Should I ditch T bar rows?

[Josh7000]

I've been doing T bar rows lately, and I've built up to doing a lot of weight on them and it seems to be putting a lot of pressure on my spine, my back stays straight while doing it so I don't think it's a posture issue but it's normally when I put the weight down I feel a lot of pressure across the middle of my back and spine. Should I ditch them? or should I try a lifting belt?

[PVSSY]

Yeah do chest supported rows or cable rows if your back is hurting

[InternetTuffGuy]

Never been a fan of t-bar rows. They seem to limit my breathing with the pressure of the pad on your chest. I mainly do barbell rows but I treid the Pendlay rows my last pull day and I gotta say they feel the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRrIsoDpKg

[HJB12]

i did t bar rows for a while and hated em when the weight got heavy as it effected my chest and back too like others mentioned. i typically do bent over rows but have switched to pendlay rows and i feel it in my lats which is what i was hoping for. try em!

[Rasputin4]

It's the angle in which the weight pulls against your body since it's on a pivot behind you. I'm with you, I like the feel of t-bar rows, I have this sort of cambered bar where it's bent toward the middle to allow for a mostly neutral grip that is a bit wider that t-bar rows done with a v-attachment but narrower than a regular bent row grip. I've been doing them this way, the weight feels like a regular bent row in terms of how it pulls on you but the contraction feels like a bent row/t-bar row hybrid and I really like it. The only caveat is you may need to use a ROM more similar to a t-bar row instead of touching the bar to your abdomen because it might feel really uncomfortable on the shoulders to pull that high with the narrow grip.

[Josh7000]

Never been a fan of t-bar rows. They seem to limit my breathing with the pressure of the pad on your chest. I mainly do barbell rows but I treid the Pendlay rows my last pull day and I gotta say they feel the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRrIsoDpKg

Lol funny you say that, I decided to do Pendlay rows the other day they feel nice! Be useful for me aswell trying to increase my bench because they're the opposite of benching pretty much. And I actually meant like free weight T bars

[Josh7000]

i did t bar rows for a while and hated em when the weight got heavy as it effected my chest and back too like others mentioned. i typically do bent over rows but have switched to pendlay rows and i feel it in my lats which is what i was hoping for. try em!

I'd personally say yates rows are much better for targetting lats, I feel pendlay rows a lot more in my rhomboids and lower and mid traps but that's good cause it's what I want, I also use them because it's the exact opposite of a bench press

[Josh7000]

Yeah do chest supported rows or cable rows if your back is hurting

My back only hurts on free weight T bar rows! on pendlay rows, yates rows, dumbell rows, normal rows or anything else it seems to be fine

[Rasputin4]

My back only hurts on free weight T bar rows! on pendlay rows, yates rows, dumbell rows, normal rows or anything else it seems to be fine

Yeah, freeweight t-bar rows do bother my lower back a bit, it's nothing bad, just doesn't feel as comfortable as regular rows. I also don't like the way t-bar rows, due to the way the weight pulls on you from the pivot, it's hard to bend down very far, even bending to 45 degrees tends to be difficult. On regular bent rows or the cambered rows I described above, I can bend to 45 degrees no problem even with weight exceeding my bodyweight.