Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Set an adjustable bench to 30-45° incline. Lie face-down on the bench, chest supported, feet on the floor or footrest. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging straight down. Row both dumbbells up toward your hips, leading with the elbows. Squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top for a 1-second hold. Lower with control — 2-3 seconds — until arms are fully extended. No bouncing.
Why It Works
The chest-supported row eliminates lower-back fatigue from rowing — you lie face-down on an incline bench, so the bench holds your spine in place while your back muscles do all the work. For hockey players, that's huge: every other rowing variation also taxes the spinal erectors, which are already getting hammered by squats, deadlifts, and just the act of skating in a forward-flexed posture. This row gives you all the upper-back stimulus with none of the back fatigue.
Hockey Transfer
Eliminates lower back fatigue — lets you focus purely on back strength. Three sets × 10-12. Heavy enough that the last rep is honest. The bench is your insurance policy — use it.
Coaching Cues
- "Lie prone on incline bench"
- "Pull dumbbells to sides"
- "Squeeze shoulder blades"
Common Mistakes
Lifting the chest off the bench to cheat the weight up — defeats the entire point. Rowing the dumbbells too high (to the armpits) — over-recruits the upper traps instead of the mid-back. Going too heavy — when form breaks, the lower back kicks in to compensate. Lose the weight. Skipping the squeeze at the top — the peak contraction is where the rhomboids fire hardest.
Progression / Regression
Single-arm chest-supported row — anti-rotation challenge added; more shoulder-blade ROM.
Bench-supported dumbbell row (one hand on bench, knee on bench) — easier setup, similar pattern.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
← Back to Exercise Library