T-Bar Row Attachment for your Power Rack.
One of the most useful accessories I have purchased for my Powerline Power Rack over the years is the T-Bar Row attachment. Training upper back is one of my favorite workouts and I love the pump I get when I do rowing movements.
What are T-Bar Rows?
If you have never tried T- bar rows, you are missing out on a great mass builder for your back. It is a row that is performed by straddling a bar at one end and bending at the hips to roughly a 45 degree angle. Then grabbing a special T Handle and pulling the weights up to your chest.
Because of the angle of these rows, you can use fairly heavy weight for a brutal and productive mass building exercise.
This popular bodybuilding movement will add a new dimension to your back workouts. Not only does it do a great job working your upper back, but it also reaches the upper-middle muscles which will add more thickness to this area. T-Bar rows also work your lower back due to the stabilizing action.
How to do T-Bar Rows
One common way to do T-bar rows is to take a barbell bar and only load weight on to one side, then put the other end in a corner to hold it down. Then straddle the end with the weight, facing away from the wall. You can use a close-grip pull-down handle to lift the weight as in the picture.
This method works for the most part, but it is possible that the other end of the bar may not stay in place while performing the movement and cause you to lose balance, or worse, have the weights cause the bar to tip and dump them all on the floor.
How the Attachment works
If you have a power rack, you can get an adapter that will hold the end of a standard or Olympic barbell and make T-Bar rows a lot easier to perform without worrying about the other end moving on you. As you can see in the picture, I am using a spare 1″ diameter standard bar. You can also use an Olympic bar, just use the larger tube to secure it.
You will also need a handle of some sort. I use a handle that is specifically designed for this purpose. It will work on Olympic or standard bars. Here are some different types of handles for a T-Bar Row attachment.
You can use a “double D” handle upside down for a close grip row. Here is a short video of me using my T-Bar attachment.
Muscles of the back that are worked
The back is comprised of several muscles, the main muscles are:
Latissimus Dorsi (Lats)
When properly developed the Latissimus Dorsi creates width in the upper back, often referred to as the “V-taper” that is desired by bodybuilders.
Trapezius (Traps)
This muscle connects the shoulders to the neck and is the muscle used to shrug your shoulders and assists raising your arms out ot the sides. When the trapezius muscle is well developed, it adds a powerful look to your upper body even when you are wearing a suit!
Erector Spinae (Spinal Erectors)
These are the muscles of the lower back responsible mostly for supporting your upper body and allowing you to stand upright.
All of these muscles are worked when performing the T-bar row exercise.
You will get a lot of use from a T-Bar Row attachment if you are after a muscular upper back and strong spinal erectors. If you have never tried this exercise, I highly recommend going to the local gym to try it out!