How To Perform the Pendlay Row (with Video)

[stronglifts]

Here's an article with video of the Pendlay Row.

The Pendlay Row is an advanced version of the Bent-over Barbell Row. Much more effective & much more powerful.

Check out the article & try it some time:

Pendlay Row


Comments appreciated.

 

[kickureface]

i love how the vids are in the post too! easy access
awesome post.
so pendlays are just different from normals in that you arch your back to its natural arch halfway up the lift?
seems like a tiny tiny difference.what are the advantages of doing that? and what do you prefer

 

[stronglifts]

i love how the vids are in the post too! easy access
awesome post.
so pendlays are just different from normals in that you arch your back to its natural arch halfway up the lift?
seems like a tiny tiny difference.what are the advantages of doing that? and what do you prefer

Thanks for the motivating words Kickureface.

Difference with the bent-over barbell row:
-upperback is bent when the bar is on the floor
-upperback is arched when pulling the bar to the chest
-complete deload of the weight on the floor

Pendlay Rows are much more explosive. The rounding/arching works the upper back more too (especially the lats).

I prefer Pendlay Rows. I recommend you to try the exercise.

 

[mrRuckus]

Post by madcow (famed guy from his version of the bill starr 5x5)
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/4354732-post3.html

 

[stronglifts]

It kind of looks like you're letting the weight slam back down on the floor. Are you lowering it in a controlled fashion and I just can't tell from the video or what?

You shouldn't care about the eccentric phase. Get the weight up as fast as you can, that's it.

Eccentric work has it's place, but not on exercises like rowing. Fast & explosive on the way up, that's the goal.

 

[aolsuxs]

You shouldn't care about the eccentric phase. Get the weight up as fast as you can, that's it.

Eccentric work has it's place, but not on exercises like rowing. Fast & explosive on the way up, that's the goal.

I disagree. First off, just quickly glancing at your site, I've very impressed, it has a ton of great info, keep up the good work. Anyways, IMO, virtually every exercise you need to emphasize the eccentric. You even mention it your self on your site, the importance of proper technique. As you said, there are situations where eccentric isn't as important (usually in pylometrics and for sport specific training) however for the vast majority of exercise and population the negative is just as important if not more. There have been studies where there two groups (and a control) on same work out, same diet, same demographics etc. perform basic strength training, one group does concentric only movements and other eccentric. Both groups showed strength gains but eccentric group actually had a slightly larger change in body composition.

Again, great site but my opinion is far to many individuals devalue the eccentric. I've been lifting for quite some time now (over 5 years) and currently work part time as a trainer for a major chain in US and am certified via ACSM (Google em, they are considered #1/#2 in US) and NCSF (Ehh they are ok)

 

[Warboss Alex]

More muscular cellular damage occurs on the eccentric phase on the lift therefore a controlled negative phase generally stimulates more muscle growth. Although it's easy to get carried away and try to do 10 second negatives, which seriously compromises the weight you'll be lifting.

 

[stronglifts]

I disagree. First off, just quickly glancing at your site, I've very impressed, it has a ton of great info, keep up the good work. Anyways, IMO, virtually every exercise you need to emphasize the eccentric. You even mention it your self on your site, the importance of proper technique. As you said, there are situations where eccentric isn't as important (usually in pylometrics and for sport specific training) however for the vast majority of exercise and population the negative is just as important if not more. There have been studies where there two groups (and a control) on same work out, same diet, same demographics etc. perform basic strength training, one group does concentric only movements and other eccentric. Both groups showed strength gains but eccentric group actually had a slightly larger change in body composition.

I hope you were the only one to misunderstand what I wrote. I certainly do not mean that eccentrics are not important. They are.
It's simply not possible to focus on the eccentric on the Pendlay Row because of the nature of the lift. Compare it with a Power Clean.

Again, great site but my opinion is far to many individuals devalue the eccentric. I've been lifting for quite some time now (over 5 years) and currently work part time as a trainer for a major chain in US and am certified via ACSM (Google em, they are considered #1/#2 in US) and NCSF (Ehh they are ok)

Thanks for the kind words on StrongLifts.com. I know the ACSM cert. Have you considered one of the NSCA?

 

[mrRuckus]

Gotcha. It's just that I've never seen rows done where the weight hits the ground, so I'm used to lowering the weight slowly so my arms don't get wrenched off my torso.

Really? I end up pounding my gut so hard that the bar rebounds almost all the way back down. I'd really have to lower the weight if i wanted to slowly pull it up so that i could slowly lower it back down.

Actually i did upright rows today with a 4 sec time under tension and i had to lower it 35 lbs because before i was just doing them pretty quick.

I'll do pulldowns or pullups slower than i row.

 

[mrRuckus]

More muscular cellular damage occurs on the eccentric phase on the lift therefore a controlled negative phase generally stimulates more muscle growth. Although it's easy to get carried away and try to do 10 second negatives, which seriously compromises the weight you'll be lifting.

I quoted you but this is just in general:



Yeah, generally.

But considerations have to be taken into account of how much cellular damage has to be done before a growth stimulus is made. Yeah doing 10 second negatives is getting carried away and you're probably doing more harm than good just in terms of recovery.

I remember reading Hypertrophy-Specific Training (hst) and at the end of a cycle they had a week or two of just doing heavier negatives, but they emphasized that that was completely optional, especially without a spotter.. and what followed was a week or two off of training.

I don't even see how you can do a bent over row slow negative without drastically lowering the weight. Is there much benefit to a slow row negative if it costs a you a ton of weight? There are very few weights i could even lift and actually hold at my torso. Can you imagine doing a slow negative on deadlifts? I don't remember the lack of a slow negative on that compromising people's growth. In DC training, the mantra is just a "controlled negative."

And if you look at the link I posted above madcow says "So anyway, you tend to pull back a bit with heavy weight anyway and that is how rows should be done heavy and explosive. You should be accelerating that bar into your body. So someone starting at 90 degrees generally ends up cheating back just a bit and that's okay."


This is the kind of stuff i don't think that matters so much. A 2 second negative or a 4 second negative... is it really doing to matter in the long run? Increase the weights continually and eat and you grow, right?