If you’ve been around here for a minute you’ve heard this:

“Muscles up Front are for Show, Muscles in Back are for GO!”

or more eloquently put

“You Can Never Have Too Much Ass, Abs and Upper Back” 

I’ve had lots of clients that were:

• Anterior dominant
• Kyphotic <—-generally flexed forward. This is mostly through the thoracic spine.
• Quad dominant
• Weak Core

And to some extent all of those can, and do,  usually result in some movement or orthopedic issues. <—yes, these are typically related. 

But I’ve had very few clients who were:

• Posterior dominant
• Glute dominant
• Overly strong core
• Too thick in the upper back

So what’s this tell me?

We ALL Need More Posterior Chain. 

What’s the posterior chain?

It’s not just muscles, its a concept.

Basically it goes like this:

Look at all the all the muscles of the back.

From the foot to the floor.

See how they kind of all flow into one another.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Shawn Wolfe, performs a back double bicep for the judges during the 22nd Annual Professional/Amateur Championships here, Oct. 2. Wolfe is a Master Sergeant for the 611th Air Support Squadron on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Wolfe went on to win his weight division and the overall male category for the event. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Staff Sgt. Joshua Garcia)

It’s almost like the origin of one muscle is the insertion of the next.

All tying together in one continuous “chain”

That’s on the posterior of the body.

So, because we’re really smart, we call this concept

The Posterior Chain

*Posterior chain wasn’t really even an accepted term 5-10 years ago in the science.

But it is now, so it must me a real thing because there are some papers published now that use the term. <—-this is called sarcasm.

But all the meatheads who know, know what it is, and have for a long time..so there is that.

In general terms you should work your posterior chain with 2-3x’s more volume than the anterior chain.

Yes, that probably means less bench pressing.

Which brings us to a posterior chain killer…

The Pendlay Row

My hips probably could and should be very slightly higher in the start position.

That alone would pull my knees back slightly, you can see they’re a tad forward from vertical.

That said, I’m pretty damn close and this is one of those things that usually self corrects after the first rep as you get into a groove. <—-and don’t want to hit your shins each rep. 

As long as the start position is a neutral spine, deep hip hinge and loaded through the hips/ hamstrings, you’ll be ok.

Checklist:

• HINGE into the hips. The hinge should be like the midpoint of a RDL.
• “Wind up” the glutes/ Externally rotate the head of the femur
• CRUSH the bar the whole time
• Chest up
• “Set” the shoulders
• Pull into the upper stomach to nipple line area.

Bro Tips:

• Stance width should be where you can clear the pelvis and maximize hip hinge. Your shins should be vertical and neutral (straight up and down from all views). This is probably
• Maintain a vertical shin.
• Try not to round over at the thoracic spine too much as you pull.
• STIFFNESS through the whole system matters.
• If you can’t get into a correct start position for either limb length or mobility reasons, you can always use boxes or plates to “bring the bar up to you”.

You need to get STIFF and EXPLODE through the weight, all while CONTROLLING the EXPLOSION.

See, that’s the thing,

CONTROLLING the EXPLOSION.

So if you can’t do that, you shouldn’t do Pendlay Rows.

See how that works?

Why Do the Pendlay Row?

Cause they’re Boss as all hell and help to makes your whole posterior chain STRONG AF.

Look at the setup.

It’s the most awful position of a deadlift, RDL, basically any pull/ hinge.

So it trains the hell out of this (full hinge) position, the muscles that support it (glutes, hamstrings, spinal errectors, mid/upper back, lats) and teaches tension and EXPLOSION out of this position.

Basically, if you are STRONG,

Can CONTROL and when necessary,

EXPLODE out of that position (under control).

Isn’t it a good exercise?

Think of it this way.

Would you want your hard deadlifts to move faster or slower?

Pretty obvious isn’t it?

Barbell Row vs. Pendlay Row

In truth all rows done with a barbell are Barbell Rows.

Therefore, the Pendlay row IS a barbell row.

But as generally accepted/ performed in real life the barbell row isn’t the same as a Pendlay row.

Barbell Row

Is usually performed with:

•  A more of a vertical component to the torso
• Less hinge in the hips
• The bar does not reset on the floor after each rep

The barbell row is basically a upper/ mid back rowing exercise that stresses the posterior chain too.

The Pendlay Row is a POSTERIOR CHAIN exercise that is a row.

Barbell rows are great for hypertrophy of the mid/ upper back (lats, rhomboids, traps) because the muscles are going to be under tension for the duration of the set and the focus of the movement is to use those muscles to complete the movement.

The Pendlay Row probably isn’t as great a muscle builder for the posterior muscles of the upper body, lats/ rhomboids,  as the barbell row but is probably a better POSTERIOR CHAIN/ whole body builder.

Why?

The greater hip hinge and the dead stop and time under tension.

The full range of motion hinge in the Pendlay Row leads to the bar being pulled more vertically, where in barbell rows there is (usually) a horizontal component.

So you’re probably going to use less weight at the same number of reps in a Pendlay row.

The dead stop means you must, from a mechanically disadvantageous position, overcome the inertia of the barbell.

Barbell rows can get a little sling shot/ bounce out of the bottom.

So generally there is probably going to be a bit less eccentric stress in the Pendlay row  and the muscles are under tension for longer in a barbell row.

“Which is better?”

The answer is, as always, it depends on the goal.