What is a barbell row?

In one line

A barbell row is an exercise where you lean your upper body forward and pull a barbell toward your stomach and lower it again, mainly working the back muscles.

What is a barbell row?
The back exercise where you bend over and pull
On back day at the gym, you often hear the word 'row'. The barbell row is the one done standing with a barbell. This post explains what the barbell row looks like and which muscles it uses.
In one line
Bent over, pull the bar to your stomach
A barbell row is an exercise where you lean your upper body forward, hold a barbell, pull it toward your stomach, then lower it. The Korean dictionary describes keeping the back straight and the knees slightly bent while holding the bar a little wider than shoulder width and lifting and lowering it. It is also called the 'bent-over row'.
Several joints at once
The shoulder and elbow move together
A joint is where two bones meet so the body can bend and straighten. While you pull the bar, the elbow bends and the upper arm is drawn back behind the body at the shoulder. Because two joints move together, the barbell row is a 'compound exercise', one where several joints move at once.
Main muscle 1
The latissimus dorsi, spread across the back
The latissimus dorsi starts near the pelvis and lower spine, spreads widely over the lower back, and narrows to attach to the upper arm bone. It pulls the upper arm down and back behind the body. The Korean dictionary also describes the bent-over row as an exercise for building this muscle.
Main muscle 2
The trapezius and the rear deltoid
The trapezius is a large muscle covering the back of the neck and upper back; it pulls the two shoulder blades (the flat bones of the upper back) toward the middle. The rear part of the deltoid, the muscle that wraps the shoulder, also works. Researchers who reviewed muscle studies summed up the bent-over row as working these two muscles along with the latissimus dorsi.
A helping muscle
The biceps, which bends the elbow
The elbow bends while you pull the bar toward your body. The muscle that bends the elbow is the biceps, on the front of the upper arm. So in the barbell row, the biceps works along with the back muscles.
The muscle that holds the lean
The erector spinae, which straightens the spine
The erector spinae is a group of muscles running up and down along the spine that straighten it. When you hold a barbell with your upper body bent forward, these muscles keep the body from folding further. In the standing bent-over row, the back muscles from the upper back down to the lower back worked hard and evenly on both sides.
Related rows
Dumbbell rows and seated rows
If you hold dumbbells in one or both hands instead of a barbell, it is a 'dumbbell row'. If you sit at a machine and pull a handle, it is a 'seated row'. The pulling-toward-the-body movement is the same; the equipment and body position differ.
A common misconception
Does the barbell row use only the back and arms?
No. The lower back muscles that hold the bent-over position also work hard. A standing bent-over row holding free weights such as a barbell or dumbbells made the erector spinae work about 1/3 more than a seated machine row. Compared with a row done hanging under a bar and a standing one-arm cable row, the standing bent-over row also put the largest force on the lower spine.
Summary
Bend over, pull, and use the whole back
A barbell row is an exercise where you lean forward and pull a barbell toward your stomach and lower it; it mainly works the latissimus dorsi, trapezius and rear deltoid, with the biceps helping. The erector spinae also works hard to hold the lean. Related terms: compound exercise, deadlift, lat pulldown.