Kroc Row

Setup

1. 01Pick a dumbbell noticeably heavier than your strict one-arm row weight.
2. 02Stagger your stance and brace the free hand on a dumbbell rack or bench.
3. 03Hinge the torso to roughly 15 to 45 degrees above horizontal and let the dumbbell hang at full stretch.

Execution

1. 01Row the dumbbell hard toward the hip, letting the shoulder and torso rotate slightly with the pull.
2. 02Drive the elbow back rather than curling the weight up.
3. 03Lower to a full stretch of the lat at the bottom of every rep.
4. 04Grind out reps close to failure, then repeat with the other arm.

Checkpoints

• -Every rep starts from a full lat stretch at the bottom.
• -The elbow finishes past the torso near the hip.
• -Body english assists the pull; it does not replace it.
• -The lower back stays braced, not rounded or twisting loosely.

Common mistakes

• -Cutting the bottom stretch short as fatigue builds.
• -Turning the row into a shrug-and-swing with no lat involvement.
• -Using so much momentum the dumbbell just bounces off the hip.
• -Choosing a weight that forces sloppy, partial reps from rep one.