Little people and the T-bar row

[womanoid]

I tried out my gyms T-bar row apparatus today and ran into difficulty. It looks like this.



Without any weight on it the mechanics worked fine (pronated grip btw) EXCEPT I had to scoot my the ball portion of my foot off the angled plate and onto the structural support bars holding it up.

I added on 45# (a wu weight) and could not get into position after 3-4 trys. I was either being pulled forward from my center of gravity (onto my toes which as I mentioned weren't properly supported and made it impossible to row), or I had to lean back so far I was nearly in a squat position and at that angle it's again impossible. The plate is about 1.5'+ in front of me.

Anyway... does it sound like this contraption isn't meant for me or am I doing it wrong?

[BRlAN]

From my understanding what you're saying is that when you're trying to grab the hand placements, you're essentially having to extend your arms infront of your body rather than under it, causing your body to be pulled forward.

If such is the case I'd advise you to try and use an outside piece of equipment to help you. I can't post links atm, but if you google / know what I'm talking about, it's close grip seated row handle. Basically you want to 'loop' the grip under the bar. One thing to remember is the closer you have this handle positioned to the pivot point (far right of the picture) the less weight you'll be able to use. Now by that picture the bar that the weights are being put on does look fairly large, so there may be the possibility that the grip doesn't fit comfortably. If such is the case I'd look into the corner of the gym setup for t bar.

Which is taking a barbell to the corner of the gym, or any corner of heavy equipment and wedging one end of the bar into the wall / equipment. Afterwards sit a plate ontop of the cornered end of the bar. Then just use the grip I mentioned above (positioned on the thin part of the bar). If you're lucky your gym may also have a tbar attachment on a rack / near the wall. Which is basically a tube maybe 6 inches long that you insert the end of a barbell in (t bar row bracket) which would replace a need for the wall / counterweight.

[thehobbes]

^^^That, just set up your own bb in a corner and weigh down one end with some 45s. I have the same problem with the t-bar row contraption that is more vertical where you put your chest up against a pad, can not reach at all! T-rex arms of peace.

[womanoid]

Thanks for the replies.