Related Blackridge guides: helms row (lats), pronated pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), 5 dumbbell pullover alternatives (lats + chest), pull-ups (back), cable rope pullover (lats), chest supported row
Table of contents: skip to what you’re interested in
- How-to
- Workout
- Benefits
- Drawbacks
- Humble row vs chest supported row
- Muscles worked
- Alternatives
- Additional resources
What is a humble row?
The humble row is a form chest supported dumbbell row. If you’re wondering if there’s something that makes the humble row different from a normal chest supported dumbbell row, that would be the wrist and elbows position that leads to more rear deltoid, rhomboid and trap activation. However, this is a niche row variation and a lot of people will see this exercise as a standard chest supported dumbbell row.
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Humble row form
Key form consideration: what makes the humble row different from a normal chest assisted incline row is how far our elbows are out to the sides of our torso. The point of the humble row is to engage the rear delts and traps more by having our elbows out to the side, similar to a wide-grip seated row. This reduces lat activation and is the key differentiator of this movement.
Have your elbows out to your sides by at least 45 degrees. You can go further than this but choose an angle that gets the most rear delt and trap activation for you.
Form tips
- Set your bench up at a 30 – 45 degree angle and lie on it chest first.
- Hold your dumbbells with a pronated (overhand) grip, with your palms facing towards your feet.
- Ensure that we’re letting our shoulder blades move laterally, away from our spine at the start of the exercise. This will allow us to contract our traps later on.
- To start the movement, pull your elbows back whilst contracting your traps to retract your scapula (shoulder blades).
- You want your elbows pointing out to the side of your torso by at least 45 degrees. The further your elbows are our from our body, the more delt and trap recruitment we’ll have, with the lats being used less.
- Continue this movement until you feel max tightness in your back, with your elbows behind your torso
- From here, release the tension in your delts, lats and traps to return to the starting point
Humble row workout
Generally, we would recommend away from training movements like these for strength. This is due to the risk of injury associated with overloading quite an isolated movement. Your shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, racking up huge 1 rep max’s on your rear delt is a recipe for disaster.
Aim for 12 reps for 3 – 4 sets with a 1 – 2 minute rest time.
Related Blackridge guides: helms row (lats), pronated pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), 5 dumbbell pullover alternatives (lats + chest), pull-ups (back), cable rope pullover (lats), chest supported row
Humble row benefits
Great for building upper back
As this row is specialised for targeting the traps and rear delts, it’s no surprise that it’s great for building your upper back.
Whilst there is some lat activation, this muscle plays a smaller role in this movement
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The chest support restricts momentum, improve target muscle activation
With so many standing movements it’s common to see people using momentum to complete a rep instead of focusing on the muscle we’re trying to use.
The chest support aspect of this exercise restricts us from using momentum as we might with a standing barbell row.
Humble row drawbacks
Difficult to overload due to the isolated nature of the movement
As mentioned early, this is not an exercise where you should be looking for progressive overload or a one-rep max. Leave that for your big compound lists where you can keep your joints safe with the help of your core.
Humble row vs chest supported row
The key point to bear in mind is that most people use the humble row to get more rear delt and trap activation by abducting the arm (moving away from the midline, to the side) to a particular degree. This leads to less lat activation as the function of the lats is primarily to pull the humerus back towards the torso when the arms are directly in front.
When someone is performing a chest supported dumbbell row, they’re usually keeping their elbows in line with the edge of their torso, recruiting the lat muscle primarily. Therefore, because they target different muscles, which exercise is better will depend on what muscle you’re looking to train.
Humble row muscles worked
Rear (posterior) deltoid
The further away our elbow moves out to the side in a pulling movement, the more the rear delt will be engaged. This is why the face-pull is such a great rear delt exercise because we’re pulling our arms back and directly to the side (like a cactus…).
Trapezius
Concerned with the stability of the shoulder blades, we’re giving our traps a great workout when we relax our scapula at the start of the movement and retract them during a rep. If you’re not using scapular movement on top arm movement (lat and rear delt focused), you’re missing a trick.
Rhomboids (Rhomboideus major and minor)
The rhomboids retract the scapula and rotate the shoulder socket (Glenoid cavity) which is crucial in the movement as we’re moving our scapular away from our spine and then retracting it in every rep.
Lats (latissimus dorsi)
Whilst they play a lesser role in this variation of the row, you’ll likely find some lat activation if you’re elbows aren’t completely out to the side.
Humble row alternatives
Wide grip cable row
If you would prefer to use a cable, try this variation. We’re working the same muscles but you may find this is more comfortable or easier to use than dumbbells.
Chest supported wide machine rows
Once again, this exercise is mimicking the humble row very closely as our elbows flair out to the sides.
One point to bear in mind is that fewer stabilisation muscles will be used with a machine, making it slightly less functional. However, the machine does allow you to increase the weight significantly which can help to build strength and size. Ensure you’re also performing free weight exercises with this move.
Additional resources
- Variations in muscle activation levels during traditional latissimus dorsi weight training exercises: An experimental study.
- A Comparison of Muscle Activation during the Pull-up and Three Alternative Pulling Exercises
- Related Blackridge guides: helms row (lats), pronated pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), 5 dumbbell pullover alternatives (lats + chest), pull-ups (back), cable rope pullover (lats), chest supported row
Olly is a CIMSPA accredited personal trainer with a BSc degree in sport management from Solent University. He has over 10 years experience helping clients reach their health & fitness goals.
