Bodyweight row progression guide

Inverted rows and its variations are a great way to increase your pulling strength. At best they are also safe if you limit the range of motion by adjusting your setup in a way that your back slightly touches the floor in the bottom position.

My preferred equipment for inverted rows is my homemade suspension trainer or rings. With these you can set the difficulty linearly. If you don’t have access to rings or suspension trainers that's fine. I’ll add some variants you can do at home with basic equipment. For example table row is a great variant when you don’t have access to other equipment and it's one of my go to rows when travelling. Using a door anchor with a suspension trainer also works fine when travelling. If the two arm row is too easy you can do one arm incline rows.

Tucked front lever rows are fun!

1. Easy incline row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8wWFlr2gQU

Actual load ≈ 0.3x Bodyweight

For this variation you can use a post, towel attached to a door handle or rings. Grab onto the handles so that you are leaning backwards with straight arms. Pull yourself towards the handles to perform reps.

2. Incline row or legs bend inverted row

Door Handle Row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR0PO_1aQFc

Incline Ring Row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9JMPNqIVoE

Dining Table Row Legs Bent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfehydNkp50

Pre-requirement:  12 Easy incline rows to get 6 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.5x Bodyweight

Adjust the gymnastic rings lower than in the previous exercise and place your feet below the rings. Grab the rings and lean backwards. This variation has more backwards lean then the previous one and it makes it tougher. If you don’t have rings or a suspension trainer use your dining table and perform leg bent table rows. Another option is to use the leg bend inverted row with rings.

3. Inverted row

Rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jzBODL8uA

Table

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYUxXMGVuuU

Pre-requirement:  12 Incline rows to get 5 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.7x Bodyweight

Adjust the rings in a way that when you are lying on your back beneath the rings you can reach them. With a straight body pull yourself up towards the rings. Or use straight legs when performing a table row.

4. Decline inverted row (feet elevated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3XIZSv2Npw

Pre-requirement:  10 Inverted rows to get 6 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.8x Bodyweight

Setup is similar as in the previous exercise but use a small step or a chair to elevate your legs.

4.1 Weighted decline inverted row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIHKDzYwSKQ

Pre-requirement:  8 Inverted rows before adding weight

This is for those who are not interested in doing tucked ring rows. I suggest you stick with this variation and use a weighted backpack, weight plate or weight vest to load this exercise. 

4.2 Side to side decline inverted row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGoW1i4K_o0

Pre-requirement:  12 Decline inverted rows to get 6 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.9..1.1x Bodyweight

If you don’t have access to weights you can start working with the side to side version of the inverted row. Depending on the level of the assistance from the assisting arm you are lifting about 60% to 70% of the full load. This translates into 0.9...1.1x bodyweight load for the working arm.

5. Tucked front lever row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1P6UwPsaLw

Pre-requirement:  10 Decline inverted rows to get 5 reps

Actual load ≈ 0.95x Bodyweight

You will need to practise the tucked front lever hold a bit before you are able to pull. Due to the shift in balance point this row feels a bit different than the standard inverted rows. 

6. Weighted Tucked front lever row 

Pre-requirement:  8 Tucked front lever rows before adding weight

Tucked front lever row is a great exercise but it has its limitations since we lift only 0.95x our bodyweight. At some point this load becomes too low. Side to side does not work for this exercise since there is no leg support. Best way to proceed from here is to use additional weight to increase the load beyond 1x Bodyweight. Weighted backpack or a weight vest works the best for this one.

Thoughts on progression

There are other variants of the inverted row such as side to side rows of all the versions also known as the archer rows, one arm incline rows and front lever rows. I left them out of this progression since they are not needed in order to progress towards tucked front lever, side to side decline inverted row or weighted decline inverted row. Also I don’t want my row training to develop pure pulling strength instead of focusing on balance.

If you find that you are not getting the required reps when switching over to the next exercise you can do two things. Work up to a higher rep range. So instead of 10 reps try to get 12 before moving to the harder exercise variation. Another way would be to micro load the existing exercise with some additional weight (few kg/lbs) and get the reps up to 10 with added weight before moving up in exercise.

Training tempo

One thing I need to address before moving to the example workouts. When doing push-ups or any other exercise you generally want to use “2-1-2” tempo. Which means the rep should take about 2 seconds on the way down, 1 second hold at the bottom and 2 seconds on the way up. Usually this translates to something like “1-0.5-1” tempo in real life since we don’t really use a timer. This ensures that you don’t cheat in your repetitions and reach the proper depth at the bottom. If you just drop yourself to the bottom position and quickly bounce back up you will not get much training stimulus and the progression model presented above will not work. Cheated reps won’t get you real results. So keep that in mind.

Back workouts with row progressions

Let’s take a look how you would structure pull workouts around your training routine. For some general guidelines you should aim for 8-12 sets weekly with most of the work done in the 6-12 rep range.Ideally your routine should include both vertical and horizontal pulling. For example chinups and inverted rows. Also include at least some exercises that work your back extension muscles to your routine such as back bridges or deadlifts.

Two workouts a week

4-6 sets per workout when training 2 times a week. With one workout done in 6-10rep range and another workout in higher rep range doing a rack pullup regression or row progression

Example A One exercise per workout (8sets weekly)

Workout A

4x6-10reps Rack pullup progression

Workout B

4x8-12reps Row progression

Example B Two exercises per workout (10 sets weekly)

Workout A

3x6-10reps Rack pullup progression

2x8-12reps Incline rows

Workout B

3x6-10reps Inverted rows (weighted or bodyweight)

2x8-12reps Straight leg rack pullup

One workout a week

8-12 sets when training beck once per week. First exercises being in a lower rep range 6-10 and second or third exercise in 8-12 rep range.

Example A Two exercises per workout (8 sets weekly)

4x6-10reps Rack pullup progression

4x8-12reps Incline rows

Example B Three exercises per workout (10 sets weekly)

3x6-10reps Pullup progression

4x6-10reps Row progression

3x8-12reps Assisted rack chin ups

Check out the back workout planner here with exercise examples, videos and adjust the number of weekly sets.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g54YMhkf1PrJbcB1SHv0_942CONQlbAomQ3vpkIvs1E/copy#gid=0

For a complete pull workout you would also do a few sets of back extension (bridges, supermans, deadlift etc.) and additional direct bicep work (narrow grip chinup, ring bicep curl etc.)

Have fun building  towards your first pullup and beyond with this progression and example workouts!

Interested in Bodyweight Strength Training?

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I did my best to gather all the information between these covers so that you can make the best progress possible. It is a textbook with some math. But you can skip the math part and read the best parts. I don't mind!