Electromyographical responses of the lumbar, dorsal and shoulder musculature during the bent-over row exercise: a comparison between standing and bench postures (a preliminary study)

Abstract

Rowing exercises are widely used in resistance training. However, from an efficacy and safety standpoint, few science-based recommendations about proper ergonomics performing different rowing variations are currently available. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the electromyographical (EMG) differences between four variations during the dynamic performance of the bent-over row (BOR) exercise: BOR in inclined bench with 90º shoulder abduction (B/AB); BOR in inclined bench with maximum shoulder adduction (B/AD); standing BOR with 90º shoulder abduction (S/AB); standing BOR with maximum shoulder adduction (S/AD). A cross-sectional preliminary study of repeated measures was designed. three young and healthy participants with previous experience in resistance training were recruited from university students of Sport Sciences Degree (mean ± SD age: 21.67 ± 1.21 years; body mass: 75.13 ± 7.00 kg; IMC: 26.15 ± 1.63 kg/m2; % body fat= 9.72 ± 2.41% height: 1.69 ± 9.43 m; training experience: 4.64 ± 1.39 years). Muscle activity was measured using surface EMG in six lumbar, dorsal, and shoulder muscles: posterior deltoid (PD), latissimus dorsi (LD), upper trapezius (UT), middle trapezius (MT), lumbar portion of erector spinae (LES) and thoracic portion erector spinae (TES). Results showed that the two variations based on standing postures (S/AB and S/AD) caused greater EMG responses both on shoulder and lumbar and dorsal muscles. However, importantly, participants had the highest EMG activity on target muscles (deltoid and trapezius muscles) when performing the BOR in a shoulder abduction position (B/AB and S/AB), independent of whether they were, or were not, working with the bench. Thus, considering that the mild activity showed from the lumbar and dorsal back muscles when performing the bench variations would denote lower spine loads, we can conclude that, from an ergonomic standpoint, the use of the bench should be indicated when performing the BOR exercise. However, this is only a preliminary conclusion and the subject needs future analysis.