Seated Cable Rows

Seated cable rows exercises help in exercising the middle torso and the entire back. Along with that they also exercise the arms as well, because of the constant rowing movements. The muscle which gets the main focus during this exercise is the latissimus dorsi, which is the longest muscle in the back. It is situated on either sides of the torso right beneath the arms. These muscles help create the perfect V-Shaped torso, because they make the torso look trimmer as well as more chiseled. This middle back exercise ensures that your biceps, upper arm muscles, lats, the forearms and the shoulders, get their fair share of exercise.

How to Do This Exercise
Using low pulley cable rows is the best for doing this exercise. Here are some tips on how you should do this exercise properly.

• The first step of this exercise is that, you must sit on the flat bench machine, and then place your feet on its foot platform. Make sure that your knees are a bit bent, but do not lock them.
• Ensure that you are comfortably seated, and that your back is straight.
• Now lean forward so as to grab hold of the bar handles and then hold the bars while your hands are completely extended.
• Now pull the bars towards your chest so that it touches your midriff, while you ensure that your chest is outwards and your back is straight. Do not hunch or bend your shoulders inwards as that would increase the chances of injury to your back.
• You will feel your back muscles stretching while doing this torso exercise. Hold the position for a few seconds, while you continue to take slow deep breaths. Now slowly retract back to your original position, wherein your hands were stretched completely.

Though, it's important that you remember not to lean forwards and backwards while doing this exercise, as that will surely increase the chances of you developing back injuries. Also when you do let your back arch backwards, try to squeeze your shoulder blades closer. This is a great exercises for building mass, because it activates all the muscles in the back as well as the arms.

Rows to Neck
There are other ways of doing this exercise, one of them being to perform the cable rows to neck while being seated. In this exercise, you need not place your feet on a special platform, instead placing them flat on the ground would be sufficient. You will need a low cable pulley machine and a flat bench. Now sit at the edge of the bench, and sit in a way that you allow your back to be straight but also to lean backwards a bit. Now grab the bar attached to the machine. All you need to do is to hold the bar with your arms, completely stretched, and then you need to pull the bar so that the bar reaches near your chin and neck. This exercise is helps workout your entire back as well as your entire arms and biceps. Though, this exercise does not help the lower body in any way.

Alternative Exercises
For those who just have a bench incline, and some dumbbells and barbells, the alternative for this exercise may be the following:

• Bent over barbell row
• Dumbbell rows
• Bent over rows
• One arm dumbbell rows
• One arm barbell rows

Things Not to Do During this Exercise
It often happens that people tent to make several mistakes, while performing this exercise. Here are some things that you must avoid. The corrective tips have also been mentioned below.

• Never allow your back to lean forward so as to pull the bar, the idea behind this exercise is to arch your back backwards so that the back muscles may get stretched. People often lean forward, a classic mistake, because it adds to their convenience as well as the momentum.
• Do not pull backwards with your lower back, that is do not exert stress on your waist. The ideal way is to keep your back straight and backwards as if you are leaning and resting your back on a gym ball that is supporting your weight. This visual really helps attain the correct posture.
• Do not squeeze your shoulders forward, instead you must squeeze your shoulder blades backwards so that more of your back muscles get stretched. If you hunch your shoulders forward, it will add to more load being placed on your shoulders as well as the upper back which is not the goal.

The fact of the matter is that any exercise if executed incorrectly has the potential of causing injuries, and the gravity of these injuries may vary from minor to substantial. Therefore it's advisable that you learn about the correct method and procedure of doing seated cable rows, before you decide to begin this for the first time. Consulting a gym instructor, would be a very prudent decision, as they would be able to guide you on how to go about doing the exercise.