Leverage High Row

What it is

This machine exercise strengthens your upper and middle back, with significant engagement from your latissimus dorsi (lats). You pull handles from an overhead position towards your torso, retracting your shoulder blades. It's a compound movement that effectively builds strength and thickness across your entire back. Focus on controlled execution to maximize muscle activation.

Technique tips

• Adjust the seat and knee pad to secure your position against the machine.
• Initiate the pull by retracting your shoulder blades, then flex your elbows.
• Pull the handles towards your lower chest or upper abdomen.
• Pause briefly at the peak contraction, feeling your back muscles engage.
• Control the weight slowly back up, resisting the pull of the machine.
• Do not fully extend to the stops between repetitions to maintain tension.

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.