Renegade Row
upper back
What moves the load, and what it costs
6.0MET
Upper back is the prime mover, with the abs, obliques, lats assisting. A row and an anti-rotation exercise at once. Widen the feet to make it manageable, and go far lighter than your normal row weight.
Cue: In a plank on two dumbbells, row one to the hip while refusing to let the hips rotate.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·വെയ്റ്റ്സ്, കഠിനം എന്നതിന് കീഴിൽ·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files renegade row under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 6.0, and at the top end of what a gym floor produces.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so renegade row is filed under റെസിസ്റ്റൻസ് ട്രെയിനിംഗ് (വെയ്റ്റ് ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ്, ഫ്രീ വെയ്റ്റ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മെഷീൻ), പവർ ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ബോഡി ബിൽഡിംഗ്, കഠിനമായ അധ്വാനം.
- Take the category's MET value — 6.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 6.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Renegade Row: 6.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal/min
SOURCE·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·REVIEWED JUL 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Upper backRhomboids and middle trapezius | Prime mover | ചുമൽപ്പലകകളെ പരസ്പരം ചേർത്ത് നട്ടെല്ലിനടുത്തേക്ക് അടുപ്പിക്കുന്നു (സ്കാപ്പുലർ റിട്രാക്ഷൻ). എല്ലാ ഹൊറിസോണ്ടൽ റോയും ഇതിന് ഭാരം നൽകുന്നു; എല്ലാ പുൾഡൗണും ഇതിന് കുറഞ്ഞ ഭാരമേ നൽകുന്നുള്ളൂ. |
| AbsRectus abdominis | Synergist / stabiliser | Bends the trunk forward and, more usefully, resists it being extended backwards. Both a crunch and a plank load it — differently. |
| ObliquesExternal and internal obliques | Synergist / stabiliser | Rotate and side-bend the trunk, and resist rotation. The internal oblique on one side works with the external oblique on the other. |
| LatsLatissimus dorsi | Synergist / stabiliser | Pulls the upper arm down and back towards the ribs (shoulder extension and adduction) and rotates it inwards. It is the prime mover in every pull-up and pulldown. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Dumbbells. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · PULL
- Set two dumbbells on the floor about shoulder width apart, hexagonal ones if you have them.
- Take a straight-arm plank position with a hand on each dumbbell and the feet wide for stability.
- In a plank on two dumbbells, row one to the hip while refusing to let the hips rotate.
- Brace hard and squeeze the glutes so the body is one rigid line.
- Row one dumbbell to the hip while keeping the hips completely square to the floor — this is the whole exercise.
- Return it under control and repeat on the other side, alternating for the set.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Standing up a little on every rep.
Using the hips to help means the back gets less, not more. Fix the torso angle and lower the weight.
Rounding the lower back.
In a bent-over position that is the one thing worth being strict about. Set the spine before the first rep and stop the set when you cannot hold it.
Pulling with the arms only.
The shoulder blades move first. If they never retract, the exercise is a curl with extra steps.
Shortening the bottom of the range.
Let the weight down until the lats are fully stretched — that range is where the growth is.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Progress — the next demand
This sits at the top of its progression here. Add load, add range, slow the tempo or go single-limb before you go looking for a new exercise.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: റെസിസ്റ്റൻസ് ട്രെയിനിംഗ് (വെയ്റ്റ് ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ്, ഫ്രീ വെയ്റ്റ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മെഷീൻ), പവർ ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ബോഡി ബിൽഡിംഗ്, കഠിനമായ അധ്വാനം — 6.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 6.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the renegade row work?
Renegade Row is a compound movement in which the upper back is the prime mover, assisted by the abs, obliques, lats. Draws the shoulder blades together and towards the spine (scapular retraction). Every horizontal row loads it; every pulldown loads it less.
Is the renegade row good for beginners?
No. It rates 4 out of 5 for technical demand — real technical demand — worth having someone watch your first sessions. Build to it through the easier progressions on this page; the t-bar row is the usual step before it.
What can I do instead of the renegade row at home?
This movement is difficult to reproduce without equipment. Where a bodyweight substitute does not exist, progress by slowing the tempo and using single-limb versions instead of adding load.
How many sets and reps of the renegade row should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the renegade row burn fat from the upper back?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the upper back builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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