You know your normal back exercises like pull ups, lat pulldowns, dumbbell rows, barbell rows, and so on.
I fun thing about strength training is that you can take an exercise and turn it to a whole different exercise that creates a different stimulus on the train muscle. For instance, you can perform dumbbell rows with a pause at the top and hold the contraction for 2-3 seconds before you lower it down in a controlled manner. It’s a totally different stimulus as from just performing dumbbell rows in the typical up and down motion.
By manipulating the contractions you can achieve continuous progress and results.
Enter the Sled Rows…
The sled rows emphasizes the back but works the whole body. What sets this apart from the other exercises is that you start from a static position (no movement) into a dynamic movement that recruits a lot of motor units in an instant. This not only activates your muscle fibers but also stimulates your central nervous system to respond.
In the video above, I am testing out the movement for the first time with the Y-1 Yoke Rack from Rogue Fitness. Before I would use the Prowler from EliteFTS, but that was back in the Cali days and couldn’t make its way back to Hawaii.
This exercise when performed properly will pack on solid lean muscle on to your back, improve your overall work capacity, and aid in fat loss.
There are several ways you can use the sled rows. You can plug it into a total body circuit. Or you can do it as a single exercise for reps of 8-12 for 3 sets.
Ideally, I would of done the sled rows for 10 reps and then immediately push the sled back to start line.
Oh ya, that would be a good pair.
