High Row Machine

beginner · pull_horizontal

Setup

Set the seat height so the handles are at shoulder level when your arms are extended, chest pad against your sternum. Sit into the machine, chest against the pad, gripping the handles at a higher angle than a straight lat pulldown.

Execution

Sit tall with your chest pressed into the pad, arms starting fully extended in front of you.
Exhale, pull down and back, bringing the elbows past the torso, squeezing the shoulder blades together.
Hold for a beat with your shoulder blades down and together.
Inhale and extend the arms back under control to the same full range each rep, chest staying pressed into the pad.
Keep the chest fixed against the pad throughout; don't lean back to pull harder.
If you run out of strength mid-set, let the arms extend slowly with the weight while staying pressed into the pad; end the set by returning to full extension and letting the stack rest fully on the pins before releasing the handles.

Breathing

Exhale as you pull down and back, inhale as you extend back out. Do not hold your breath to move a heavier stack; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, never hold it at all, lighten the load and exhale on the pull.

Quick cues

Chest pressed firmly into the pad.
Pull with the back, not the arms.
Elbows drive past the torso.
Extend to the same range every rep.

Common faults

Fault: Leaning away from the chest pad to yank the handles down
Fix: Stay pressed into the chest pad and pull using the back rather than leaning back.
Fault: Stopping short of full arm extension
Fix: Lower to the same full range on every rep.
Fault: Shrugging the shoulders up before starting the pull
Fix: Drop the shoulders first, letting the pull start from squeezing the shoulder blades.
Fault: Letting the plates slam on the return
Fix: Control the return over 2-3 seconds, and lighten the load if it still slams.

Equipment

machine

Muscle groups

back, arms