How to Use the Seated Row Machine
A machine seated row is a stack-loaded row with a chest pad. Start with your arms straight and your chest on the pad, then pull the handles to your lower chest until your elbows pass your ribs. It trains the lats, mid traps, rhomboids and rear delts. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps.
- 1Start. Chest on the pad, feet planted, arms straight and shoulder blades reaching forward.
- 2Finish. Drive your elbows back past your ribs until the handles reach your lower chest. Your chest stays on the pad.
Watch 3 video demonstrations
Find more video demonstrations in the Gravitus app
How to do a seated machine row
Every row machine sets up the same way: the seat decides where the handles meet your torso, and the chest pad decides your reach. For seat heights by goal, plate-loaded vs stack machines and which handles to use, see how to do a machine row.
- Set the seat so the handles finish at your lower chest, and the chest pad so your arms are straight when your chest touches it.
- Sit facing the pad with your feet flat on the floor or the footplate. Take the handles with your palms facing each other.
- Start: chest on the pad, arms straight, shoulder blades reaching forward and the stack lifted just off its rest.
- Pull: drive your elbows back along your sides until the handles reach your lower chest and your elbows pass your ribs. Keep your chest on the pad.
- Let the handles go forward over 2 to 3 seconds until your arms are straight, without letting the stack touch down.
Start and finish positions
| Attribute | Start | Halfway | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arms | Straight, not locked hard | Bent, elbows moving back | Bent, elbows just behind your ribs |
| Hands | At arm's length | Halfway to your torso | At your lower chest |
| Shoulder blades | Reaching forward | Starting to come together | Together and down |
| Chest | On the pad | On the pad | On the pad, not lifted off |
| Elbows | Pointing at the stack | Close to your sides | Close to your sides, not flared up |
At the start, your chest touches the pad with your arms straight. If you have to lift off the pad to reach the handles, move the pad closer. If your arms stay bent, move it back. At the finish, the handles reach your lower chest with your elbows just behind your ribs. If they stop short, the weight is too heavy. If your elbows ride up toward your shoulders, raise the seat.
How much weight should you use on the seated row machine?
On Gravitus, the median man lifts 130 lb (60 kg) for 10 reps on the machine seated row, and the median woman 70 lb (30 kg).
- Most lift
- 100 to 170 lb
- Top 10% lift
- 210 lb or more
- Starting out
- under 100 lb
- Most lift
- 50 to 90 lb
- Top 10% lift
- 110 lb or more
- Starting out
- under 50 lb
- Most lift
- 45 to 77.5 kg
- Top 10% lift
- 95 kg or more
- Starting out
- under 45 kg
- Most lift
- 22.5 to 40 kg
- Top 10% lift
- 50 kg or more
- Starting out
- under 22.5 kg
Muscles worked
Three seated row cues the research does not back
- Pin your shoulder blades back before you pull. In a seated row, actively retracting the shoulder blades did not change middle trap or rhomboid activity (Lehman 2004). Let them move instead: forward at the start and together at the finish. That gives the back its full range.
- Thinking about your back makes it work harder for the whole set. When beginners were told to focus on their back in a seated row to failure, lat activity rose 15% on the first reps, but the difference was gone by the final reps (Fujita 2020). The cue can help you learn the pull. It does not replace sets taken close to failure.
- The machine is only for beginners. In a meta-analysis of studies lasting 6 weeks or more, machine and free-weight training built muscle about equally (Haugen 2023). The chest pad also takes your lower back out of the lift.
Sets, reps and progression
Use the seated machine row as the main row on a pull day, or after a vertical pull like the lat pulldown. Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range you can finish with your chest on the pad.
Add reps before weight. When every set reaches 12 with full start and finish positions, move up one pin and drop back to 8. Keep the seat and pad notches the same, or the new number means nothing.
Common mistakes
-
Chest off the pad at the startYou reach for the handles and your lower back takes over. Move the chest pad closer until your arms are straight with your chest on it.
-
Stopping short of the finishThe handles never reach your torso, so the back never fully contracts. Go lighter until the handles reach your lower chest on every rep.
-
Leaning back to finishYour chest leaves the pad and your hips move the weight. Keep your chest on the pad the whole set.
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Elbows riding upThe seat is too low and your shoulders shrug. Raise the seat until the handles finish at your lower chest.
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Cutting the start shortYour arms stay bent and the shoulder blades never move forward. Let the handles go all the way out on every rep.
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Letting the stack crashReturn over 2 to 3 seconds without letting the plates touch down between reps.
Seated machine row variations
Questions people ask
What is the starting and finishing position of the seated row machine, and where should the chest pad be?
Start with your chest on the pad, your arms straight and your shoulder blades reaching forward. Finish with the handles at your lower chest and your elbows just behind your ribs, chest still on the pad. Set the pad so your arms are straight when your chest touches it.
What muscles do seated rows work?
The lats, middle and lower traps and rhomboids, with the rear delts and biceps helping. The middle traps and rhomboids were more active in the seated row than in lat pulldowns (Lehman 2004).
Is MTS row the same as seated row?
It is a seated row machine. The Hammer Strength MTS Iso-Lateral Row has an overhead pivot and a separate 150 lb (68 kg) stack for each arm, so each side can pull on its own (Life Fitness). The start and finish positions are the same as on any seated row machine.
Is seated row push or pull?
Pull. It is a horizontal pull, the opposite of a chest press, and most programs put it on a pull or back day.
What is the seated row machine good for?
Training the lats and mid back with the chest pad holding your torso still. That makes it easy to learn, and it lets you row hard without tiring your lower back, for example the day after deadlifts.
How much weight should I use on the seated row machine?
For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 130 lb (60 kg) for men and 70 lb (30 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 170 lb (77.5 kg) and 90 lb (40 kg) or more.
Log every set and see your percentile on every lift, machine seated row included.
Get GravitusRelated exercises
- Lehman et al. 2004. Dyn Med 3(1):4.
- Fujita et al. 2020. Percept Mot Skills 127(5):925-938.
- Vasconcelos et al. 2023. Int J Strength Cond 3(1).
- Haugen et al. 2023. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil 15(1):103.
- Schoenfeld et al. 2021. Sports 9(2):32.
- Life Fitness. Hammer Strength MTS Iso-Lateral Row, product specifications.