Chest on the pad, pull to the ribs

Seated Row Machine

Sit. Chest on the pad. Grab. Pull to your ribs. Pause. Reach long. You are not rocking like a rowboat.

Hunter: I use this when I want a row without asking my low back to be a table. If I have to yank with my whole torso, the pin is too heavy.

Cues

Chest on the pad. Seat so the handles line up with the lower ribs.
Grab. Long arms. Brace. Shoulders packed, not shrugged.
Pull to the ribs. Elbows close. Pause a beat.
Reach long on the way out. Do not dump the shoulders into a round slump.
The pad stays honest. If you peel off it every rep, you are cheating.

Setup

Pin you can own for 8-10. Three to four sets. Rest about 90 seconds. Neutral handles vs wide. Pick one for a month. A seated cable row is the cousin without a chest pad. Log the machine you sat on.

Vs a cable row

Cable row lets you sit without a chest pad. This machine holds you. Both are horizontal pulls. Log seated row machine vs seated cable row. They are not the same stack.

With a pulldown

One vertical, one horizontal. That is a pull day. You do not need five more row machines. Write both numbers.

If the pad is gone

Chest-supported dumbbell rows still train the same idea. Log that name. Matching last week beats matching a screenshot of a plate-loaded row you do not have.

Common misses

Rocking. Shrugging. Half-reps that never reach. Yanking with the low back. Also: a pin you copied from a pulldown.

FAQ

Close grip or wide?

Neutral close is the default. Wide is allowed. Pick one.

How far back?

Until the elbows are behind you a little and the chest is still on the pad. Further is usually a lean.

Log seated row machine in the free Vitality Engine. Pin number, every working set.

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