Just as the bench press is the king of chest exercises, the row to the waist (bent over row) is the best exercise for the latissimus dorsi and trapezius muscles.

Most other lat exercises do not allow you to fight directly with the force of gravity – the use of blocks reduces the load in exercises using cables. And only the pull of the bar allows you to load the muscles, which makes this exercise simply indispensable when working on the back. When viewed from a strength point of view, this exercise is the basis of most of the best athletic programs. And when it comes time to work on size, there is no such weightlifter who would exclude this exercise from his training program.

How to do:
Grab the bar with a “palms down” grip, feet stand firmly on the floor shoulder-width apart, legs bent at the knees at an angle of 15 degrees. In the bent position, the body should not be parallel to the floor, the angle between the body and the floor should be 60 degrees. If you start by squeezing your shoulder blades together, you will isolate the impact on your lats later on, but in this case you need to use a slightly lighter weight. Some lifters choose to round their upper back during the start of the movement, and lift the weight, including the trapezius muscles as well. Either way, keep your chest up, your lower back flat, and keep your weight on your upper abs as you pull your elbows back. Control the reverse movement, pause at the starting position to avoid using momentum.

Options
Although doing the exercise with a barbell is the best option, block machines and dumbbells work well too.
For a slightly lighter version of the exercise that works more on the biceps, use a reverse grip (palms up) a little wider than your hips, using the same angles and body position as in the main version. Pulling will load the upper part of the abdominals a little more, create an emphasis on the lower part of the latissimus dorsi, shifting some of the load to the biceps. In some gyms, you can find special bars that provide a neutral grip.

Summary
Many avoid this exercise, because. this requires more control of the abs and lower back to ensure correct, technical, stable stance during the exercise. It (exercise) is often perceived as a weightlifting traction, as a sports option, and many athletes avoid it. But if you’re not deadlifting, you’re limiting the progress you could make, limiting yourself in muscle size, shape, and quality.

Tips:

Minimize the amount of momentum when performing the exercise, otherwise you risk injuring your back. This can lead to injury, or at least make the exercise simply ineffective. Experienced athletes can perform one or two precisely timed reps with “cheating”, with inertia at the end of the set;
Vary distance and grips from set to set, or from workout to workout, this will help develop your back muscles in a comprehensive way;
If the development of the latissimus dorsi is high on your list, during training, this exercise should be performed first, when you are still full of energy;
Finish your back workout by doing exercises in different planes – sitting block pull, wide grip overhead pull, standing lower block pull, straight bar top pull;
To progress, use various modern techniques such as forced reps, rest pauses, using the negative phase of the movement to stimulate even more growth of the latissimus dorsi and mid back muscles;