Related Blackridge guides: humble row (upper back), pronated pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), 5 dumbbell pullover alternatives (lats + chest), pull-ups (back), cable rope pullover (lats), chest supported row
Table of contents: skip to what you’re interested in
- How-to
- Workout
- Benefits
- Drawbacks
- Helms row vs Pendlay row
- Muscles worked
- Variations
- Alternatives
- Additional resources
This dumbbell row variation isn’t a household name but has a range of benefits that are worth looking into. That being said, if you’ve been doing chest supported rows for a while you might find the new hype a little tiring. The Helms row was coined by Eric Helms (PhD) in recent years. Here’s our complete guide covering everything you need to know.
How to do a helms row
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Form tips
- Place your chest on the end of a bench, using a towel or anything soft to keep your chest protected.
- You want your chest to be in contact with the bench around the nipple line.
- Have a slight bend in the knees, but keep this minimal.
- Your back should be almost parallel to the floor.
- When you’re starting the exercise, focus on pulling your elbows back (see a study on why this matters) until you feel maximum tightness in the lats.
- If you want to focus on lat activation, keep your scapula (shoulder blades) engaged and tight.
- If you want to get some trap activation with the exercise, relax your shoulder blades when the weights are hanging down and then retract them as you start the rep.
Helms row workout
Because this exercise is extremely isolated, with the bench restricting movement, we should keep our workout in a higher rep range. Save your strength rep range for when your core and stabilisation muscles can assist with the load, preventing injury.
We would recommend 12 reps for 3 – 4 sets with a 1 – 2 minute rest.
Related Blackridge guides: humble row (upper back), pronated pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), 5 dumbbell pullover alternatives (lats + chest), pull-ups (back), cable rope pullover (lats), chest supported row
Helms row benefits
The chest assisted element restricts momentum, forcing isolation
With many dumbbell and barbell rows it’s common for people to incorporate some momentum into the rep. You may have experienced this yourself. Sometimes momentum can be handy, for example, if was want to overload the eccentric movement (muscle lengthening). However, in most cases, we should just be using a weight we can handle and performing the movement with the correct form.
Because we’re leaning on our chest, we can’t employ the range of muscles that would help us use momentum and essentially cheat the reps.
The Helms row is one of the easiest chest-assisted rows to set up
Have you ever seen the guy in the gym lying on an incline bench, face down, doing barbell rows. Not only is their range of motion severely shortened, but it also takes an aeon to set up.
With the Helms row you can simply grab some dumbbells and move over to an incline bench. In most cases, it’s not even necessary to use a towel/something soft for your chest
Helms row vs Pendlay row: why we get a better stretch with Helms
The Pendlay row is extremely explosive, it carries well to the deadlift and it puts your lower back under less pressure vs a barbell row as there is an element to rest between each rep.
However, with any barbell variations, the weight has to be somewhat in line without mid-foot to ensure we maintain balance. Because we don’t have to do this with the Helms row, we can gain a bigger stretch, and therefore, range of motion on our lats.
Consider this, if we were going to row a barbell straight from the floor like a Pendlay row, our humerus (upper arm bone) would have to travel further (bigger range of motion) if we move the barbell from our mid-foot (where it should be for correct form/safety), 1 foot forward. With a standing barbell lift, we would never be about to move that weight forward due to biomechanical restrictions, but with the Helms row we can, gaining a bigger stretch and better range of motion.
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Helms row drawbacks
You can’t build a strong back with this exercise alone
Isolation is a double-edged sword. If you’ve completed your compound back exercises and you’re looking for a good accessory, the Helms row is perfect for your lats. However, because we’re restricting movement with this exercise, the other muscles in the back won’t be activated and therefore won’t grow.
Be sure to use compound back exercises to hit all of the other muscles in the back.
Helms row muscles worked
Lats (latissimus dorsi) – Main muscle
As we’ve discussed, the lats are the main muscle in this movement. Responsible for pulling the humerus towards are body, this large muscle will move the majority of the load, with some help from the teres major which also performs this function (among others).
Traps (Trapezius)
If you choose to go for the variation of the Helms row where you relax your shoulder blades, moving them away from the spine before contracting them at the start of the movement, this will work the traps very well.
Helms row variations
Dumbbell Helms row
Barbell Helms row
If dumbbells aren’t working for you, try using a barbell instead. The stability that a barbell brings can make the movement easier to manage.
Helms row alternatives
Barbell row
The barbell row is brilliant at building muscle all over the back, including the lats, traps, rear delt, teres major and spinal erectors. If you’re going to add this exercise to your back or pull workout, I would avoid any other standing barbell exercises to protect your lower back.
Cable high pull
A favourite of Athlean X’s Jeff Cavalier, we can’t ignore the cable high pull. It’s an athletic, functional movement that we can easily load up with more weight. Furthermore, we can use the entire range of motion that we can with the Helms row.
The pull-up
A classic that should be a staple in your routine. This is the first exercise of my back day. It’s incredibly functional and incorporates a wide range of muscles across the entire body.
Ensure that you lean back slightly and attack the bar with your chest to avoid injury and increase activation.
Additional resources
- Variations in muscle activation levels during traditional latissimus dorsi weight training exercises: An experimental study.
- Voluntary increase in latissimus dorsi muscle activity during the lat pull-down following expert instruction
- Related Blackridge guides: humble row (upper back), helms row (lats), pronated pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), 5 dumbbell pullover alternatives (lats + chest), pull-ups (back), cable rope pullover (lats), chest supported row
Olly is a CIMSPA accredited personal trainer with a BSc degree in sport management from Solent University. He has over 10 years experience helping clients reach their health & fitness goals.
