Renegade rows are deceptive. They kind of look like a plank with a simple weight pull. Simple in so far as it doesn’t seem technically challenging. And you’re probably right, you don’t need a lot of technical expertise to perform renegades effectively. However, they expose shortcomings in strength and stability and they’re extremely challenging.
Benefits of Renegade Rows
- Training anti-extension – avoiding overextension in power movements such as bending your core in a heavy a lift
- Training anti-rotation – preventing your core from rotating which, ironically, is important in developing rotational power like swinging a bat
- Stabilizing through strength – works the complete core, the trunk musculature so, it’s core stabilization but in a total sense
- Scapular stability
Let’s concentrate on that last point here because once you try this exercise you’re not going to have a problem feeling the impact on your lats, sensing the tension in the musculature of your trunk and realizing the stabilization forces that come into play.
When it comes to scapular stability we have to think about how we perceive the shoulder and it’s relationship to the scapula. Looking at the diagram below, you’ll notice that the muscles around the scapulae are much larger than those around the rotator cuff. The stability of your shoulder comes from these muscles so, you don’t want weakness and immobility here.
Train for Balance
Here’s how to fit the get up, and it’s its counter the renegade row, into your training:
Men’s Weights:
- Beginner: 10% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
- Intermediate: 20% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
- Advanced: 30% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
- Beast: 40% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
Women’s Weights:
- Beginner: 5% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
- Intermediate: 10% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
- Advanced: 15% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
- Amazonian Goddess: 25% of your bodyweight for 5 reps per arm
Your body should feel stronger and more stable after adding renegade rows to your daily routine. You can include it as part of your warm-up or as an integral routine in your strength and conditioning program. The effect on your trunk musculature and scapular region should be noticeable over a short space of time. The carryover into more functional movements should help create greater opportunities for you to evolve in your practice. We have highlighted the dumbbell variation here, but you can also check out kettlebell renegade rows here. For a full set of dumbbell workouts try 12-Week Moster DB plan.
