Single-arm dumbbell row

What it is

Put one hand and the same-side knee on a bench, so your back is roughly horizontal and supported at three points. Hold a dumbbell in the free hand, arm hanging straight down.

Pull the dumbbell up towards your hip, leading with the elbow rather than the hand, letting your shoulder blade travel towards your spine. Lower until the arm is straight and the shoulder blade has come back around.

A chair, a low table or a windowsill all work if there is no bench.

What it demands

Pulling strength, at whatever load you have — which is the point. This is the most scalable pull in the collection because the weight is chosen rather than being a fraction of your bodyweight.

Resisting rotation. The load is on one side, so the trunk has to stop you turning towards it. Less than in a standing single-sided movement, because the bench takes some of the job, but present.

Very little balance or trunk endurance, since three points are supported. That is exactly why it is the accessible option.

What usually goes wrong

Rowing to the shoulder. The dumbbell travels towards the hip, not up under the armpit.

Yanking with the arm alone. The shoulder blade should move. Starting each rep by letting the blade travel forward at the bottom, then drawing it back, makes the whole range available.

Twisting to lift more. The torso rotates to help the arm through. It moves more weight and trains less, and it is the reason to keep the shoulders square.

Not straightening the arm at the bottom. As with every pull, the bottom is where the range gets quietly shortened.

Where it sits

The easiest place to start loaded pulling, and a useful complement to the inverted row — that one scales by body angle, this one by weight, and between them almost any starting point is covered.

Because pulling is the hardest pattern to equip at home, having two independent ways to scale it matters more than it does for pushing.

The bent-over row is the unsupported version, which adds a substantial hinge and trunk demand.