Renegade row
A plank on two dumbbells, rowing one at a time. Trunk work that resists twisting, combined with upper-back training.
The movement
Plank
01 Plank
Plank on the handles, feet wide, trunk braced.
02 Row
Row one dumbbell to the ribs with the elbow back past the body and the hips dead level.
03 Return
Set the dumbbell down softly without dropping the hips.
04 Alternate
Row the other side, fighting any rotation in the torso.
How to do it
Setup
- Set two hexagonal dumbbells about shoulder-width apart on the floor. Round ones will roll.
- Take a push-up position gripping the handles, with your feet wider apart than usual.
- Tighten everything, as though someone were about to shove you sideways.
Execution
- Shift your weight slightly onto one hand and row the other dumbbell to your ribs.
- Place it down under control, reset your position, and row the other side.
- Keep your hips and shoulders level with the floor the whole time.
Form cues
- Keep your hips square to the floor and do not let them twist with the row.
- Push hard through the supporting arm while the other one pulls.
Common mistakes
- Hips swinging and twisting with every row, which is the defining fault of this exercise.
- Feet too close together, so balance becomes the only difficulty.
- Using round dumbbells that roll partway through a rep.
Worth knowing
- Use hexagonal dumbbells or do not do this exercise. A rolling handle under a loaded wrist is how people get hurt.
General guidance, not medical advice. See how Setkit works.
Notes
The renegade row tests whether you can row without twisting. You have three points of contact, a weight coming off the floor, and a trunk that has to refuse the rotation the load is trying to create. The rowing builds your upper back. The refusing builds trunk control that a plank only starts on.
It is unforgiving, which is why it sits at the advanced end of the library. If your hips rock from side to side with each row, either the weight is too heavy or your plank is not ready yet. Every swinging rep is practice at the thing you are trying not to do. Wide feet, modest weights, and hips that stay level are the whole exercise.
Done in small, strict doses of five or six clean rows per side, it works as hard conditioning inside a circuit while covering pulling and core at a single station.