Arnold Schwarzenegger Just Showed Off One of His Go-To Back Exercises
Action movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger has been vocal about the need to stay inside and practice social distancing as much as possible during the pandemic—and he's been using this time to get in even better shape at home, often sharing clips of his training to social media to show just how spry he still is in his seventies. In his latest Instagram post, Schwarzenegger shows off one of his "favorite exercises" that make up his back day workout: the T-bar row.
T-bar rows are a classic back day move. You don't necessarily even need a T-bar in order to do this exercise, since you can achieve similar movements by using a barbell in a landmine setup. In fact, the principles behind the T-bar row helped to popularize the landmine; a lot of landmine moves, like meadows rows and landmine shoulder presses with a Viking grip attachment, have been done on the T-bar for years.
"These are a move that really build mid and lower back strength," says Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel C.S.C.S.. "The mid-back handles most of the direct pulling, while the lower back has to function as a stabilizer, in tandem with the abdominal muscles."
Old, but not obsolete. T-bar rows are one of my favorite exercises. Here’s some Monday motivation!
A post shared by Arnold Schwarzenegger (@schwarzenegger) on Aug 31, 2020 at 2:54pm PDT
However, if you're interested in trying this move yourself, it's probably best not to emulate the form Schwarzenegger is demonstrating in the video, as his technique is relying a little too much on the lower back for movement.
"In many ways, Arnold’s technique is reminiscent of bodybuilder technique on a seated cable row, but in this situation, we want to advocate a different style: brace through the core and squeeze your glutes, limiting lower back movement as much as possible," says Samuel.
"Essentially, you want to be in the bottom of your comfortable hinge position, hold that and then row the weight upwards, squeezing your back at the top of every rep. Ideally, start with 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps."
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