Iso Lateral High Row

How to Perform the Iso Lateral High Row

Adjust the seat so the chest pad sits comfortably against your upper chest and your arms can fully extend to reach the handles.
Grip the handles with an overhand or neutral grip and press your chest firmly into the pad.
Brace your core and initiate the pull by retracting your shoulder blades together.
Pull the handles back toward your upper torso, driving your elbows back and slightly outward.
Squeeze your upper back muscles hard at the peak contraction, holding for a brief second.
Slowly extend your arms back to the starting position, allowing a full stretch through the upper back.
Keep your chest pressed against the pad throughout and avoid rocking your torso.

Pulling the chest off the pad and using body momentum

Keep your chest firmly pressed into the pad throughout the movement to isolate the upper back.

Shrugging the shoulders up during the pull

Keep your shoulders depressed and focus on squeezing the shoulder blades together rather than shrugging upward.

Pulling primarily with the biceps

Focus on initiating the movement with your shoulder blades and driving your elbows back; think of your hands as hooks.

✓The high pulling angle targets the upper back and rear delts more effectively than standard rows.
✓Independent arms address left-right strength imbalances.
✓Chest pad support reduces lower back stress, allowing you to focus entirely on the upper back.

●Use a brief pause at peak contraction to maximize upper back activation.
●Experiment with different grip positions (overhand vs neutral) to target slightly different back muscles.
●Keep the tempo controlled, especially during the eccentric phase.

Strength

4-5 sets of 4-6 reps at 80-90% 1RM

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 8-12 reps at 65-75% 1RM

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps at 50-60% 1RM

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