Row that starts dead on the floor

Pendlay Row

Bar starts on the floor. Pull it to your stomach. Set it down dead. No bounce. That is the whole lift.

Hunter: PPL lists these first on pull day. If I cannot pause the bar on the floor, I drop a plate. A hover row is a different page.

Cues

Bar over mid-foot. Hinge until your back is a table.
Grip about shoulder width. Brace before you pull.
Yank the bar to the lower ribs. Elbows not flared to 90.
The plates tap the floor every rep. Dead stop. No rebound.
Keep the hinge. Do not stand up into a deadlift between reps.

Setup

Same shoes as a deadlift. Empty bar to find the hinge. Four sets of 5-8 on PPL pull. Rest about 2 minutes. If the floor bounce becomes a trampoline, a chest-supported row is an honest swap. Log that name.

PPL pull day

This is the heavy horizontal pull. Then a pulldown, a chest-supported row, face pulls, curls. You do not need five more row machines. Log the plates. If the gym is packed, a barbell row that hovers is allowed. Name what you did.

Vs a regular barbell row

A barbell row can hover. A Pendlay dies on the floor every time. That pause is the point. Pick one for a month. Do not mix them in one working weight.

If the hinge leaks

Chest-supported dumbbell rows still train the back without asking your low back to be a table. Use them. Come back to Pendlay when the hinge is quiet. Engine should see the name you actually pulled.

Common misses

Bouncing the plates. Standing up every rep. Rounding into a shrimp. Half-reps that never touch the body. Also: straps plus ego so the log is fiction.

FAQ

Touch the stomach?

Yes, with control. If you cannot get there without a hop, the bar is too heavy.

Straps?

Allowed if grip dies first. Log the same. Grip can get extra work on hangs and carries.

Log Pendlay rows in the free Vitality Engine. Plates, every working set.

Create free account Log this in Engine

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