The rack pull-up, more commonly known as an inverted row, is a bodyweight pulling exercise performed with a barbell fixed in a squat rack at waist to chest height. Lying beneath the bar with feet on the ground and body angled in a straight line, you pull your chest toward the bar, working the lats, rhomboids, and biceps through a horizontal pulling pattern. Because the feet stay on the floor and the body angle can be adjusted, it lets you scale resistance by changing the incline, making it an accessible way to build pulling strength before progressing to a full vertical pull-up.
Muscles Targeted
- Primary: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, middle trapezius
- Secondary: Biceps brachii, rear deltoids
- Tertiary: Forearms (grip), core stabilizers
Starting Position
Set a barbell in a squat rack at a height between your waist and chest. Lie underneath it and grasp the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width. Walk your feet forward until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to heels, arms fully extended and heels planted on the floor.
Execution Steps
- Brace your core and glutes to keep your body rigid before initiating the pull
- Pull your chest toward the bar by driving your elbows back and down, squeezing your shoulder blades together
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout the pull, avoiding any sagging at the hips
- Touch your chest to the bar at the top of the movement, pausing briefly for a full contraction
- Lower yourself under control back to a fully extended arm position, resisting the urge to drop quickly
- Repeat for the desired number of reps, maintaining rigid body position throughout
Form Cues
- Lead with the elbows: Driving the elbows back rather than pulling with the hands emphasizes the back muscles
- Keep the body rigid: Treat your torso and legs as a single unit from shoulders to heels
- Squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top: This ensures full contraction of the mid-back muscles
- Adjust the bar height to control difficulty: A lower bar and more horizontal body angle increases resistance
- Keep the chin tucked slightly: Avoid craning the neck forward to reach the bar
Common Mistakes
- Letting the hips sag: This removes tension from the back muscles and places stress on the lower back
- Using a bar set too high: A bar that is too high results in a very short, low-resistance range of motion that limits results
- Pulling with the arms instead of the back: This shifts the workload away from the lats and rhomboids and onto the biceps alone
- Dropping quickly on the descent: A fast, uncontrolled lowering phase wastes the eccentric portion of the lift
- Flaring the elbows too wide: This can place unnecessary stress on the shoulder joints and reduce back engagement
Variations
- Feet-improved inverted row: improving the feet on a bench increases the body angle and overall resistance
- Underhand-grip rack pull-up: An underhand grip shifts more emphasis onto the biceps
- Single-arm rack pull-up: Pulling with one arm at a time increases unilateral back and core demand
- TRX inverted row: Suspension straps allow continuous adjustment of body angle and resistance
- Weighted rack pull-up: Adding a weight plate across the hips increases resistance once bodyweight reps become easy
Tips for Progression
- Lower the bar height gradually to increase the body angle and resistance as you get stronger
- improve your feet on a bench or box once standard rack pull-ups become easy
- Add a brief pause at the top of each rep to increase time under tension
- Progress toward a full dead-hang pull-up once you can perform rack pull-ups for 12-15 controlled reps
Training Notes
Include rack pull-ups 2-3 times per week as a back-focused pulling exercise, typically for 8-12 reps across 3-4 sets with 60-90 seconds of rest between sets. They work well early in a back or pull-day session, or as a stepping stone in a program building toward strict pull-ups.