By David Barr

I got an email from a client this week talking about his training [and am continually amazed that I can get entire articles out of them]. Although I did his personalized diet and supplementation programs (click here for more information on those), he thought he'd give my experience as a strength coach a bit of a test run. His problem is that he's doing a mandatory exercise and simply not feeling any benefits from it. And when I say "benefits" I'm specifically referring to a strong contraction.

So here he is, busting his ass, doing what he's been told (by internet authorities, no doubt) and he's frustrated at the result. As you know from the title, the exercise in question is the bent over row, and I think it's the worst exercise in existence. Okay I'm completely exaggerating, but at the same time I'm not alone in my disdain for this back killer.

What To Do When You're Told To Bend Over

When I was but a young lad of 16, I began training and followed everything that the biggest guys told me. I did the big basic exercises -you know: squats and bench- but there was also the "Big Bent Row" that was supposed to "Pack on EXTREME Mass!". (have a good chuckle at the vernacular, but remember that people still write like this.)

The problem is that I could never really feel a contraction with rows that I could with other exercises. Strangely it didn't seem to be related to the movement of my arms -I could do the same rows on a machine with a great contraction.

Drive to Dilution

Having interviewed several people about this, it seems as though the problem with bent over rows is quite common. For some reason, most (if not many or even all) just have a very hard time contracting the major back muscles during this exercise.

Holding the stance is no problem, nor is performing any other back exercise, so what's the trouble?

The theory I'm developing is one of central drive dilution, which means that the nervous system is simply asked to do too much during bent over rows. By trying to contract too many muscles simultaneously, the signals of the nervous system simply get diluted such that nothing can be contracted maximally.

This is similar to having a single hose through which water is traveling at a high pressure. Branching off from the end of this hose are numerous other hoses, off of which there are yet other branches. By the time the water gets to the end this third and final set, the once high-pressure water is only coming out as small trickle.

The Challenge

As I began to think of all of the muscles involved during a bent over row, I became quite surprised. After all we usually think of the deadlift as the exercise the recruits the most muscle for a prolonged period. But by involving all of the back and arm muscles (yes even a head of the triceps), rows come out on top. I've actually issued a bit of a challenge to people to see if they could think of an exercise that recruits more individual muscles for a prolonged period. So far there haven't been any takers.

So...Want Even MORE Strength, Muscle-Building and Fat Loss Info, Just Like This? ...and get a FREE copy of "The Unnatural Athlete" ($29.95 value!), Charles Staley's most politically-incorrect views on training, nutrition, fat loss, muscle-building and more!

Bilateral Evidence Although the word theory is thrown around colloquially as a synonym for "guess", a scientific theory is a testable prediction based on evidence. Consistent with this usage, the central drive dilution theory comes from something we've all experienced called the bilateral deficit. Whether you've known it or not, your body contracts muscle far better during single limb work than when using both limbs. For example we have better contraction during a single leg squat than the traditional two-legged version. This happens because the neural signals for muscle contraction get divided during the bilateral exercise, whereas everything can be focused during single limb work. This bilateral deficit is not only a reason why you should be incorporating unilateral work into your program (among others), but it's the extension of which that is the central drive dilution theory. Conclusions Don't do bent rows. Unless of course you like them. Do single limb work, eat more vegetables, and check out The Anabolic Index!

Click here to post your comments on this article in our Team Staley Forums!

About The Author

	Click here to return to David's Article Index

Related Items

Sandbags

The Ultimate Guide to Massive Arms

Staley Training Systems
P.O. Box 2334 • Gilbert, AZ • 85299
Toll-Free: (800) 519-2492 • 480-813-6205 • Fax: (480) 813-6215