...and save your lower back with Hip-Braced Rows!

The Bent-Over Row is a great back exercise, but it's not without it's flaws.

This method of bracing the body is going to help you focus on contracting the muscles of the upper back without having to balance or overload the lower back.

You'll need a power rack to perform this one.

Set one of the safety rails to just below waistband height. Set the weights you're going to use on the ground just in front of you. You can use kettlebells (like I am in the demo), dumbbells or a barbell (if your rack location and setup allows it).

Bend your knees a bit then brace yourself up against the safety rails, with the rail contacting you just below the waistband. Your feet should be set with toes on top of the side beam on the floor.

Now lean forward and grab your weights. I'm using a pair of 50 lb kettlebells for this. Be sure to maintain a good arched position in your lower back. Your core and hips stay braced against the rack rail. Let your shoulder blades get stretched forward and down.

Now row.

Come all the way up to full contraction and squeeze.

This braced position does put loading and tension on the lower back but not in a bad way. It forces strong complementary activation in the hamstrings and glutes and also forces you to use only a weight that you can control so that you reduce the tendency to bob up and down.

This is different than chest-supported rows because of this. It allows you to activate the full posterior chain without the same kind of torque on the lower back that you can get with bent-over rows.

You may find it to be a better option for you for doing your rows.

I also continued the set, once I hit my limit with the two-kb rows. I switched to a Renegade Row type of movement, where I would row just one up at a time. When starting the row with one, push DOWN against the floor with the other kettlebell. This develops some nice cross-tension through the core.

Then I finished with a single kettlebell row (overhand grip) to burn out completely.

The major points to remember with this setup are to brace your hips solidly against the rail, activate the glutes and hams and maintain good lower back position.

Use moderate weights and don't heave them up with the lower back and you're golden. You'll get fantastic activation in the upper back while getting good work on the entire posterior chain.