Horizontal Pulling: DB Progression

In all the programs I write for the teams we place a great emphasis on the horizontal pulling movement pattern. As of now we do a progression on the blasts straps and one with the use of DB's. This movement pattern is not just extremely important because of its antagonistic relationship to bench, but in many sports like football a majority of the upper body action is pressing. This movement and others similar will go a long way in combating the everyday overuse of the pressing muscles.

Also, a great deal of emphasis needs to be put on the scapular retraction component during this movement pattern. Often time athletes will initiate the pull with the elbow joint when you really should start this movement by retracting the scapula straight back then proceeding with the arm action. This will reduce the anterior translation of the humeral head by maintaining scapular stability.

The basis for these progressions were to gradually add more of a stability component while being able to maintain neutral spine and keep the load or even increase. As the progressions get more advanced, there is a much higher demand to prevent rotation as well.

Kneeling 1 arm DB Row



3 Point 1 arm Row



1 Arm/1 Leg Contralateral Row



Split Stance Row (unsupported)




Parallel Stance Row (unsupported)

Blast Strap Row Progression

It is amazing how fast the off season is going and just how close we are to Spring Football Practice! The football team has been doing nothing short but outstanding and are now challenging themselves more and more as we progress them in various movements and lifts.

One movement pattern that I really value is horizontal pulling. Especially in football, where a lot of what you do on the field is push. Think about a lineman. Virtually every play they are pressing the opponent away from their body. That is why in the off season I feel that it is very important to combat that movement by making sure the ratio of pulls outweighs that of pushing.

In the football program we cover each movement pattern at least once with certain pairings of exercises and at the end we will do supplemental work which usually consist of a tri-set. One of which is a blast strap horizontal pull progression, shoulder prehab, and a core exercise. This tri-set will be utilized on a day we do vertical pulls so that we can get a horizontal pull in multiple days a week.

I really am a huge fan of the blast straps due to the freedom it gives your shoulders to move through a natural rotation and the added stability component. Using a bar is not a bad thing, it is just the fact that as you pull yourself closer to the bar, your shoulders are forced to internally rotate to achieve the full ROM which can end up eliminating this as an option for athletes who have a history of shoulder problems. Here is what we use as our Blast Strap progression for horizontal pulling.

Also note that we often use weighted vest for most players during most all these exercises.

Bilateral row w/ Slow eccentric


Feet Elevated Bilateral Row with 1/0/1 Tempo



Side to Side Row



1-arm Rotational Row



Some key coaching keys that apply to all of these are as follows:
"Stomach/Glutes tight" (this keeps hips extended but not allowing lumbar hyper extension)
"Squeeze shoulder blades" (by initiating the movement by retracting the scapula will prevent anterior migration of the humeral head)