23 Renegade Row Variations

An Amazing Core & Back Exercise

Renegade Rows are an amazing dumbbell exercise that has a continual focus of the core, works the upper back, as well as isometrically working the chest and shoulders.

Trainer Dan Hayward's Least To Most Favorite Renegade Row

Working through these Renegade Rows and having to grade them I spent a few training weeks working through the variations so as to seeing the benefits. I grew fond of a few, as well as utterly hating one. Here is a break down of my favorite 4 and my most hated one, which kind of gives us a top 5 Renegade Row hit list, and the benefits I felt when using them.

Starting From My Favorite;

Number 1: The Renegade Row Push Up Squat Thrust

Now I know this isn't as fancy as some of the other variations, however, for overall workout value, as in just plug and play, this is a really effective workout to be had. We have the upper back, chest, shoulders, core, glutes and hamstrings all in play here, with the added cardio vascular edge gained from the squat thrust. I just love the flowing simplicity, that is able to create such a great musclular and cardio vascular hit and this is an exercise that I would recommend using either on its own, or implemented in a super set.

Number 2: The Renegade Row Fly

This exercise is a killer for the chest, and with having to maintain your posture on the drop, it really hits hard on the core. I mixed this also with the push up variation and I have to be honest, if you are looking for a workout that will seriously challenge your chest and only have access to dumbbells, this is the one you want to be functioning.

Now it is a challenging exercise, and you may not be able to function it as a beginner, so if not, it is still worth functioning by droping to the knees to perform the fly and then setting back up to perform the rengade row.

Number 3: The Ab Roller Full Stretch (not on Knee's)

This is a 10/10 for difficulty, and I know you may moan that you don't want to hear about exercises that you cant do, but hear me out.

This is just a bad ass core exercise, that left me aching for 3 days (good ache) and I made a decision to use this frequently during my workouts.

The thing is, you don't need many reps to get the hit in on the mid section, and the added prone isometric positioning from the renegade row simply has your abs screaming. I truly Love this exercise, and definitely recommend for the more advanced among you to get this into your routine. I have a great routine using this, which has brought my abs on tremndously and trust me, my abs are good anyway.

If you want a place to start with this exercise, it is going to be about a good core development, along with using your basic renegade row or other variations. I'd also recommend using the very forgivable roll out on your knees. This is as long as you get back into the full prone position once you have rollled out.

Number 4: The Upper Back rear Delt Renegade Row Variation

Now this may suprise you that it is in my top 5, but it is actually really effective and created a challenge that I wasn't expecting.

The hand positioning made a huge difference to what I was feeling through my core, which is the first reason I placed this in here. It really does engage the core much more, and also my stability when creating the lift was challenged, which again, provokes the core.

The hit on the upper back and rear delts was suprising, and as long as you keep good shape, it's actually a very effective way of hitting the rear delts.

If you are going to try this, you may have to use lighter weights than you typically would for the renegade row as the lats are not involved as much. Give this a go and let me know what you think.

Number 5: The Renegade Row On a Fit Ball (my least favorite, but I actually love it)

This bad boy is just horrible and I have listed it as my least favourite as it is just so hard to function, to the point that I simply can't see many people getting any benefit from it at all. This is because as you can't stay on the ball long enough and the weight you have to use for the Renegade Row has to be very, very light.

However, this exercise challenged me so much that I could not just walk away from it. It genuinely annoyed me so much of how difficult it was that I made it my mission to conquer it. It was either that or burst the ball. Simple! So for me it became a challenge, and i'm still working on it now.

I have improved greatly and have managed to increase the weight and my stability has improved on the ball. The only thing I can say from here is, don't try it because its stupid, but then try it, because its really stupid. If you do give it a go, let me know in the comments section on my you tube channel, by just typing 'STUIPID' and I will know what you are on about.

Final Thought

So the next time you try a Renegade Row, you now know that each variation of the Renegade Row places emphasis on different areas of the body, which is great to know when you are planning a workout.

Workouts become more fun when you can spice up your training routine a little and by adding a modified variation of Renegade row, you can emphasise the muscle group you are training as well as great your own personal challenge.

Let me know how you get on,

Trainer Dan Hayward