If your training is heavy on pressing but light on pulling, your shoulders know it. And if you have spent any time coaching athletes or building programs, you know that horizontal pull exercises are not optional. They are foundational.
Horizontal pulls target the muscles responsible for posture, scapular stability, and shoulder health. They balance out every bench press, push-up, and overhead movement you do. Without them, you end up with internally rotated shoulders, chronic upper back weakness, and eventually, injuries that could have been prevented.
After 20+ years of coaching Olympic weightlifters, NFL linebackers, competitive HYROX athletes, and everyday people who want to move better, I have seen what happens when horizontal pulling gets neglected. I have also seen what happens when it gets programmed correctly: stronger deadlifts, healthier shoulders, better posture, and a back that actually matches the front.
Below are the 12 best horizontal pull exercises I use with my athletes and members at Hunger in the Wild. Each one includes coaching cues you will not find in a generic exercise list, because the difference between a good row and a wasted rep is always in the details.
A horizontal pull is any exercise where you pull a load toward your torso in a path roughly perpendicular to your spine. Think of it as the opposite of a bench press. Where pressing pushes weight away from your chest, horizontal pulling brings it back in.
These are different from vertical pulls like chin-ups and lat pulldowns, which move the load downward from overhead. Both are essential, but horizontal pulls do something vertical movements cannot: they directly train scapular retraction and the mid-back muscles that keep your shoulders packed and stable under heavy loads.
Primary muscles worked: latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, middle and lower trapezius, posterior deltoids, teres major, and biceps. The core also plays a significant stabilization role in most free-weight horizontal pulls.
Every pressing movement you do creates internal rotation at the shoulder. Over time, without a counterbalance, this leads to impingement, rotator cuff irritation, and chronic anterior shoulder pain. I have worked with enough athletes rehabbing from shoulder injuries to tell you this: nearly every one of them had a push-to-pull imbalance. Horizontal pulls are the single most effective way to correct it.
Your upper back is the shelf your squat sits on and the brace that keeps your deadlift locked. Weak rhomboids and traps mean the bar drifts forward, your chest caves, and the lift breaks down. Every strong deadlifter I have coached rows heavy and rows often.
Telling someone to sit up straighter does nothing if their mid-back muscles cannot hold the position. Horizontal pulls strengthen the muscles that physically pull your shoulder blades together and down. This is not about aesthetics. It is about function. If you sit at a desk for eight hours a day, your posterior chain is fighting an uphill battle. Give it the tools to win.
Best for: Overall back mass and strength. This is the heavy compound movement of horizontal pulls.
Hinge at the hips until your torso is roughly 45 degrees to the floor. Grip the bar just outside your knees with an overhand grip. Brace your core, set your lats, and pull the bar to your lower ribcage. Lower under control.
Coaching cue: Think about driving your elbows toward your back pockets, not pulling with your hands. If you feel this more in your biceps than your back, your elbows are flaring too wide. Keep them at about 30 degrees from your body. I program these for 4 sets of 6-8 reps with a 2-second eccentric for most of my athletes.
Best for: Fixing imbalances and building unilateral back strength.
Plant one hand and knee on a bench. Let the dumbbell hang straight down. Pull it to your hip, not your chest. Your shoulder blade should fully retract at the top.
Coaching cue: Do not rotate your torso to heave the weight up. If you are twisting, the dumbbell is too heavy. Think about pulling your elbow toward the ceiling, not the weight toward your body. A slight pause at the top makes this twice as effective.
Best for: Isolating the back without lower back fatigue. Essential for anyone training heavy squats and deadlifts the same week.
Set an incline bench to 30-45 degrees. Lie face down with a dumbbell in each hand. Let your arms hang and pull both dumbbells to your hips in an arcing motion.
Coaching cue: This is one of my go-to exercises for athletes who are running high volume squat and deadlift cycles. The bench takes the lower back completely out of the equation, so you can train your back hard without adding systemic fatigue. I typically program 3 sets of 10-12 reps here.
Best for: Constant tension throughout the range of motion. Great for hypertrophy.
Sit with feet braced, arms extended, back tall. Pull the handle to your stomach, squeezing your shoulder blades together at peak contraction. Return under control without rounding your back.
Coaching cue: The cable never lets up, which is what makes this different from free weights. Use that to your advantage by slowing down both phases of the movement. If you are swinging your torso back and forth, you have turned this into a lower back exercise. Stay upright.
Best for: Heavy pulling with a neutral grip that is easier on the shoulders.
Straddle the bar or use a landmine attachment. Grab the handle with a neutral grip, hinge forward, and pull the bar toward your chest. Lower with control.
Coaching cue: The neutral grip shifts more of the load to the lats and takes pressure off the wrists and elbows. If barbell rows bother your joints, try this variation first before changing your programming entirely.
Best for: Bodyweight horizontal pulling. Scalable for beginners and advanced athletes alike.
Set a barbell in a rack at hip height. Hang underneath with arms extended, body straight from heels to shoulders. Pull your chest to the bar, keeping your body rigid. Lower under control.
Coaching cue: This is the horizontal pull-up, and it is criminally underused. Lower the bar to make it easier, raise it to make it harder. Elevate your feet on a box for an advanced variation. I use these as a warm-up movement before heavy barbell work and as a finisher on back days. 3 sets to near-failure works well.
Best for: Shoulder-friendly pulling with a natural grip rotation. Perfect for athletes with cranky shoulders.
Hang from gymnastics rings set at hip height. Walk your feet forward until your body is at the desired angle. Pull your chest to the rings, allowing your wrists to rotate naturally.
Coaching cue: Rings allow your wrists and shoulders to find their natural path, which makes this one of the safest horizontal pull variations available. We use these extensively in our group strength classes for members at every level. Start more upright to reduce difficulty and work your way toward parallel.
