Elevated Cable Rows

What it is

This is a compound pulling exercise using a cable machine, performed with your seat elevated for a deeper stretch. It primarily targets your latissimus dorsi, or lats, while also engaging your middle back and trapezius muscles.

Technique tips

• Keep your knees slightly bent, never locked, for stability.
• Maintain a neutral spine and slight arch with your chest proud.
• Initiate the pull with your back, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
• Keep your torso still; avoid leaning back excessively during the pull.
• Breathe out as you pull, then inhale slowly on the return.
• Control the eccentric phase; let the weight slowly stretch your lats.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.