Thread: Rows
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Old 08-26-2008, 07:55 AM
Andrew.cook Andrew.cook is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Lancaster, Ohio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross86 View Post
Do you think that if you worked on form & practiced for a few months that you would be able to eventually get the same or more benefit by doing them strictly?
Lol, practiced for a few months Um, well, I did strict rows for years and years. If I were to go strict, I would probably favor Yates rows and go with higher reps (On a side note, Yates rows done in a smith rack are great, it might be the one true use for a smith rack where the bar path isn't a liability, IMO). However, no, I find that a little slop works just fine for my rows. Likewise, I almost never do overhead presses strictly and my shoulder development has grown a great deal.

Perhaps I'm giving the wrong impression here. I'm not talking about dangerous breaks in form, I'm talking about allowing for some body momentum.

To give you an example, I worked up to around 285 for a single pulling Pendlay rows pretty strictly. Using a little leg drive out of the hole has allowed me to use 265x5 and allows me to accelerate the bar faster. So, 20lbs off of my strict max for reps... yeah... there is no contest there. Plus at the end of the day any time I'm performing a row in competition (stones, log) there is no extra credit for being strict. Same thing with overhead pressing. So I tend to practice like I play. I would say that the real benefit for me is that a little leg drive greatly improves my pull/press speed. This in turn allows me to generate greater force (you know, using that whole F= M * A formula, if that matters to you). So the end result is probably better for me when the row is not a total grind, like it is when I get strict. The weight I can use goes up and the speed goes up... so... yeah.

Might not be for everyone, just giving my point of view. Keep in mind that I don't train like a powerlifter or a bodybuilder, and my training suits my needs.
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