your arm hanging straight below your shoulder.
Bracing and breathing
Brace your trunk before each rep, as if someone were about to push you sideways. That brace is what stops the dumbbell from twisting your torso open as it rises. Breathe out as you pull or at the top, and breathe in as you lower. Keep your neck long and look at the floor slightly ahead of you.
Elbow path and shoulder blade
Start each rep by letting the shoulder blade glide forward with the arm fully straight, then draw it back as you pull. Drive the elbow back along your side toward your hip, so the dumbbell travels in a slight arc rather than straight up. At the top the elbow sits just past your torso and the shoulder blade is pulled toward the spine. Keep your wrist straight and your grip firm, but let the elbow, not the hand, lead the movement.
Tempo and range
Pull with intent and lower under control, from a full stretch to a full squeeze. Do all reps on one side, then switch, and start with your weaker arm so both sides get the same work. Trunk stability matters here: in a comparison of three rows, the one-arm cable row stood out for challenging the trunk’s ability to resist twisting. Keep every rep the same, so your sets stay comparable and you know when to take the next dumbbell.
Muscles worked by the one-arm dumbbell row
- Primary
- Lats
- Upper back
- Secondary
- Rear delts
- Biceps
- Obliques
- Forearms
The lats pull the upper arm back and down toward your hip, and the muscles between your shoulder blades draw the working shoulder blade toward your spine. The rear delts help pull the elbow back, and the biceps bend the elbow. Because only one side carries the weight, your trunk has to resist being twisted toward it. In a study with 15 trained men, rowing with one arm raised the activity of the external obliques compared with rowing with both, while the two-arm free-weight row asked more of the lower back.
Common one-arm dumbbell row mistakes
Twisting the torso to lift the weight
Opening the chest toward the ceiling lets the trunk swing the dumbbell up and takes work off the back. Keep both shoulders level with the floor and use a weight you can pull without rotating.
Pulling to the chest instead of the hip
A high pull flares the elbow away from your body and shortens the pull for the lats. Drive the elbow back toward your hip, close to your side.
Shrugging at the top
Lifting the shoulder toward the ear brings in the upper traps. Keep the shoulder down and think of putting the elbow in your back pocket.
Cutting the stretch short
Stopping before the arm is straight skips the part where the lats lengthen. Let the dumbbell hang fully and the shoulder blade glide forward before the next rep.
Rounding the back
A rounded back loses the stable hinge that holds you over the dumbbell. Push your hips back, keep your chest proud and let your support hand take some of the load.
How Muscla coaches the one-arm row
- Muscla treats the one-arm row as a compound lift: end each set with about two reps in reserve, three if you are new to training. Going to failure adds little or no extra muscle, but more fatigue.
- Rest about 2 minutes between sets for strength and 90 seconds for muscle and every other goal. Rest after both arms, not between them.
- Once every set reaches the top of your rep range, add one dumbbell step of 2 kg or 5 lb: 16 kg becomes 18 kg.
- After your last set, Muscla asks “How heavy was that?”: Light adds weight, Good progresses as planned, Heavy keeps the weight and At the limit holds it or drops one step.
- Each set counts fully for your back and half for your biceps when Muscla tallies your weekly sets.
One-arm dumbbell row sets, reps and rest
| Goal | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 8–12 | 2 min |
| Muscle | 6–10 → 8–12 | 90 s |
| 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.
The one-arm row counts as a compound lift in the Muscla training logic, so it uses the ranges for compound lifts that are not heavy ones. Do the same reps on each arm in every set. Every 4 weeks a new block moves the range; after every third block comes a deload week at 90% of the weight with one set fewer.
Estimate your one-arm row one-rep max
Filled in with example values. Replace them with yours.
Estimated 1RM
Brzycki 29.8 · Lombardi 29.5
Epley: 24 × (1 + 8 ÷ 30) = 30.4 kg
| Reps | Weight | % of 1RM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 kg | 100 % |
| 2 | 27.5 kg | 94 % |
| 3 | 27.5 kg | 91 % |
| 4 | 27.5 kg | 88 % |
| 5 | 25 kg | 86 % |
| 6 | 25 kg | 83 % |
| 7 | 25 kg | 81 % |
| 8 | 25 kg | 79 % |
| 9 | 22.5 kg | 77 % |
| 10 | 22.5 kg | 75 % |
| 11 | 22.5 kg | 73 % |
| 12 | 22.5 kg | 71 % |
One-arm dumbbell row alternatives
- Barbell Bent-Over Row
- Cable Seated Row
- Lever seated 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
One-arm dumbbell row questions
One-arm dumbbell row or barbell row?
Both train the same pull. The barbell row lets you load more and asks more of your lower back; the one-arm row works each side on its own, lets your free hand support you and asks more of the obliques. Muscla uses the barbell row as the gym standard and the one-arm row at home.
Should I use a bench for one-arm rows?
It helps. Resting your free hand, or your hand and knee, on a bench takes load off your lower back and lets you focus on the pull. Standing with your hand on your thigh works too and trains your balance a little more.
How heavy should one-arm rows be?
Muscla's first suggestion for a man new to training is about 0.2 times body weight, rounded down to your dumbbells: 16 kg at 80 kg. For a woman new to training at 65 kg it is 8 kg. If your first set gives you clearly more reps than planned, the app raises the weight for the rest.
Does the one-arm row work the lats or the upper back?
Both. A review of EMG studies found that in the seated row, keeping the upper arm closer to the body went with higher lat activity; the finding comes from the seated row, but driving the elbow toward your hip follows the same idea. The muscles between your shoulder blades work in every version.
Why do I feel one-arm rows in my biceps?
Usually the elbow bends before the shoulder blade moves, so the arm starts the pull. Start each rep by drawing the shoulder blade back, then drive the elbow, and think of your hand as a hook.
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
- Saeterbakken A, Andersen V, Brudeseth A, Lund H, Fimland MS. The effect of performing bi- and unilateral row exercises on core muscle activation. Int J Sports Med. 2015;36(11):900-905. PubMed
- Fenwick CM, Brown SH, McGill SM. Comparison of different rowing exercises: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res. 2009;23(5):1408-1417. PubMed
- Di Fonza D, Di Claudio G, Colantuono G, et al. Electromyographic analysis of latissimus dorsi activation during common resistance training exercises: a narrative review. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2026;11(3):315. 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