Exercise guide · Beginner · Compound

Seated Cable Row: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The seated cable row pulls a low cable handle to your stomach while you sit with your feet braced. With your torso supported it trains the mid-back and lats without loading the lower back, and the cable keeps tension through the whole rep.

Primary muscles
Traps
Secondary muscles
Forearms , Biceps
Equipment
Cable
Level · type
Beginner · Compound

Written by the FitStack training team. Last reviewed .

Demonstration of the seated cable row
Front view: muscles worked by the seated cable row. Primary: traps. Secondary: forearms and biceps.
Back view: muscles worked by the seated cable row. Primary: traps. Secondary: forearms and biceps.
Primary Secondary

How to do the seated cable row

  1. Step 1: Sit on the cable row machine with your feet flat on the footrests and your knees slightly bent.
  2. Step 2: Grasp the handles with an overhand grip, keeping your back straight and your shoulders relaxed.
  3. Step 3: Pull the handles towards your body, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
  4. Step 4: Pause for a moment at the peak of the movement, then slowly release the handles back to the starting position.
  5. Step 5: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form cues

  • Sit tall with knees slightly bent and a neutral-grip handle at arm length.
  • Pull the handle to your stomach, driving the elbows back past your torso.
  • Squeeze your shoulder blades together, then let your arms and shoulder blades reach forward for a full stretch.
  • Keep the torso nearly upright; a small lean is fine.

Common seated cable row mistakes

  • Rocking the torso back and forth.

    Fix: Limit the lean to a few degrees and let the arms and back do the work.

  • Shoulders rolling forward at the top of the pull.

    Fix: Keep your chest up and pull the shoulder blades back.

Sets, reps and programming

Do 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 15 reps. A wide bar with elbows flared biases the upper back and rear delts; a close neutral grip biases the lats.

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the seated cable row by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Variations and progressions

Seated Cable Row alternatives

More exercises that train the traps as their main target:

Seated Cable Row FAQs

Should you lean back on seated cable rows?

Only a little. A slight lean helps you pull through a full range, but rocking far back turns the row into a lower-back exercise and lets momentum take over.

More traps exercises

See the best trap exercises, ranked →

Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset; cues, mistakes, programming and FAQs are written by FitStack.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.