Sled Row

🎯 Middle back🏋️ OtherBeginnerCompoundBiceps (2°)Lats (2°)

How to do the sled row

  1. Attach dual handles to a sled connected by a rope or chain. Load the sled to an appropriate weight. Face the sled, backing up until there is some tension in the line.
  2. With a handle in each hand, bend the knees slightly, keep your head and chest up, and begin with your arms extended.
  3. To initiate the movement, flex the elbow as you retract your shoulder blades, pulling the sled towards you.
  4. Take a step or two back to get tension in the line and repeat.

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the rhomboids and mid-trapezius, which draw the shoulder blades together and back down the ribcage.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the biceps add force at the elbow; the lats keep the upper arm drawn in toward the torso.

Every exercise for:Middle backBicepsLats

How this movement works

The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

These train the middle back too, using equipment this one does not:

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 37 middle back exercises in this database, 21 are listed at beginner level.

Related exercises

Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →

ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.