Best for: Explosive pulling power. Directly transfers to clean and snatch performance.
Start with the bar on the floor. Hinge over until your back is parallel to the ground. Pull the bar explosively to your sternum, then lower it back to the floor. Each rep starts from a dead stop.
Coaching cue: This is the row I use most with my Olympic weightlifters. The dead-stop eliminates momentum and forces you to generate power from scratch on every rep, which directly carries over to first-pull strength in the snatch and clean. Stay strict. If your torso is rising to meet the bar, go lighter.
Best for: Lat-focused pulling with a unique range of motion. Named after the late John Meadows.
Set up a barbell in a landmine. Stand perpendicular to the bar with a staggered stance. Grab the end of the bar with an overhand grip and row it toward your hip.
Coaching cue: The landmine arc creates an angle that hits the lats differently than any standard row. Focus on a deep stretch at the bottom and a hard squeeze at the top. 3 sets of 8-10 per side. This is a great exercise to throw into the second half of a back session when the spine is already fatigued from heavier work.
Best for: Rear deltoid and rotator cuff health. Every pressing athlete should be doing these.
Set a cable at face height with a rope attachment. Pull the rope toward your face, splitting the ends apart as your hands reach your ears. Squeeze your rear delts at the top.
Coaching cue: Face pulls are not a strength exercise. Keep the weight moderate and focus on the contraction. I have every one of my athletes do face pulls at least twice per week, usually 3 sets of 15-20 reps. If you bench, overhead press, or do any Olympic lifting, these are non-negotiable.
Best for: Kettlebell-based horizontal pulling with built-in anti-rotation. Great for conditioning days.
Place two kettlebells between your feet. Hinge forward, grab both handles. Row one kettlebell while pressing the other into the floor for stability. Alternate sides.
Coaching cue: The dead-stop and alternating pattern make this excellent for HYROX athletes and anyone training for hybrid fitness. The anti-rotation component turns it into a core exercise as well. I program these in blocks of 5-8 reps per side for 3-4 sets.
Best for: Pure upper back isolation with zero lower back involvement.
Lie face down on a flat bench that is elevated on blocks or plates so your arms can hang freely. Row a barbell or dumbbells up until they touch the underside of the bench.
Coaching cue: The seal row is the most honest horizontal pull you can do. There is nowhere to hide and no way to cheat. If an athlete tells me they are rowing 225 on bent-over rows but cannot do 135 on a seal row, we have a conversation about what rowing actually means. 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
The most common mistake I see is treating rows as an afterthought. People train chest and shoulders with intensity and structure, then throw in a few sets of whatever row is nearest. That approach builds an imbalanced body.
Here is how I program horizontal pulls at Hunger in the Wild:
Volume: Match or exceed your horizontal pressing volume. If you do 12 sets of pressing per week, do at least 12 sets of horizontal pulling. Most of my athletes do 14-18 sets of pulling per week across all variations.
Frequency: Horizontal pulls 2-3 times per week. Spread them across your training days rather than hammering them all in one session.
Rep ranges: Heavy compound rows (barbell, Pendlay) in the 5-8 range. Isolation and machine rows in the 8-12 range. Face pulls and bodyweight work in the 12-20 range.
Tempo: Control the eccentric on every rep. A 2-second lowering phase dramatically increases time under tension and back development. Rushing the eccentric is the single biggest mistake people make on rows.
| Day | Exercise | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Barbell Bent-Over Row | 4 x 6-8 |
| Monday | Face Pull | 3 x 15-20 |
| Wednesday | Chest-Supported DB Row | 3 x 10-12 |
| Wednesday | Gorilla Row | 3 x 8/side |
| Friday | Seated Cable Row | 3 x 10-12 |
| Friday | Inverted Row | 3 x max reps |
This gives you 19 working sets of horizontal pulling per week, spread across three sessions. Adjust based on your overall training volume and recovery capacity.
Q: What is the difference between horizontal and vertical pull exercises?
A: Horizontal pulls move the load toward your torso (rows). Vertical pulls move the load downward from overhead (pull-ups, lat pulldowns). Both are necessary for complete back development, but horizontal pulls are more effective for mid-back thickness, scapular retraction strength, and posture correction.
Q: Can I do horizontal pull exercises at home without equipment?
A: Yes. Inverted rows under a sturdy table, ring rows with a set of gymnastics rings hung from a pull-up bar or tree branch, and towel rows using a closed door are all effective horizontal pull exercises you can do at home. A set of resistance bands also opens up banded rows.
Q: How many sets of horizontal pulls should I do per week?
A: Most people benefit from 12-18 sets of horizontal pulling per week. At minimum, match your horizontal pressing volume. If you are doing a lot of bench pressing or overhead work, lean toward the higher end.
Q: What is a horizontal pull-up?
A: A horizontal pull-up is another name for an inverted row. You set a bar at hip-to-waist height, hang underneath it with your body straight, and pull your chest to the bar. It is the bodyweight equivalent of a cable row and is one of the best entry points into horizontal pulling for beginners.
Q: Which horizontal pull exercise is best for beginners?
A: The seated cable row and the inverted row are the two best starting points. The cable row provides stability and constant tension, making it easy to learn proper scapular retraction. The inverted row uses bodyweight and can be scaled by adjusting your foot position. Both build the foundation you need before moving to heavier free-weight rows.
Reading about horizontal pull exercises is a good start. Training them with a coach who can watch your form, adjust your programming, and hold you accountable is what actually gets results.
At Hunger in the Wild in Dallas’s Design District, every training session includes structured pulling work programmed by coaches with decades of experience. Whether you train in our group strength classes or work one-on-one with a personal trainer, you will never wonder if your back training is on point.
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