Seated One-arm Cable Pulley Rows

What it is

This seated exercise targets your middle back using a cable machine. You will engage your biceps, latissimus dorsi (lats), and trapezius (traps) as secondary muscles. It effectively builds strength and mass in your back with a focus on unilateral pulling.

Technique tips

• Maintain a slight bend in your knees throughout the movement.
• Keep your back naturally aligned, avoiding excessive rounding or arching.
• Initiate the pull by squeezing your shoulder blade, not just your arm.
• Rotate your palm to face you as the handle approaches your torso.
• Control the cable on the return, feeling a stretch in your lat.
• Breathe out as you pull and in as you extend your arm.

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.