Seated Cable Row

The seated cable row is a back movement that works the ['lats', 'rhomboids', 'traps', 'rear deltoids', 'biceps']. Two things decide whether it produces results: the load relative to your one-rep maximum, and the number of hard sets per week. For strength, three to five sets of one to five repetitions at 85 per cent or more of your one-rep max is the classic prescription; for muscle size, three to four sets of six to twelve repetitions at 65 to 80 per cent, taken close to failure; for endurance, two to three sets of fifteen or more at under 65 per cent. Ten to twenty hard sets per muscle group per week is the range most training research converges on, and progression comes from adding a little weight or a repetition rather than from changing the exercise. The calculator below estimates your one-rep max from a set you have actually completed, which is the number every percentage above refers to.

Seated Cable Row Strength Standards (kg)

Body Weight	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite
120 kg	65	95	130	175	220
130 kg	65	100	135	180	230
140 kg	70	100	140	190	235
150 kg	70	105	145	195	245
160 kg	75	110	150	200	250
170 kg	75	110	155	205	260
180 kg	80	115	160	215	270
190 kg	80	120	165	220	275
200 kg	85	120	165	225	285
210 kg	85	125	170	230	290
220 kg	90	130	175	240	300

How to Perform the Seated Cable Row

Sit at a cable row station with your feet on the footpads and knees slightly bent. Grasp the handle with both hands and sit upright with your chest proud and shoulders pulled back. Pull the handle toward your lower chest or upper abdomen by driving your elbows straight back and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Slowly extend your arms to return to the starting position, allowing a slight stretch in the lats.

Muscle Activation

The seated cable row targets the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and middle trapezius as primary movers. The rear deltoids contribute to the horizontal pulling motion, while the biceps assist in elbow flexion. The constant tension provided by the cable ensures the muscles remain under load throughout the entire range of motion, which is a key advantage over free-weight rowing variations.

Common Mistakes

Excessive forward lean at the start and backward lean at the end, using momentum rather than muscle contraction.
Shrugging the shoulders upward during the pull instead of keeping them depressed.
Not achieving a full stretch at the bottom by keeping the arms bent.
Using too much weight, which forces the lower back to compensate.

Variations

A wide-grip handle targets the rhomboids and rear delts more. A V-bar handle emphasizes the lower lats. Single-arm cable rows allow for unilateral training. Rope handle rows permit a natural rotation that can improve mind-muscle connection with the lats.

Programming Tips

Perform 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps with a controlled tempo. This exercise works well as a secondary back movement after heavy rows or pull-ups. Focus on the squeeze at peak contraction and a slow eccentric for maximum hypertrophy stimulus.

Frequently Asked Questions

A close-grip V-bar handle is the most common choice. Wide-grip handles emphasize the upper back, while rope handles allow for a more natural range of motion. In practice, the seated cable row loads the lats, rhomboids, traps and needs cable machine; an intermediate lifter of average bodyweight handles about 155 lbs, so judge your own numbers against that rather than against a gym record.

A slight lean forward to stretch the lats is acceptable, but excessive rocking turns the exercise into a lower back movement. Keep your torso relatively stable. In practice, the seated cable row loads the lats, rhomboids, traps and needs cable machine; an intermediate lifter of average bodyweight handles about 155 lbs, so judge your own numbers against that rather than against a gym record.

Cable rows provide constant tension throughout the movement and less lower back stress. Barbell rows allow heavier loads and have a more demanding stability component. In practice, the seated cable row loads the lats, rhomboids, traps and needs cable machine; an intermediate lifter of average bodyweight handles about 155 lbs, so judge your own numbers against that rather than against a gym record.

Pull the handle toward your lower chest or upper abdomen. Pulling too high shifts emphasis to the upper traps, while pulling too low reduces lat engagement. In practice, the seated cable row loads the lats, rhomboids, traps and needs cable machine; an intermediate lifter of average bodyweight handles about 155 lbs, so judge your own numbers against that rather than against a gym record.

Related Exercises

Progressing on the seated cable row

Progression on a cable machine movement for the back follows the same logic whatever the exercise: add a little load or one repetition once the last set stops being hard, and change nothing else. A machine or cable stack usually moves in fixed increments, and the pin position is only part of the load: seat height and handle position change the leverage enough that the same pin can be easier or harder. Note the settings alongside the weight.

Stalling is normal and usually means one of three things: total weekly volume for the back has drifted too low, recovery is short because sleep or calories are, or the load has been pushed while form quietly deteriorated. Filming a set from the side settles the third question faster than any cue. Ten to twenty hard sets per muscle group per week is the range most training research converges on, and a stall at the bottom of that range is a volume problem rather than a programme problem.

Common mistakes on back work

Back work goes wrong when the arms do the job the back should: rowing with the elbows flaring and the shoulder blades static trains the biceps and the rear delts instead. Initiating each repetition by pulling the shoulder blade toward the spine, then bending the elbow, fixes most of it.

Where the seated cable row fits in a week depends on how demanding it is rather than on the muscle it trains. A movement using a cable machine across the back is best placed while you are fresh if it is heavy and technical, and late in the session if it is a single joint. Two sessions a week touching the same muscle group beat one for most people, because protein synthesis after a session returns to baseline within about forty-eight hours, and a muscle trained once a week spends five of those days doing nothing.

Across all of them, the same two rules apply. Warm up with the movement itself at progressively heavier loads rather than with general cardio, and leave one repetition in reserve on all but the last set: training to failure on every set raises fatigue considerably without adding much to the result.

Seated Cable Row 1RM Calculator